Breakdown: Week 4 Half Marathon Training

Acutally training for an event is definitely helping me stick to my schedule & eating regiment. Here's the week-in-review.

Monday: Scheduled rest day... not that I deserved it for how badly I ate all weekend. I left it in the schedule so I could get back on track for the rest of the week. It was the first day of my tea-instead-of-coffee challenge. I decided to move from 3-4 cups of coffee a day to 3-4 cups of [hot] tea a day. Why? Because the amount of creamer I consume in a cup of coffee is ridiculous. It blows my whole caloric count for the day. I figured I'd give tea a shot for my daily caffiene requirements... since I only take it with Splenda.  So Monday wasn't a total "rest" day. A day without the wonderful flavor of coffee is a rough day for me.

Tuesdsay: Time to do it right. 0430 wake up call & 3 miles. Tried the Saucony Kinvaras one last time... still not the right shoe for me. Experienced some mild IT band discomfort, but pushed through it. Spent a lot of time at work stretching to keep it as limber as possible. As usual, did my upper body weight session with my trainer. By bedtime, I was ready for it.

Wednesday: Another early morning, but this time with a 4 mile pace run. I think I'm finally figuring out how to do a pace run, which is a new experience for me. I completed it in 42 minutes, which my Garmin footpod said was a 10:20 pace. This time, I was smart. I ran in my trusty Newtons. It's amazing how my running gait physically changed & I felt the difference (guess I shouldn't mess with what works, right?).  I was smoked, but I didn't feel like I exhausted myself. I assume that's what a pace run should feel like. So it was an excellent morning. I even took a picture.

Thursday: I ended up going to bed much later than usual, so I decided to sleep in a bit on Thursday. I also forgave myself immediately for doing so. I knew my body wouldn't operate very well without it. I spent the evening with my trainer; we worked legs. We even foam-rolled my legs out, something I'm sure we'll be doing more of. One of my favorite things about lifting weights is that I can have a good workout without feeling exhausted at the end. It feels awesome. I also noticed an unintentional sneaker circle under our spare bed.

This is getting out of control. There are 2 pairs missing.

Friday: Since I'd missed my run on Thursday, I decided to do the early morning thing again. With my Newtons. And my treadmill. But this run was pretty tough from the mental perspective. Within one mile, I was bored out of my ever-loving mind. To combat the boredom, I focused on 5-minute increments, continuously telling myself "Just 5 more minutes." Once I hit the 2 mile mark, I knew I'd last the final mile. It was a nice, easy run. I purposely held back, understanding not all runs should be pace runs. That's probably why I got bored. But I made it thru, so that's okay.

Friday evening was awesome. Girls' Night Out with a friend. We hit up H&M for some shopping & had an amazing dinner. Thanks to my very excellent friend, I bought clothes that actually fit. I also didn't go overboard in the spending. Dinner was excellent; Filet in a Dijon mustard sauce. And yes, I took a picture.

Saturday: I didn't sleep well, but I slept later than I normally do... I guess that made up for it. I pulled my crap together really fast & headed to the post gym for a Saturday morning Body Pump class. If you're not familiar, it's like cardio-weight lifting timed to music. It's a smoker, that's for sure. I'm so proud I got up & made it to the class. It was very different from the type of exercise I'm used to. I really enjoyed it. I showered at the gym, bought groceries, cleaned the 1st floor of my house & put away all my laundry. Too much nervous energy, I guess. At about 6 PM, I forced myself to sit down & relax my legs for Long Run Sunday.

Sunday: 7 mile Sunday. Holy Crap. Completed in 1:21:25, 11:37 pace. I'm told that's a pretty smoking pace for a Run/Walk; I was holding back a bit because I was with someone not used to running my style. Yes, you read that right. I have a runbuddy now.

And no, we did not coordinate our outfits. I always rock the running skirt. I didn't know she also has a fondness for girlie fitness clothing. The entire run, we were getting honked at & ogled checked-out. One guy, who was riding a bike, snapped his neck so quick I thought he'd have whiplash & crash his bike. In Italy, there's nothing wrong with this type of behavior... you learn to find it flattering because you understand no one means anything by it... they just appreciate beautiful women. So the entire thing was an ego boost.

It was a great run, mostly because I lasted the entire time & my leg didn't really hurt. At about 5.5 miles, I felt like I was getting a blister. By 6.5 miles, I knew I had a blister. But I pushed through the pain by my iPod, which shuffled to this song for the remaining 0.5 miles. Not joking; it actually happened. There's nothing quite like doing a wigglewigglewigglewigglewiggle [yeah] down the street as you're rejoicing the completion of a long run.

So that's my week. Definitely the most successful week I've had in a long time. Now I owe myself a nap & a nice lunch. Hope you all had a great week, too!