Hi everyone! Sorry things were quiet around here yesterday but I was instructed to keep my hands off the blog while my website guru worked his magic. I kept myself busy with things like teaching yoga, a girl’s brunch and my long run.

Let’s talk about running. My half marathon is less than two weeks away and I am READY! I am following an 11 week training program and it’s just too long. I had already built a strong base before the plan started and I think 11 weeks was overkill. I was gangbusters about it for the first 8 weeks or so and then lost steam.

I have followed the plan pretty closely and I’ve really enjoyed the structure and being pushed with the tempo/speed work but I feel like I peaked a couple of weeks ago and now I’m just kinda forcing myself to get the runs done. Don’t get me wrong, I am LOVING running strong and healthy again and I don’t want to stop running by any means, I’m just ready for the race and to be done with the official plan. Next time I’m going to try an 8 week plan (again from a strong base) and see how that goes. (And yes, there will be a next time. Again, I couldn’t be more thrilled to be running like this again. It’s good for the soul.)

So back to the training…I got all of my runs done this week but had a rough tempo run. I was supposed to run 6 miles with 4 at 7:30 pace and it wan’t happening. After three miles I abandoned my prescribed pace and just ran. I ended up doing just under 7 at an average 8:04 pace. Not bad and sometimes done is done. I didn’t beat myself up over it. I joked on Instagram that at least my outfit matched.

Here’s a recap of the week in workouts:

Monday

3 mile easy run

Tuesday

CrossFit

This workout was hard! Try it! (Here is a video of a burpee box jump.) It finished in 18:56.

Wednesday

7 mile tempo-ish run

Thursday

REST

Friday 

3 mile easy run + abs and strength circuit

– Stability ball abs circuit
– 3 rounds of 10 push press, 20 back squats (65# bar for each), 10 deficit ring rows and 10 ring push ups

Saturday 

Yoga

Sunday

11 mile long run

I don’t usually do my long runs on Sundays, much less Sunday afternoons but it was the only time I could fit it in this weekend. My Saturday was jam packed and the weather was gross. It was 40 degrees and raining. Not my ideal running conditions. I held off until Sunday afternoon and it was lovely. Around 50 degrees and sunny. I knocked out 11 at an average 8:34 pace.

I am in DESPERATE need of some yoga today!

Are you training for a fall race? How’s it going? What is your ideal training plan length?