8 days - with a 22 miler, 2 races, & some PRs!

Week in review + 1 for August 29-September 5, 2016

Mileage (for the actual week without the bonus Monday, 8/29-9/4):  55.1

Monday - Cross-training Monday with 30 minutes on the elliptical to warm-up then 50 minutes of bootcamp.  I was thankful to have my strength back after my having a cold all last week and skipping my last bootcamp because of it.  This class was pretty core and shoulder-heavy.

Tuesday - 8.1 miles base pace (7:17).  I ran with Casey from about mile 1.5-6.5 of this one.  I felt about 95%, which was really nice after feeling weak all last week.  I had a little residual mucus but otherwise was feeling over the illness and gearing up for Wednesday's long run.  My core and chest muscles were a bit sore from bootcamp (too many push-ups!).

Wednesday - 22.1 miles (7:13) with 18 steady then 4 marathon goal pace-ish (6:49, 6:49, 6:47, 6:31).  This was a before work distance PR and went swimmingly!  More details than you ever wanted here. 

Thursday- 11.4 with 8.2 miles a.m. (7:53) and 3.2 miles runch (7:46). When I saw a double on my schedule the day after the 22 I was a little terrified, but I also knew I would have no qualms about running these as easy and slow as needed!  In the morning I ran with Missy and Casey, and was pleasantly surprised that my legs were not dead.  We ran easy, but it wasn't like death march 9-minute pace or anything.  It was really fun to have a women's group - and Macy (Missy's dog) was with us too, so that makes 4 females. On my lunch run my legs were tired but felt better as I got going - but I was glad it was only 3 miles. And I didn't die so there's that! Really I would say that running 33.5 miles within 32 hours went as smoothly as it could have, and I don't think I've ever done that before so am calling it a PR.

Friday - Off!  Which means a little cross-training to keep the streak going: 10 minutes on the elliptical, and foam rolling.

Saturday - 10.3 miles: 3 wu (7:33), Stars and Stripes 3.3 mile "5K" (6:13), 4 cd (7:54). My plan for this race was to do the least it took to win overall female, or to run goal marathon pace, whichever was faster. I ran this one last year and it was not at all competitive, and I wanted to save the effort for my 10K on Monday. As the field took off, I knew the overall female win was going to be easy, but after about a half mile I felt pretty good about beating all of the men without running all out, so I rationalized away that little marathon paced run plan.

I moved into overall position, over-taking a high school aged boy, shortly after the mile mark, and had a lead cyclist with me for the rest of the way. I ended up running about 10K pace, so it wasn't easy, but I finished feeling like I could sustain the pace for another 3 miles (it was 55 degrees so that helped!). The course wasn't certified and my Garmin recorded it as 3.32 - so it was about 0.2 long (my Garmin is usually at most off 0.01 per mile). Glad it wasn't a goal race! It was nice and flat for the area though. I ran part of my cool-down with a couple of men I know who ran the 10K (which was short - I've noted this for next year!), and really didn't feel the 10 miles total. The high school boy I'd passed for the lead came up to me after the race and asked if I'd "started sprinting or something by the park" (where I'd passed him).  I had to laugh, because I really just ran consistent the whole way and he went out hard then died.

Then we spent the rest of the day playing around in Branson, a start to our family get-away for Labor Day weekend.

Posing by The Ducks (Missy bought me that tank top to reflect our training plans)

My sweet family on The Duck

Finishing on the Landing with the lead cyclist

Cha ching!

I love a good 3.3 mile 5K, hah

Sunday - 3.2 mile shake out (7:43), on the sidewalk by highway 76 in Branson - not a recommended running route, but it worked for this short run. Then we went to Wild World and played some glow golf in Branson before heading down to Arkansas. In Bentonville, we met up with a friend at the park and then watched another friend's kids compete in a kids' triathlon. Albani says she is ready to try (tri!) it next year!

Feeding fish at Wild World

Adorable lion

Braver than me at that age!

Glow golf

Albani loves helping with babies

I promise that we were not in a war zone as their faces convey!

Spectating Trifesta Kids' events

Monday (Labor Day) -  10.3 total with 2.1 warm-up (7:33), 10K race (6:14), and 2 cool-down (8:12). I ran the Run for a Child's Hunger 10K in a bright shiny certified course PR of 38:43! This was my first time under 39 on a certified course, so the first time it really counts even though I had done it unofficially before. I almost cried with happiness when I crossed the finish line in the 38's because I didn't think there was any way it would happen in this hilly race in 74 degree weather, or being 5 days off the 22 miler and in a high mileage week (I ran 40:22 in the exact same race last year!). I am going to write an entire post about this race with pictures to do it justice, so stay tuned! I was 3rd female behind two professionals (a distant 3rd! - but not as distant as last year's 3rd), so took home some cash too; prize money is always a nice bonus and sure makes my husband happy, but I would have been ecstatic with this time on this course regardless of place!

Bling

Some would say the post-race cupcakes were the best part of this event!