2013 RnR USA Half-Marathon Training: Week 2

Happy Sunday everyone! How was your weekend? I hope you had a good one, even if you were buried in the snow.

While we did not get any snow this week here, it was pretty chilly and a little on the windy side. However, it did not affect my workouts too much. Here is how my week looked:

February 4-10, 2013:

Monday: Swim 3000 yards+ Core/ Stretch

This was a pretty decent swim. I focused more on endurance verses speed since I was not “feeling” the speed on this particular day. I also fit in a core workout with plenty of stretching.

Tuesday: Strength Training (AM)+ Core/ Stretch (AM)+ Mod EZ- 5.04 miles (PM)

The usual Tuesday/ Thursday double workout- strength training and a core workout in the morning; run in the afternoon. The run was done after my first day of training for my new job so I went over to the Mount Vernon Trail to get in an moderately easy five mile run. It went well and I held a sub- 9 minute pace overall.

Wednesday: Swim 2600 yards+ Core/ Stretch

Same workouts as Monday but I focused on speed in the pool this go-around as I had a little more energy. I did a lot of 50’s and 100’s and got a little faster with each one. There is something satisfying about seeing the gradual improvements I have made with swimming. I have a feeling that I am going to have a much better triathlon swim times this summer!

Thursday: Strength Training (AM)+ Core/ Stretch (AM)+ Tempo Run- 5 miles (PM)

I was really dragging Thursday morning. I was tired and had a lot on my mind, but I got a decent workout in nonetheless. The afternoon tempo run went much better than expected with my tempo miles having an average pace of 8:24, much faster than my training pace goal.

Friday: REST

Saturday: Spin Class+ Strength Training+ Core/ Stretch

Due to high winds, I decided to push my long run to Sunday. Instead, I headed to the gym for a spin class followed by strength training and core work.

Sunday: Long Run- 9 miles

This run felt tough. I am finding that I am having decent runs during the week but my long runs are more difficult. It could be that I am doing my long runs in the morning verses the afternoon like I do during the week, so I am not going to get too bent out of shape about it. I still maintained a 9:14 average pace, only a second per mile over my training pace goal. 

• Run Mileage= 19.04
• Swim Distance= 5600 yards
• Spin/ Bike Mileage= 1 Spin Class
• Strength Training Sessions= 3
• Total Distance= 22.22+ Spin Class

All in all, a good week. Originally this was supposed to be a fallback week but I realized that I did not want to do a 9-10-11 sequence for my long runs. However, I was also a little tired from the previous week. So I decided to see how my run on Tuesday went as to how I would continue with the week. Since the run went well, I decided to do 9 miles as my long run and fallback this coming week.

Last Week’s Goals:

• Have a good first day of training at my new job! (CHECK!)
• Post my RnR training plan (FAIL!)
• Start promoting my fundraising for Girls on the Run- DC more (FAIL- coming this week!)

Goals For Next Week:

• Use this week to recover- I have some aches and pains.
• Start promoting my fundraising for Girls on the Run- DC more
• Change up strength training a little
• Continue to log study hours for ACSM exam

Previous Weeks:

• Week 1

Have a great week!