Half Marthon Training Week #3 Done!

There was just no way I was NOT going to get our 5 mile run in this week!

We already skipped Monday's and Wednesday's 3 mile runs because of the snow.... and so last night when it started to rain I was elated. Bring it on!  And melt that snow - and melt it did.

Hard to believe it is the same scene...

Wednesday through Friday afternoon, this was the picture.

Saturday morning after Friday night's rain.

I didn't get to a Weight Watchers meeting earlier this week and wanted to fit that in today, too.  So, we had breakfast and then drove to the meeting centre where I found a bustling and energetic crowd at the 10:00 a.m. WW meeting, while The Captain wandered the mall for half an hour and picked up some little metal rings for cooking eggs..... hmmmm.

Then we stopped and picked up some freggies at my favorite produce market and came back to the house for lunch... The Captain checked the weather channel and I waited very patiently for an hour, mapping us a route I hoped would be sheltered from the wind somewhat,  before I declared it was time to go running.  I put on what I suspected might be too much clothing and off we went.

We drove a short distance and then parked the car near an entrance to the urban trail that I love to bike and walk and run... it is fairly flat and I thought that an elevated highway overpass might be the only spot exposed to the wind that is blowing about 20 knots today (about 24 mph).  Not a gale but it's cool at only 4°C (about 38°F).  I planned to run an out-and-back 2.5 mile section of the trail, twice, for a total of 5 miles today.  It's kinda boring doing the same route twice, but I thought it would we would be better served staying out of the wind as much as possible.

We didn't do any walking to warm up like we usually do, but I wasn't concerned as it is Saturday and that means a LSR day.  The Captain was very cooperative.  Translation = he didn't try to speed things up!  And for the first half of the run the weather cooperated too. Translation = no rain and the strong headwind was only noticeable on the elevated overpass and was actually quite helpful on the return as it became a tailwind which pushed me on the uphill!

But, as we made the turn at the 2.5 mile point, it started raining, not really hard, but enough that I felt like I needed windshield wipers on my sunglasses... and I was very glad at that point that I was wearing a second long-sleeved tee under my windbreaker 'cause my back was getting a bit wet. 


I kept a pretty steady pace, with The Captain going on a bit and then returning to me, to keep running instead of walking, like I have asked him to do... and we kept encouraging each other through the rain and over the windy hilly overpass... it seemed so much steeper that last time!  And I was a pretty happy runner when I could see the end of the route in the distance.
I always speed up a bit as we are getting close to the end because I want to feel like I am finishing strong.  We completed the 5 miles and then as we were walking across the street to the car, the rain stopped and the sun came out of the clouds!  It was beautiful and so we walked around enjoying the warmth of the rays for a couple of minutes and then drove home to put on drier clothing and do our stretching.

I was feeling so stoked that we had completed this 5 mile run, and recalled why I love running.... 'cause I love the way I feel after I am finished!

R67 W2
stretch 5 minutes

All in all not a bad 3rd week of training for our half marathon.  Lots of time on our feet in spite of only the one run, and a bit of strength and core work. 

Sunday

• Pilates For Dummies DVD - 25 minutes

Monday

• 2 mile walk outside

Tuesday

• 1 mile walk outside

Wednesday

• Leslie Sansone 4 mile walk/jog DVD
• upper body work w/5 lb weights - 15 minutes
• 2 sets of 10 reps each:
• bicep curls
• overhead presses
• tricep kickbacks
• upright rows
• delt raises
• lateral raises
• rows
• frontal raises
• stretch 5 minutes

Thursday

• walk 3 miles outside in the snow
• stretch 5 minutes

Friday

• Rest day

Saturday

• 5 mile run
• stretch 5 minutes

This next week we are planning to do our long run on Wednesday or on Thursday morning, as I have a little medical procedure planned for Friday that will prevent me from running for a couple of days.

Did you get sidelined by weather this week?

How do you handle changes to your planned routine?