#halfmarathontraining

Half Marathon Training, October Wrap Up!

So here it is, November 7th, and I am just now getting around to posting the results of our last half marathon! I have been a little preoccupied with some other things, but now I am ready to get some closure on this, my fourth half!

I am not going to post our training schedule from October because it was a joke! We did not stick to it at all. We started off ok. October 3rd and 5th went as planned.

I got my 5 miles in amongst the swirling leaves!

and October 5th was a gorgeous 4 miles on a sunny day!

That’s when the wheels pretty much came off the bus! We fly to Kauai and had a marvelous time, not running! Well, my hubby did manage a 4 mile run but the humidity and hiking knocked me out! So when we returned on the 12th, it was a tough 5 miles for me!

Even though the run was hard the weather was stunning! Fall had made it’s way into Seattle while we were gone!

Now it was time to log some serious miles if we wanted to get ready for the half! We did 11 miles around Seward Park on a spectacular day! Mount Rainier was out big time 🙂

It was tough! And with only two weeks to the half, I was getting worried!

I did three shorter runs on the 18th, 20th and 22nd, these would be the last in Seattle, and in the rain, before we hit the road for the 24 hour drive to Tucson.

We were trapped in the car until the 25th. This is when everything became real! We had a total of 5 days to get acclimated to the elevation, heat and hills (so many hills!).

I ran 5 miles on the 25th and 4 more on the 27th-just two days to the half!

I have never felt so unprepared for a half marathon in my life! Training was not where I wanted it to be, I was not acclimated at all and nutrition? Forget about it! But the day came anyway!

Fortunately the organizer brilliantly had the start before sunrise, at 6:30am. The first 8-8.5 miles went really well. I was happy with the temperature and felt pretty good. Then mile 9 hit, like a brick wall! The temperature started to climb and the oxygen felt like it was gone from the atmosphere. My legs turned to lead, as they often do, and I began a strategy of walking up the hills and running the flats and downhills only. Interestingly, I was not that much slower than my worst time. I ran about the same this time as I did for my first half marathon. I did finish, and that was the goal. How did my hubby do? Only off by two minutes from his current PR!! I hate him-no I don’t-yes I do!

We were both happy to have survived! One of the cool things about the medals was that they linked up to make map of Tucson. Do you remember the 10k we ran last month? That is the medal from the 10k race on the right in the picture above. If you finished the half marathon in October, you received the medal on the left, and when you put them together you get a mountain scene. Kinda cool! We have not seen that before. There was a third medal to make the scene even larger, but that was for a 5k back in August and we were in Seattle at that time.

Since it was Sunday we got home, showered and headed out to celebrate our “victories” by watching the SeaHawks Game!

Everything turned out great, we can still walk and the Hawks won the game! Now I am running to just enjoy it and really haven’t thought about the next race. It will be number 5 for me, so I want it to be a special location. Any suggestions??

7 Days, 7 Photos Challenge, Day 3

“Seven days. Seven black and white photos of your life. No people. No explanation. Challenge someone new each day”.

Today I would like to tag SunnydaysinSeattle to take up the challenge!

Whisky VS. Whiskey, How it is done in Scotland!

I am taking a break from rustling scorpions and tarantulas in our new home in Tucson to continue my travel blogging posts. If you follow my Instagram then you know what I am talking about, and if you don’t then click on over for some really interesting photos!

Our next stop after Belfast were three ports in Scotland. The first stop was Greenock, a place I had never heard of before. But the first oder of business was a quick morning training run. Have to train while on vacation!

We got back to the ship and cleaned up for the second half of the day. There were several options for sightseeing and we finally decided to tour Glengoyne whisky distillery. We boarded our coach that took us about 45 minutes out into the countryside.

A beautiful church along the way

At first the distillery looked like a cattle barn to me.

Once we got out and started to look around I began to notice the amazing landscape.

It actually reminded me of the wineries we see back home in Woodinville, Washington. There were flowers all around and birds zipping through the open field.

Then our guide came out to meet us and that’s when I knew we were someplace else!

The kilts and the accent that I could barely understand were a definite tip off that we were in Scotland!

To say these guys are passionate about whisky is a gross understatement! One has the impression that whisky is all they live for here. Our guides impressed a few things upon us about the production of true Scotch whisky. For off, Glengoyne is unique in that they are the only distillery to use water from the Highlands and age the whisky in cask barrels in the Low lands. The waterfall in the back of the property is stunning, and my pictures do not do it justice, but I tried to capture the irrigations system as it flows onto the property and is naturally filtered by the rocks and stones before it enters the production facility.

They next spent an inordinate amount of time talking about how they smoke their barley-all I remember is that they don’t use peat. I am guessing that is important!

We were then treated to some free samples. This was a very popular part of the tour, for everyone except me, not a fan! They passed around the whisky, which always looks like urine to me and tastes like gasoline. Everyone loved it! The tour continued, after a short video on the history of the distillery which has been operating non stop since 1833. Our guide explained that Scotch whisky is the only “true” whisky and the only one allowed to be spelled without the “e”. So if you see “whiskey” it was not produced in Scotland and is therefore, by his definition, inferior! He was quite sure on that point!

We moved onto the storage facility.

This beautiful display demonstrated how the whisky changes over time in sherry casks. There were several other such displays for aged whisky in other types of wooden casks barrels.

I loved the colorful barrels in the storage room

The tour ended with a stop in the gift shop (of course, what tour does not stop in the gift shop!) where another sample was distributed to the crowd. I took a pass as the subtle difference between unleaded and diesel are lost on me!

We hopped back on the tour bus and went onto Loch Lomond for a quick stop.

This is the largest waterway within the British Isles, but we only spent a few minutes here. Just enough time to grab a coffee or ice cream and have a look around.

On the bus ride back to the ship we saw this little outpost nestled in this island. It had an impressive backstory relating to strategic placement during war time, I just liked the look of it!

That ended the day in Greenock. We next arrived at Invergordon. Again, I had never heard of this town but it was (sort of ) near Edinburgh, if you don’t mind a long bus ride. There were many sights to see and places to visit, but they were quite a ways off and we did not schedule any excursions. So, my pictures are mainly from the ship and from a run we decided to take through the small town.

Looking at my run map above it appears I am running on the water. This pier is where that portion of the run took place.

The town was quaint and quite small. Our 8 mile run pretty much covered the whole area! We should have visited a castle or gone to the Royal tattoo which is a huge festival in August, but we didn’t do our homework and missed out on that.

We set sail for South Queensferry, home of the very impressive Forth Bridge.

The Forth Bridge was built in 1890 and was the first steel structure built in the world and is still the world’s longest cantilever bridge. It serves as a passenger railway and I was shocked that only 57 men lost their lives during construction. That is low when you consider that 4,000 men were employed and safety concerns were not what they are today. The bridge (and the other two which have been erected since) basically support the growth of the town. It is a quaint, but busy city with shops, tourism and great restaurants.

A typical European taxi

I love a country that has its priorities in place!

This was as close to Nessie as I was going to get this trip!

These shops and buildings just screamed Scotland to me!

All of a sudden it began to pour, buckets! We are told that happens in the British Isles, so it was time for lunch! We ducked into the first place we could find.

Just as fast as the rain started, it stopped again and the sun came out! We went over to the The Hawes Inn which was built to house and feed the Forth Bridge workers back in 1850.

After touring around the Inn it was time to head back to the ship. We took the tender for the short ride and I took a few last shots of the surroundings.

Two of the tenders from our ship

There is our mobile home!

This tanker ship was getting fuel nearby

Our departure from Scotland, next stop for me Paris, France!

Half Marathon Training, August Recap

August 2017 is in the books and it was a crazy time for us to be training as we were traveling a total of 17 or 18 days of the month. I say 17 or 18 because we lost hours going to Europe, then gained hours on the way back, and lost control of all bodily functions to jet lag both directions. Jet lag gets worse the older I get and running with jet lag is not what I recommend to anyone! Here is a reminder of what we were trying to accomplish this month.

August

2017

The first two weeks went great, right up to the 13th when we left for England. After we got our bearings, and survived driving on the left side of the road, we went out into Southampton for a 5 mile run. We were staying near a harbor and I tried to hug the waterline as best I could.

It was a slow run, and this route resembles my lower intestines, but I got it done. My hubby ran 5 miles as well. Here is a better picture of his run!

We toured the HMS Victory in Portsmouth

The next 5 miles that was scheduled had to be done at sea as we had boarded the Caribbean Princess and set sail for Ireland. Our choices were to run on a treadmill in the fitness center, or around the Promenade deck which was narrow, had two sets of stairs and 2.7 laps=1 mile. I chose the treadmill and my hubby went with the deck.

Pretty nice view for my run

So far we were doing pretty good with keeping true to the plan. Our first longer run was 7 miles in Dublin. Of course, since this was Ireland, it was raining. Hard rain, pouring rain, but the temp was good (low 60s) and, more importantly there was zero wind.

The tough part about this run was that we had to start from the port where the ship was docked which meant navigating a busy, industrial area to make our way toward some sort of city. Once again the traffic was predominantly coming from the left and there were overpasses and onramps to cross. We had a basic plan, which my husband stuck to, but I decided to remain closer to the waterline to (hopefully) avoid getting lost. My strategy barely worked. I ended up running around a water sewage treatment plant which stunk, really really badly! Probably because of the backed up drains due to the heavy rain we were experiencing. And the hope that I would not get lost? Ya, I took two wrong turns and my 7 mile run was really 7.65. Oh well, we got back to the ship, showered and went back into town for lunch at a great pub and enjoyed a hot lamb stew!

We pulled away from the dock in Ireland and made our way to Greenock, in Scotland. Once again we had to figure out a path from the port and run 6 miles into town. This was much easier and far more straightforward this time. We exited the ship and turned right, ran 3 miles then came back. Of course, I still managed to take a wrong turn somewhere and went 6.60. How is it my mistakes always cost me a half mile more?!

Now, if you are keeping track, which I doubt you are or want to, we should have a 4 mile run to report next. We looked at the itinerary for our next stop and saw that Invergordon, Scotland was the next port of call. Much like Greenock, this was a spot where we could run right from the dock into town and felt it would be best to go for the 8 mile run and just skip the 4. It was a little tougher to fit in 8, more so than I originally thought it would be, due to the small size of the town.

No, I didn’t run on the water! There was a massive pier that went straight out toward some sort of rigs that dotted the waterway. The guard on duty was kind enough to let me go out and back, which ate up a good 1 1/2 miles from my route. It was a really pretty run out there. My husband wasn’t feeling it that run and decided to cut it to 5 for his day.

Aside from a couple shorter jogs on the ship this was our last real mileage of note for the trip. The picture below sums up our training for this month. I was really happy with my total mileage for August, especially when you account for all the travel time.

All totaled, we were pretty happy with our ability to keep training while getting in some sightseeing as well. The pictures from our travels are being (slowly) posted on the travel portion of my blog here and here.

As for running in September, here is the plan

September

2017

So far so good, we are on track as of 9/4 but we are traveling again from 9/9 to 9/23. I will have to update next month with our training efforts in Tucson as we are visiting our new home and trying to get it set up. We also have added a 10K in Tucson for the 17th and will have to rearrange some training runs around that event.

I am grateful for so many wonderful things in my life right now. Running, traveling and our second home. Life is good! Hope all is well with you too 🙂

Where Will We Run Next?

Now that we have decided to buy a second home in Tucson, we can turn our attention to the next running challenge. I spent some time scouring the half marathon websites and it seems only fitting that we run in the “A Mountain half marathon”.

If you are not familiar with the University of Arizona, which is located in Tucson, then you might not know about “A” mountain.

The large letter at the top stands for the University of Arizona and to get up there we will have to run a little over 700 feet from miles 5 to 7 1/2 during the 13.1 mile half marathon. Oh ya, did I mention that Tucson is 2,000 feet above sea level before the climb?

This will be a tough run for us as the other half marathons have all been at sea level (Seattle and Vancouver BC) and in pretty much the same climate. This time we have to figure out how to run in warmer weather and at altitude. This will not be a PR for us, more of a “just survive it” mentality. I had to put together a training program that would get us ready for the end of October, so we started yesterday. Here is the plan:

August

2017

I will not be doing weekly updates this time since we are traveling a lot and have followed a similar plan before, but I plan to have monthly posts about the progress we (hopefully) will be making on this schedule.

Wish me luck!

Half Marathon Training, Week 15 Update!

This is it! My last update before we run the Seattle Rock n’ Roll half marathon on June 18th, Father’s Day. It is hard to believe that we are only a week away from the day. It seemed so far away when we began training 16 weeks ago.

This last week was really tough for me. My back is slowly, so slowly getting better, and I have been stressing over it. We got back from our Vegas trip on Monday and had a 12 mile run scheduled for Tuesday. It did not go well!

I really struggled to get this 10 miles done and had hit the wall and could not go 2 more without possibly doing more damage to my back. At this point I was beginning to question if the half was a good idea. Sure, I could walk the rest but what is the point of that! Even with the struggle my time was not that hideous at 10:38 average pace. But I was in pain and dejected!

When Thursday rolled around, I hit my usual trail for the 4 mile assignment. Even though my pace was faster I still felt exhausted and it seemed like this was such a hard 4 miles-How was I going to do 13!

I was dreading the 6 mile run today. I have been so down and stressed about my injury and my pace. And then I decided to change my narrative. Today is a beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest. The type of day we all dream about here when it is dark and raining for 3 months straight. I took a look around and saw the kayakers gliding down the slough, the bikers dusting off their cycles and all the families out enjoying the sunshine. I decided I was going to relax and just run. The pace and mileage would take care of itself! I did not push myself or set a specific goal, just ran because I love to. It turned out to be the break my mind and body needed. I had the most enjoyable run of the last two weeks since I hurt my back!

My pace was 10:04/mile and that is not bad for me! We are heading into the taper week and have 4-5 mile runs on both Tuesday and Thursday and then the half on Sunday! We will be carb loading both Friday and Saturday night, and have booked a Gong yoga class Saturday night to relax and stretch our mind and body.

I am hoping to have a recap of the event to post as the wrap up to this project next week.

Wish us luck!

◄ May 2017	June 2017	July 2017 ►
week 14 ✔		May 30 5 miles		1 4miles	2	3 Some run 4 miles
4 week 15 ✔	5	6 12miles	7	8 4miles	9	10 6miles
11 week of the race	12	13 4-5 miles	14	15 4-5 miles	16 carb load	17 carb load
18 13.1 miles!	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30

◄ May 2017

June 2017

July 2017 ►

Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

week 14

✔

May 30

5 miles

4miles

Some run

4 miles

week 15

✔

12miles

4miles

6miles

week of the race

4-5 miles

carb load

13.1 miles!

Poker, Pool Time and Pigging out in Las Vegas!

My husband and I recently joined three other couples for a long weekend in Las Vegas. The goals: gamble, eat good food and enjoy the warm weather for a few days. We exceeded all expectations and came home full, pink skinned and really tired! It was pretty much what one would expect of a group of empty nesters getting together and blowing off a little steam.

The four couples all had different arrival times and we arrived thursday evening.

View from our plane

We flew in around 2pm and it was well over 90ºF. We made our way to the Aria Resort and Casino. We have stayed there several times and really like its location on the strip, the restaurants and the pools. I am partial to their fitness and spa center as well. I took a few pictures of the exterior of the Aria.

This view is from one of the three pools, looking back toward one of the towers

This view is from one of the other pools

This is the pool where we spent most of our time

My hubby wanted to head straight for the pool that first night, I had a hard time getting him to leave but we finally made our way to dinner.

This was our only night that we dinned alone as our friends were still arriving from various destinations. We chose to dine at Bardot Brasserie. The food was French and delicious!

We started off with the King Crab Crepe. A buckwheat crepe filled with trumpet mushrooms, sunny -side egg, and a Normandy cider beurre blanc. It was outstanding!

My entree was the Salmon Aux Lentilles prepared with King salmon, beluga lentils with a smoked tomato vinaigrette. This trip was starting out on a great foot!

The next day was Friday and that meant that my hubby was in a poker tournament all day. He plays the WSOP events in June and it is variable as to how long he will be in the casino. If all goes well he will start at 10am and play until 2am the next morning! Or he could be out in an hour! So, I decided to get a message at the Aria spa to help work on my back injury. So glad I did! My back did feel better from the masseuse and the jets in the hot tub. Meanwhile my husband played all day Friday, until he was out. Unfortunately, that turned out to be sooner rather than later!

No big poker winnings this year! We met up with our friends and had dinner at Javier’s, a Mexican restaurant at Aria. This was my least favorite meal on our trip. It wasn’t bad, I had the callitos mazatlan which were pan seared scallops with a chipotle sauce and the ubiquitous rice and beans found at every Mexican restaurant. No pictures, it was a typical and well executed meal.

We spent the rest of the evening in a lounge listening to live music (very good live music) and having a few too many cocktails-we had a blast!

Saturday we all had some personal time until our dinner and show reservations that evening. I decided to head to my two favorite hotels on the strip. My husband and I took the Aria tram to the Bellagio. We have stayed there several times and love the interior of this casino.

The tram cycles between the Aria, The shops at Crystals and the Bellagio

In just a few minutes we were at the Bellagio, me with my camera in hand. The Bellagio is bright, airy and colorful. It is impossible to capture any one image that will convey all the amazing scenery. I have highlighted a couple examples that really speak to me every time I visit.

This is one of many domed skylights which allows light into the long corridors

These gorgeous arrangements are on every table top as you weave your way through the walkways into the main buildiing

One of my favorite shops of all time is Jean Philippe Patisserie and I visit every time I am in Vegas.

This is where you will find the largest chocolate fountain in the world. It runs from floor to ceiling and has milk, dark and white chocolate pools

And, of course, there is the pastries!

A truly stunning experience!

The patisserie is close to the conservatory and botanical garden that showcases floral artwork. This season is dedicated to the Chinese new year. This is just a small fraction of what there was to see!

The detail was amazing! As you leave the conservatory area you enter the main lobby of the Bellagio. The ceiling is covered with glass flowers made by Seattle’s own Dale Chihuly. Even though he is right here in my own backyard, I marvel at this ceiling every time I visit Vegas.

We travelled down the long corridor to the exit of the Bellagio, on our way to the Paris Hotel and Casino. There were a few more beautiful ceiling elements along the way.

We exited the building and crossed the street. We entered Pairs hotel and immediately felt the ambiance change. Where Bellagio was bright and open, Paris was darker and had the feel of Europe in the middle ages. It was as if we were in underground Paris in the 1800s.

It is like you are at an illegal club!

The sky ceiling is similar to the one in Caesars Palace

The building facades look so real

This could be any shopping avenue in Paris

The French have there own version of amazing pastries to choose from!

This Chinese restaurant is stunning!

They really captured that nighttime feel.

A bistro along the avenue!

This is my favorite Creperie, anywhere! I always have a crepe when visiting Vegas from this shop. Today the hubby and I split a Monte Cristo crepe. Ham, Swiss cheese with strawberry sauce, powdered sugar and basil. Just the perfect lunch!

Then it was time to head back to the Aria and meet up with our friends. There were a few sights on the way back!

Our dinner reservations that evening were at the steak house, Mastro’s Ocean Club at the shops at Crystals. This was a fantastic meal! The restaurant is in an old tree house that now sits at the heart of the mall. It is two stories and we were seated inside this structure. More importantly the food was killer! If you have never tried Wagyu beef (and you have an extra kidney to sell to afford it) I do recommend it!

We throughly enjoyed this meal and then set out to see Zumanity, a Cirque du soliel show at New York, New York Hotel and Casino. If you like nude acrobats then you will love this show!

Sunday morning I got up early and ran 4 miles. It was hot (81°F at 6:15am), hard and full of stairs but I needed to work off some of the “fun” I had been consuming! Plus we are still half marathon training! The hubby said no to accompanying me and we all reconvened at the pool for our last day of mini vacation. I posted a picture on Instagram of my shoes taking a break by the pool. I caught my husband trying to steal one of the drinks.

This trip was a bit of a whirlwind, looking back I did not get the right amount of sleep or eat as healthy as I would have liked, but we all need a crazy, fun break every once in a while!

Oh, and as for gambling

This was the best result I had the entire time!

SaveSave

Half Marathon Training, Week 14 Update!

This training week has been all about fitting in run time with a bad back and a mini vacation. In my last update I declared that I was not going to let me back stop me from running 5 miles on Tuesday, May 30th. That was true and I did run that day, however I went 6.27 miles, a little further than I was targeting originally. What happened? Well, when I started running that morning EVERYTHING hurt for the first 3 miles, then the numbness set in and I was feeling better, so I wanted to enjoy the run while I had the benefit of endorphins to dull my senses. I was pretty sure that when I stopped my back would be feeling it! And, it did! I did go slower, the run was at a 10:18 pace, but it felt great to exercise! I get so cranky when I am unable to hit the pavement.

Thursday morning we had the flight to Las Vegas and needed to leave for the airport by 9:30am so I was on the path by 6:00. Both my husband and I wanted to get these 4 miles in because we would be stuck in airports for awhile had no idea if we would be able to run in the hot desert! I was motivated to get this done quickly so I could shower, change and finish packing and ran at a slightly faster pace of 9:53/mile. And that is when it really hit me that my back is not 100% yet. Due to the running, and the sitting on the plane for a couple hours, it really was sore and was quite uncomfortable.

My husband plays in the WSOP poker events held in Vegas every June and I knew he would be at the Rio for most of Friday so I took that opportunity to have a message at the spa in the Aria Resort and Casino where we stayed. I am so glad I did this! The masseuse was able to loosen up the muscles and get me walking much more smoothly! I also used the jets in the hot tubs on the property to work on my back and that helped too!

Saturday was relax and recover time for my injury (also spent time at the pool, and then dinner and a show). By the time I went to bed Saturday night I was itching for some activity. I decided I would get up early to beat the heat and get some sort of run accomplished before spending the day at the pool again. My husband refused to run as he was on vacation, so I was on my own. I hit the strip a bit after 6am and it was already 81 degrees! At 6am!! If you have ever been to the strip then you know that often crossing the street means using pedestrian overpasses, so I had to run stairs (see the left bump in the picture below). That might look like a little flight of stairs, but it it not! I had not mentally accounted for that when I set off from the Aria!

You can see how my pace suffered from overpasses, waiting to cross the street at the crosswalks, and the heat!

I had wanted to run 5 or 6 miles, but felt like Clarke Grisswold toward the end of the first two miles, so I turned around and settled for 4 miles total.

My back is still sore but slowly improving. At home I can apply ice and heat regularly and am using Aleve, and Ibuprofen. The Seattle Rock and Roll half is only 12 days away! We have 22 miles for week 15 planned, I will have to see how it goes!

◄ May 2017	June 2017	July 2017 ►
week 14 ✔		May 30 5 miles		1 4miles	2	3 Some run 4 miles
4 week 15	5	6 12miles	7	8 4miles	9	10 6miles
11 week of the race	12	13 4-5 miles	14	15 4-5 miles	16 carb load	17
18 13.1 miles!	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30

◄ May 2017

June 2017

July 2017 ►

Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

week 14

✔

May 30

5 miles

4miles

Some run

4 miles

week 15

12miles

4miles

6miles

week of the race

4-5 miles

carb load

13.1 miles!

Half Marathon Training, Week 13 Update!

This was not my best week. It started out great with a decent 5 mile run on Tuesday. I ran a 9:51 average pace, not my best but not too bad. I followed that up with a faster 4 mile/9:37 average on Thursday. I was feeling good about the week in general and really looking forward to our first warm Memorial Day Weekend since 1995 (no, I am not exaggerating that date!). When Friday rolled around I was really up for our 11 mile scheduled run the next day (Saturday) and it was glorious outside so my husband and I decided to hit the driving range early in the afternoon. I have just started swinging the driver and wanted to practice. I began to notice that my back was unhappy, and as I worked my way through the bucket of balls, it became more painful. I did end my practice early but didn’t really think too much about my back.

We usually go climbing on Friday nights so, of course, I wasn’t going to let a little pain stop me! I thought I was being careful by only climbing easier routes, but as the night went on it was clear that I had actually done something significant to my back. There was no way I would be able to run 11 miles the next morning, or even half that distance. My hubby went on without me, and I had to watch! I have spent the last three days icing, heating and alternating between Aleve, Ibuprofen and Tylenol. I have not climbed, run, golfed or done yoga for three days!!! ENOUGH. I am going crazy!! Just like the quote above says: once you are used to regular exercise it is impossible to quit!

We leave for Vegas on Thursday and we need to change up our schedule to avoid running a 12 mile gauntlet in the desert in June! So, here is the new plan to survive week 14.

May 2017 Half Marathon Training Schedule
This is a blank and printable May Calendar. Courtesy of WinCalendar.com

◄ April 2017	May 2017	June 2017 ►
week 10 ✔	1	2 5miles	3	4 4miles	5	6 9miles
7 week 11 ✔	8	9 6miles	10	11 5miles	12	13 10miles
14 week 12 ✔	15 6miles	16	17 10miles	18	19	20 5miles
21 week 13 ✔	22	23 5miles	24	25 4 miles	26	27 11miles
28 week 14	29	30 5miles	31

◄ April 2017

May 2017

June 2017 ►

Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

week 10

✔

5miles

4miles

9miles

week 11

✔

6miles

5miles

10miles

week 12

✔

6miles

10miles

5miles

week 13

✔

5miles

4 miles

11miles

week 14

5miles

June 2017 Half Marathon Training Schedule
This is a blank and printable June Calendar. Downloaded from WinCalendar.com

◄ May 2017	June 2017	July 2017 ►
				1 4miles	2	3 Some run
4 week 15	5	6 12miles	7	8 4miles	9	10 6miles
11 week of the race	12	13 4-5 miles	14	15 4-5 miles	16 carb load	17
18 13.1 miles!	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	Notes:

◄ May 2017

June 2017

July 2017 ►

Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

4miles

Some run

week 15

12miles

4miles

6miles

week of the race

4-5 miles

carb load

13.1 miles!

Notes:

I don’t care what my back thinks, tomorrow I am running and I hope to make it 5 miles. Then we will run 4 miles Thursday morning before our flight. I did miss the 11 mile run and want to do some mileage in Vegas, it may only be 4 miles but 5 or 6 would be wonderful. Then we will hit the 12 miles the day after we get back. At that point, we should be back to the regular week 15 schedule.

I hope everyone had a restful and enjoyed the long weekend! Summer is right around the corner!

Half Marathon Training, Week 12 Update!

This was a crazy week as far as activity was concerned. We left on Thursday for a rock climbing trip (stay tuned for an upcoming post on that one!) so we had to rearrange our running schedule a bit to accommodate the travel time. Instead of 6 miles on Tuesday, 5 miles on Thursday and 10 miles on Saturday, I chose to run on 6 on Monday, the 10 on Wednesday and then we both ran together on Sunday. Since I shifted my days and mileage around, I wound up running 26 miles in a 5 day span-definetly a new record for me!

Monday’s 6 miles went well and I managed to stay at a 9:50 average, even though I had run 10 miles just two days prior. That is really good for me!

Wednesday I went into Seattle to run 10 around Green Lake. My hubby was at work that day and decided he didn’t need a 10 mile run this week. So, I was on my own.

The first 5 miles I had pretty consistent splits varying between 10:04-10:08, but after that I steadily gained time to end with the 10:12 average. The next day we drove for 6 hours to central Oregon for our climbing trip-so fun! We climbed and hiked all day Friday and Saturday, so no time for running until Sunday morning. We looked for a path near our motel and found a paved trail that ran through a canyon. By this point in the trip we had seen a lot of sun, and were feeling the heat on our red skin, but we toughed it out! I ran a little over 5 and my husband went for 6 miles.

Then we went back to the motel, showered, picked up our kids at the climbing park and rode 7 hours back home. Whew! It was a crazy trip but we fit it all in! Next week we go back to our regular schedule and have a 5 mile, 4 mile and 11 mile plan. The runs are getting longer and harder, but we are getting closer to the big day!

May 2017 Half Marathon Training Schedule
This is a blank and printable May Calendar. Courtesy of WinCalendar.com

◄ April 2017	May 2017	June 2017 ►
week 10 ✔	1	2 5miles	3	4 4miles	5	6 9miles
7 week 11 ✔	8	9 6miles	10	11 5miles	12	13 10miles
14 week 12 ✔	15 6miles	16	17 10miles	18	19	20 5miles
21 week 13	22	23 5miles	24	25 4 miles	26	27 11miles
28 week 14	29	30 5miles	31

◄ April 2017

May 2017

June 2017 ►

Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

week 10

✔

5miles

4miles

9miles

week 11

✔

6miles

5miles

10miles

week 12

✔

6miles

10miles

5miles

week 13

5miles

4 miles

11miles

week 14

5miles

Invisible-No-More

Invisible-No-More

#halfmarathontraining

Half Marathon Training, October Wrap Up!

7 Days, 7 Photos Challenge, Day 3

Whisky VS. Whiskey, How it is done in Scotland!

Half Marathon Training, August Recap

Where Will We Run Next?

Half Marathon Training, Week 15 Update!

Poker, Pool Time and Pigging out in Las Vegas!

Half Marathon Training, Week 14 Update!

Half Marathon Training, Week 13 Update!

Half Marathon Training, Week 12 Update!