Back in action!

Monday: 3.6 mi, trails (Bagley)
Tuesday: 3.7 mi, road
Wednesday: 5.6 mi (1.3 mi road, 4.3 mi includes 4x hill repeats at Chester Bowl)
Thursday: rest
Friday: rest
Saturday: 7.1 mi (6.4 mi + 0.7 mi warm-up and cool-down, paved trail [Lakewalk], mock race)
Sunday: 4.2 mi, trail (SHT)
Total: 24.4 mi

I bounced back after last week’s early cutback, bringing my mileage up to the low end of where I’d like it to be. I had not planned on doing 2 rest days this week, but Thursday I had some GI issues that carried on to Friday morning, so I decided to be safe rather than sorry. I was having enough trouble staying hydrated without being under the weather, since it was hot again at the end of the week and over the weekend. As I’ve mentioned previously, I don’t have air conditioning, and my house holds in heat. At night it’ll be 20 degrees warmer inside than it is outside. It really sucks. It also results in waking up behind the 8-ball regarding hydration.

I did two hard days over the weekend because I knew it would probably be my last chance to get in some real heat training. Saturday’s run was supposed to be at a 10K race pace, but instead it turned into a lesson in suffering and perseverance. I’ll write a bit more about it later in the week, but if that’s my true 10K pace, I am in big, big, big trouble for this half marathon.

Sunday I did two mostly-downhill miles on the Superior Hiking Trail, starting at 24th Ave W and continuing toward the city, past the Twin Ponds. This translated into two mostly-uphill miles on the way back. I felt really awful during the run and slowed way, way down. The good news is the race is only one way! The easy way! I only have a couple more sections of the trail to recon. I think for some of my upcoming long runs, I may need to coerce someone into picking me up at the end of a point to point run, rather than do all these out-and-backs.

25% of the training for this race is in the books. My confidence isn’t exactly soaring from the first three weeks of training, but I am certain I can complete this race. We’ll see how the next 9 weeks progress.