New York Half Countdown: 1 week to go!

One week away and I'm feeling pumped!!! All the training is pretty much done. This coming week I'll have a few small runs as I taper down and then it's race day!! This will only be the 2nd race we've brought our kids to (the other one was a 5k where we pushed them in strollers). So I'm really happy that the girls will get to see me run and be at the finish line. Talk about motivation! Not only will I have Taber there but knowing that Teya's huge smile and Brinley's squishy checks will be waiting for me at the end will definitely pull me through those last tough miles.

Taber's taking Friday off and my friend's husband has Friday off too, so we're all going to caravan down to New York together. We might check out some sights on Friday or we might just settle in at the hotel, take the kids for a swim, do a major carbo load and hit the sack! Either way I'm just really excited for this weekend. It's been 5 months since my last race and I'm ready to get back into it!

Training went well last week. My long run was kind of funny because I ended up doing it on my treadmill. Long story short, my normal route is cambered and really hilly. Brutal on the knees. I'd been having some shin and knee issues so I was hesitant to run that route. Then my friend got injured and wasn't going to be able to run with me, and the weather was forecast to be 14 degrees. All those things combined made me decide to just pound it out on the treadmill.

It actually went really well and was nice to be able to control my pace. I did the first 6 miles at 6.5 mph (9:13 min/mile pace) and the last 6 miles at 6.6 mph (9:05 min/mile) I threw in a couple sprints at 7 mph (8:34 min/mile) and ended up finishing in an hour and 50 minutes, around a 9:10 pace. I finished my first half marathon at a 9:06 pace, so I'm getting close! I don't know if I'll be able to match it again but I'm competitive enough with myself that I'm going to try! If I don't, no big deal, but it's always fun to have something to shoot for : )

Weekly Goals:

Monday: 5 miles

Tuesday: 3 miles or cross

Wednesday: 5 miles + strength

Friday: 60 minutes cross

Saturday: 12 miles

Outcome:

Monday: 5 miles, outside avg pace, 9:00 min/mile

Wednesday: 3 miles treadmill avg pace 8:48 min/mile

Thursday: 5 miles, treadmill avg pace 8:55 min/mile

Saturday: 12 miles, treadmill avg pace: 9:10 min/mile