Week 4 was definitely a much stronger week of training for the Bremen Half Marathon, even though a lot of it got pushed towards the weekend. My legs are aching and I’m totally in the training mindset now — I love finding that fine balance between challenging yourself without destroying yourself for the next day’s run. My paces still aren’t anywhere near where they would need to be for a personal best at the race, so I’m going to need to keep pushing myself a little harder. But all in all, I’m pretty satisfied.
Monday: 40 minutes swimming. I thought I might die of boredom before finishing 40 minutes, so I counted my laps to keep myself occupied (550 meters total). I’m ridiculously slow, but always end up exhausted afterwards, so I guess that’s all that matters!
Tuesday: Planned rest day. Skyping with my parents in Seattle, which is a nine-hour time difference.
Wednesday: Easy 3.5-mile run through the Bürgerpark.
Thursday: Unplanned rest day. An 11-hour workday kind of destroyed my will to run.
Friday: 35-minute tempo run. 10 minutes warm-up, 15-minutes tempo, 10-minutes cool down. I was actually pretty pleased with my pace for the tempo, and hope that it keeps dropping over the next weeks.
Saturday: Easy 3.5-mile run + 15 minutes strength training. One of those runs where you’re happy to be alive and all is right with the world.
Saturday: 7-mile long run. My GPS didn’t kick in until about half-an-hour into my run, so thank goodness I measured out the route pretty accurately in advance. I felt pretty good despite having tired legs from the two previous days.
All in all: I’m happy I hit all four days of running and one day of cross-training. I would really love it if I didn’t have to run on Saturday, but I guess I’ll take what I can get there. I need to also be more disciplined about getting my strength training in — I know it makes me a better runner and keeps me injury free. My strategy for this week will be 15 minutes after each run during the week — regularly enough to be effective, but short enough so that I don’t talk myself out of it because of lack of time.
Thanks for following along and see you next week!
Dr. Mandi,
I’m enjoying your journal about the Bremen half mainly because I can sense your goal, so instead of just seeing what you’ve done, you’re looking forward as well.
You may have heard that my left hip has gone south on me. Last day to run was May 5th and I finally have my first orthopedist appointment August 24th. The future is a bit cloudy presently.
Keep charging,
Clyde
Dear Clyde, Thank you! Yes, my parents told me about the problems you’ve been having with your hip. That does not sound like any fun at all. I hope your orthopedist can help improve the situation and that you’re back up and running soon!