The leaves are finally starting to fall around here in New York which excited me this week because I had been waiting to take some sort of falling leaves photo to use as a header image for my NYCRUNS Falling Leaves Half Marathon training recaps!
As I designed the below image, I found it crazy that I was typing out week #3 of training already with week #4 to begin tomorrow. I think that when you only follow an 8 week half marathon training plan, the days just seem to fly by more than usual.
Monday – 6 Miles
I ran a little over 6 miles actually because I wasn’t in a rush so I figured I would just finish out the hour of running 60 minutes easy.
Tuesday – 8 Miles (speed work)
2 mile warm up + 8 x 3 min 10k pace/2 min easy + cool down
Whenever I am to run timed intervals, I tend to lose track of which one I am up to so I have a feeling I ran 9 sets instead of 8 but that’s okay because I felt great!
Pre-run yoga happened today too because I remembered to stop and stretch before heading out the door.
Wednesday – Pure Barre & 4 Miles
The Pure Barre Tone in 10 workouts really come in handy during half marathon training as I tend to find myself not in the mood for full Pure Barre routines.
It becomes a mental thing.
I would rather piece together 10 minute Pure Barre workouts which mentally feel like nothing (even though they are physically challenging) instead of turning on a 35-55 minute Pure Barre start to finish workout. Does that make sense?
I combined two Pure Barre Tone in 10 workouts for a total of 20 minutes of strength training before heading outside for 4 easy miles.
Pure Barre Tone in 10 Combo:
Arms & Abs
Thighs & Seat
Thursday – 8 Miles
On the schedule was a 2 mile warm up + 4 miles at half marathon pace + cool down.
My right hamstring felt a little tight (not a normal thing for me), my feet were cramped from walking way too many city blocks in heels on Wednesday and my period decided to do its typical day four thing and give me cramping feelings like one gets on the first day of a cycle.
None of this combined for good running conditions!
For these reasons, I chose to extend my warm up to 3 miles, assuming that the longer I gave my feet and hamstring to warm up, the better I would feel and more able I would be to find my groove.
While I never felt awesome, the extra mile warm up totally helped me and I did okay during the half marathon paced miles.
I was a little confused by Runkeeper though. When the voice chimed in my ear at the splits, it told me the half marathon paced miles were averaging in the 7:35 – 7:55 range but the split screen at the end of my workout displayed 8:14, 8:08, 8:12, 8:06.
Whatever, my effort was there.
Friday – Pure Barre & 3.25 Miles
No joke my feet were still feeling cramped from walking in the city on Wednesday! My heels are actually really comfortable shoes so I think I was just on my feet for way too many hours, at least way too many hours for a girl in the middle of training for a half marathon.
Saturday – 14 Miles
I haven’t run 14 miles in quite some time I think! The plan simply called for 14 miles with no structure so I chose to run a version of my 13 mile long run workout just to give me something to mentally engage myself for the two hours.
With an overall average pace of 8:54, I would say the run went really well.
Sunday – Not Running!
I definitely need a day off from running but I may sneak in a Pure Barre workout in the morning instead of doing it tomorrow.
Of Possible Interest:
NYCRUNS Falling Leaves Half Marathon Training Week #1
NYCRUNS Falling Leaves Half Marathon Training Week #2
NYCRUNS Falling Leaves Half Marathon Training Week 3 #running #halfmarathon #training #workouts #NYCRUNS #purebarre Click To TweetHow often do you strength train while training for a race?
Best thing you ate so far this weekend?
This week was great for running and it is actually starting to look and feel like fall! The last time I trained for a marathon I did 1 day of strength training plus a few shorter core strength sessions. Now I think I would have to do more than that, but I also like putting together shorter workouts.
Lisa @ Running Out Of Wine recently posted…A Look Back at September 2016
it’s definitely feeling like fall for today. I hope it sticks around, I am tired of the warm weather!
No matter how comfortable the heels, they do a number on the feet! I try to do Pilates at least once per week and strength train once per week in training, although my goal is usually a combined three workouts.
Laura @ This Runner’s Recipes recently posted…Nutritional Takeaways from the Rise.Run.Retreat
I am aiming for 3 strength workouts too. just wish I would remember to do the yoga in the morning too! I keep forgetting somehow.
Wow, you’re going to be really prepared for your half marathon, having already done a 14 mile run. I don’t think I’ve ever ran more than the half marathon distance for it, but that’s a great idea. While training for a race, strength training so often goes out the window for me, but maybe next race, I hope to do it more like 2 times a week.
Emily recently posted…Apple White Chocolate Caramel Bars + A Giveaway Announcement!
yeah, running is definitely a focus when training that it’s tough to get the strength in but it’s so important. I love following my training plan and I definitely like running a little over the half marathon distance because time on the feet is really beneficial in training.