weekly recap: 11/9 – 11/15

How is it possible that we are halfway through November? Can anyone tell me?

So apparently, the Space Coast Half Marathon is in less than two weeks. Not even possible, says I. I’m excited. I’m returning to the scene of my first half marathon, for year 2 of the Big Bang Series, and I feel great about it. Mr PugRunner will be there, too, laced up and pounding the pavement, instead of spectating this time. I’m so incredibly proud of him and I hope his first half marathon experience is amazing.

It’s going to be wonderful having two of these in the house.

 

Here’s how training went last week.

 

Sunday – rest

I say it was a rest day, and for running, it was. But I was up and off with the sun. First up, a birthday cake delivery.

This was tons of fun to make, and the birthday girl loved it!

When I got home, little man went off to a friend’s birthday party with Mr PugRunner and I started getting ready for a night out with my mom. Mr PugRunner and Papa Bear had thoughtfully gifted us with tickets to see Phillip Phillips at the local amphitheater and it was so awesome to get to see him live.

It was a fantastic show. Phillips gave a heartfelt and very personal performance. Of course, my favorite was Gone Gone Gone, which he dedicated to the memory of his grandmother (cue the tears) and I loved his encore cover mashup of Lollipop/Lose Yourself/All I Do Is Win.

 

 

Monday – 3.1 miles

Despite a couple of beers, a late night, and the threat of rain, I popped out of bed bright and early to log my miles. Because I’m a beast. Or because I would have been crushed by guilt if I didn’t. Either way.

It didn’t go too badly, either. Perfect negative splits! Whoo hoo!

 

The crowning glory of the day was this glorious sunset. We are so lucky to have this kind of view from our house.

 

Tuesday – rest

School was closed in honor of Veteran’s Day. Little man had been asking to see Big Hero 6, and so we met up with my parents to watch it.

We all absolutely loved it – we laughed and cried. The story was absolutely beautiful, although little man did get very upset at the end and told me he never wanted to watch it again. At least not until he’s ten. Or fourteen. So.

Afterwards, we got him suited up for his second to last baseball game of the season. He’s been doing so great with his batting, and we were so proud when he hit a solid triple! Way to go, buddy!

 

Wednesday – 3.1 miles

S had texted me and asked if she could tag along with me if I happened to go running during the week. I was thrilled to have a buddy, so we agreed to meet at my house for a few miles.

It was nice to have a friend, especially one who wears the same style shoes as me 🙂

 

Thursday – rest

Thursday was just a chill out kind of day. I ran errands and started setting up a twinkle wall in my house for some holiday photos.

It seems to me that the stores and shopping centers have decorated extra early, and while I am very much Team Respect The Turkey, it’s hard to resist the lure of candy canes and jingle bells. We are holding strong and not decorating until after Thanksgiving/Space Coast weekend. It’s tradition, dang it!

 

Friday – long run, 15.38 miles

After much hemming and hawing, I decided I needed to get in this long run before the hectic weekend. Mr PugRunner would be leaving town, my cousin would be visiting and I had lots of stuff to get done. No time like the present, right? The only glitch was that I had to drop little man at school and then help Mr PugRunner drop off one of our cars for a recall issue, so I would need to get up early, get in some miles, do about 45-60 minutes of driving around, and then finish up.

I got on the road a little after 6:00 AM. I had been hoping to get in eight or nine miles, but it was so incredibly cold and my hands were really bothering me so I only made it to 6.5. Not too bad, but not quite what I was hoping for. I chugged some Gatorade, changed my shirt and headed out for the drop offs.

I asked Mr PugRunner if he would drop me at a spot several miles from our house so I could just run home and get some different scenery and he agreed. It still hadn’t really warmed up much, so it was a pretty annoying run. I got through another 6.6ish miles, when my Garmin started reporting a low battery. I switched over to RunKeeper on my phone, and decided that if I could hit 15 miles for the day, it would be good. Especially since I also ran out of fluid. Boo.

When all was said and done, I felt good. My overall pace was about a 12:09, with which I was really happy. It was a great confidence boost as my last long run before Space Coast.

I wasn’t sore afterwards, but I was pretty pooped. I am pretty sure I was in bed before 9:00 PM. Such an exciting life I lead!

 

Saturday – rest

It would have been nice to sleep in a little, but we had to be up and out for little man’s season ending ball game. The weather was perfect and Nana, Papa Bear and my cousin were in the stands to watch. I think the highlight of the game was that little man, after earning a great spot higher in the batting order, finally scored his very first run. We were all so proud of him (and he was super proud of himself, too!).

Mr PugRunner left right as the last inning ended to begin his drive down to Miami for the Hurricanes game, and little man went home with his grandparents. I had plans for a birthday party and a family photo shoot, but the weather prevented the latter, and I was able to join the family for dinner before heading home to watch some football. It was a late night, to be sure.

 

This was a great week of training for me. The colder weather is becoming easier to handle and I’m feeling better on those longer runs. I have two or three more planned before the marathon, and I think they’re going to be fine. Boring, but fine. And I’m ok with that. My legs feel good, my body feels strong… I don’t know that I can ask for much more.

This week, I am going to mix up some three and five mile runs, to play with my speed and pacing a little. I think it will be good to vary things a bit to keep it interesting.

 

How was your week in training?

What’s the next goal you are hoping to smash?