Run Laughlin Half Marathon Training Week 9

After today's long run, I'm not quite as confident about Run Laughlin next weekend as I was after last weekend's long run. I'll go into more details down below, but I hit a wall today. HARD. I specifically chose a route today that started with a good sized hill, because Run Laughlin has some hills at the start. It became pretty evident that I didn't do enough hill training during this training cycle. :-(

Not all hope is lost, though. I know I'll still have a good race on Saturday. Come back on Tuesday to read about my race day strategy and goals.

Training Recap Week 9: 11/20 - 11/26

Monday, 11/20
Plan - REST
Actual - REST
I like Monday morning rest days after Sunday morning long runs. :-) I still got up early, though, and wrote a post with 2 pumpkin recipes.

Tuesday, 11/21
Plan - Benchmark | 7:00 Warmup | 3:00 HARD | 5:00 Cool Down
Actual - REST
I just couldn't get moving!

Wednesday, 11/22
Plan - REST
Actual - 1.39 miles | 15:00 | 10'47" pace + Quick-Hit Abs
After 2 rest days, I needed to get back to it. I did Tuesday's benchmark run and then an abs workout in the NTC app. My Garmin went a little haywire though. It wouldn't save my workout. :-( After about 20 minutes, I tried a hard shut down. When I turned it back on, it asked if I wanted to save the run. It had continued to track me for another 20 minutes. :( It was super frustrating. More than it should have been.

Less than a week until #RunLaughlin! Week 9 ended with a TOUGH run. @EnjoytheCourse is still hopeful of a great race, though.

Thursday, 11/23 🦃
Plan - Recovery Run | 5.75 miles | Easy pace
Actual - 4 miles | 1:05:14 | 16'18" pace + 1.14 miles | 11:35 | 10'10" pace
I got up super early and met a group for a trail run across town. We caught a beautiful sunrise!

It's a fairly technical trail, so it was a bit slow going, but it was a beautiful morning. I'm so glad that I was able to go! After the run, we had some yummy kefir in fancy snifters.

I tried using Charity Miles on the trail run, but it didn't work, so I ran another mile+ when I got back home. The RW Run Streak started today, and I'm hoping to get a 40 day streak in the Charity Miles app. I love that Runner's World teamed up with Charity Miles for this winter's streak.

Friday, 11/24
Plan - REST
Actual - 1.01 miles | 11:36 | 11'30" pace
I was one of the unlucky ones that had to work on Friday, so I got in 1 mile before work. Work was surprisingly busy, but we did get to leave at 11AM and work the rest of the day from home.

Saturday, 11/25
Plan - Go, Rest, Repeat (NTC workout)
Actual - 1.11 miles | 15:06 | 13'37" pace + NTC workout
I decided that my rest day miles would be good runs to take Sallie with me. She loves to run, and I don't take her nearly as often as I probably should. She was pretty pooped by the end.

After our run, I did the workout in the NTC app. It was great!

Sunday, 11/26
Plan - Long Run | 11.25 miles | Comfortable Pace
Actual - 11.03 miles | 2:03:51 | 11'14" pace
I looked up the route of the Run Laughlin race and saw that it had a few miles of uphill, so I chose this morning's route because I wanted to see how I'd do with the hills. I should have done this one more often throughout my training, because it kind of killed me.

See how steep it started? Hard for me to maintain a sub-10'30" pace. Once I got to the top, I was better at staying within my range of 10'30" and 9'30" pace, but then I hit a wall at mile 7. HARD. The only thing I could do was walk. Mentally, I just couldn't fathom running. I turned off my slow pace alert and just walked and walked. For over a mile I walked. I was OK with it. I wasn't going to beat myself up. I just had to accept it and move on. Even if that meant walking.

In the beginning of the run, I saw the Strip off in the distance. It was peeking through some fog and looked kind of magical. It was so far away and I had to zoom way in, so the picture doesn't do it justice.

And that's how my week of training ended. Saturday is the race, and I'm still really excited about it!

Numbers
Runs: 5 runs | 19.68 total miles
Strength: 2 days
Yoga: 0 sessions
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Next week's meals:
Still trying to keep it super simple and focus on using items already in our cupboards.

Breakfast:
Some kind of overnight oats with blueberries

Lunch:
PBJs
Tuna sandwiches

Dinner:
One Pot Easy Lasagna Soup
Mexican Beef and Rice



I'm linking up today with Tricia & Holly for the Weekly Wrap. Have a fantastic  week!!