Alright, we are getting closer to race weekend…only 5 more weeks to go….actually 32 days! Last week’s training had me running in Halifax (Nova Scotia) and Charlottetown (Prince Edward Island) and it couldn’t have been any better.

What Was Planned vs What Really Happened:

Monday August 3rd (Holiday) Rest Day – Rest Day at the Cleveland beach with our girls {traveled to Halfax}.

Tuesday – 5k – 5k. I got up early to get this run in my old neighbourhood. The girls were still sleeping as I ran but were up before I got back to my parents house. Later that day, we spent 5 hours in our car driving to PEI. One hour was spent having a picnic, looking at motorcycles and trucks and a little bubble blowing.

Wednesday – 8k – Nothing. Spent the day with my family; we played in a playground in the morning and then hit up Brackley Beach {PEI} in the afternoon. We all swam in the ocean, built sand castles and just hung out….it was a perfect!

Thursday – 5k – 14k long run. I decided to do my long run on Thursday vs trying to do it Saturday before heading back to Halifax with the girls (4-5 hour drive on my own again).

I wanted to run some of the PEI Half Marathon route since I’ll be doing that on October 16-18th weekend, so I ran first half of the loop and then got a little lost. I knew the area I was in and how to get out but I couldn’t find one street (Brittany Ave) the bottom half of the route. I did a loop and ran up towards North River Road to Capitol Drive then found myself at the end of a road. I did however, find the Confederation trail at the end of the road and proceeded along that for a while.

I saw a few runners and walkers – that was fun. Still, I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to get back to the house. I zigged and zagged a bit but eventually found where I was going. Little did I know if I stayed on the trail, I would have ended up finishing right beside the house! Go figure!!!!

It was the best long run I’ve had in a while. My legs felt great, my lungs felt good, it wasn’t muggy and the sun was shining. I had a nice blister forming on my baby toe but didn’t let that stop me…the only thing that did was the stop lights.

Friday – Rest Day – 8k.  I was hoping to run between 5- 8 km but wasn’t sure how my blister would hold up. I hit a lot of stop lights again 😦 Ahhh well, I ran on the boardwalk again and after completing 5 km, I took a little break to stretch. I was still far away from the house so I decided to keep running. I ran by the house just over 7 km so I kept running on the Confederation Trail until I hit 8k.

Enter blister #2 😦

Saturday – 14k – Unplanned Rest Day. We drove back from PEI (about a 4.5 hour trip) and I was planning on going to the gym that evening once the girls went to bed. I also wanted to do some shopping for new running shorts (which I did but wasn’t successful unless I wanted to buy runder-wear shorts). When I looked online to see what time the gym closed, it said 8pm. It was already 7pm and shopping had to be done before cause nobody wants to shop after a sweaty gym workout.

I was disappointed that I wouldn’t get my workout in, so I went shopping anyway. After feeling frustrated that I could only purchase tight & SUPER short runder-wear shorts *like running in your underwear SHORT*, I purchased a pair of cycling shorts! Not running shorts but a nice win!

Sunday – Cross Train – 5k + PT exercises.  I needed this run, not just to get all my mileage in this week but I had a rough day with the girls. I put on my “badass mother runner” tank but felt like more of a bad mother then anything. Rough day = rough run but I got it done {survived the day and survived 5k}.

Overall: This was a great week with my family and I managed all my runs while on vacation – no complaints here.

Highlights:

• Swimming at Brackley Beach with my family. I could have spent all day here with them.
• Long run in Charlottetown – temperature was perfect and my body (minus my toes) was loving every step I took.

Low point: Not getting to the gym Saturday and blisters 😦

Week 7 # of km:  32

Total KM of training to date: 188

Looking forward to this week: Figuring out how to get back to work and balance running, being a mom and life things! Also, I’m really needing to do a better job of getting in ALL my PT exercises done in one day.I’m also nervous to see my Physiotherapist tomorrow! Eeek!

Week 6 if you missed it.

How was your weekend?

Anyone run or beach it up?

What’s your favourite pair of running shorts (looking for recommendations)?