Maritime Race Weekend {MRW} is in FOUR weeks! I’m really not sure how I feel about this and trying to figure out how I’ll get my last two long runs done without using the treadmill! They are a few weeks away but already on my mind.

What was Planned vs What Really Happened: 

Monday August 10th – Rest Day – 20km bike ride! This was my last vacation day so I took advantage of the girls being in day care and went for a bike ride! This was my first bike ride in YEARS!

Tuesday – 5k – 5k Treadmill Run. I decided to push the pace on this treadmill run and it felt great. ALSO – I got released from Physiotherapy!!! 

Wednesday – 8k Pace – Yoga @ Lunch & 8k Treadmill Run. My body just needed to stretch so I went to a yoga class at lunch {Hatha Renewal} and then I challenged my pace again later that night on the treadmill. Double workout day! It was a hot one and I relied on my green little fan to get me through it.

Thursday – 5k – 5k of HILLS. My husband was home which meant I could run outside so I took to the hills. I managed 8 hill repeats before trotting home and finishing off 5k. My upper arms/shoulder area was really sore and I couldn’t figure out why! I thought it might be because I’m running so much lately but no…sadly it wasn’t that. It took me a while but then I remembered I did yoga the day before and THAT’S why my arms were so sore! Benefits of cross training for ya! 

Friday – Rest Day – Rest Day. Nailed it! Beer may have been involved … just one though 😉

Saturday – 16k Long Run – 16k Long Run. I was super excited to do this run SUPER early in the morning before hitting the road to Halifax for some family stuff. 

I got up at 5:30 AM, got ready to run and managed to start running at 6:10. I was 100% colour coordinate for this run and loved all of it…ha ha. I didn’t care what anyone thought of me….even the trucker that laid on its horn twice and threw his hands up in the air twice at me.

I decided around the 3km mark that I would add in a few extra hills since the MRW course is supposed to be hilly. Well, that was a terrible idea! At 8km, I had my chocolate GU and pitched it in a garbage bin and kept running. It was a point-to-point run for me which meant those hills I did on the way out…I had to do on the way back. WHAT WAS I THINKING??????

From 11 – 16 km was just terrible. I plowed up the bigger hills pretty good but struggled on the longest ever inclines. Seriously, I even had to stop and walk. Maybe it was a mental struggle too but physically I was toast! I started calculating my finish time at my current pace and I think that just made things worse. I know I shouldn’t complain about my pace after being injured for 6 months with my hamstring but my head just doesn’t want to accept how slow fast my legs are moving. I was disappointed with my time – it happens.

Eventually I posted this picture on Instagram…..

…….and after reading a comment from another runner (Ashley) ….it made me re-think my time. It made me think how far I’ve come and be proud of what I am accomplishing with my running right now. Thanks girl 🙂

After getting to Halifax, running our errands, dropping off the girls to my parent’s place, I went and ate this burrito salad:

DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And then we had more family time in the afternoon at my nieces baptism. So great to see my whole family!

Sunday – Cross Train – Cross Train: 7km bike ride. I just wanted a nice and easy ride but decided to challenge myself once again – seriously, what was I doing last week?!?!?! 

I decided to ride on a road {HILL} and see how far I could climb up this hill. Actually, it’s a mountain {English Mountain Road}. Plus there is a fair amount of cars on this road – something I’m not comfortable with on a bike.

Anyway….off I went and up I climbed. Holy $hi!, it was super hard but I reach the point of the road I wanted to without stopping. I then road back down the road which was super fun going so fast and back into my subdivision only to go down a massive trail and back home. The girls were out biking before I left on my ride, had snack and were out again riding their bikes. We “road” together for a bit!

Overall: I feel this was my best yet challenging week yet! I pushed myself {pace wise} on my treadmill runs, running lots of hills and then finished my week off with challenging long run and bike ride.

Highlights: Seeing my whole family. Riding my bike and running 5k of hills {crazy, I know!}

Low Points: Long run – the hills.

Weather: It’s been a hot and muggy week in the Valley and looking like this week coming will be even worse. Running is back to hard work even at 6/7am.

Total week 8 km run: 34

Total km during training: 222!

Looking forward to this week: Running outside when I can….might not happen until the weekend so I’ll have to suck it up and either treadmill run or runch it out!

In case you missed week #7.

Ever look back at a run and rethink your success?

How often do you cross train?

How’s running {insert exercise of choice} going for you this summer?