Since I officially registered for my half marathon last week I figure my weekly wrap up will slide right into my training recaps.

Last week I finally hit the registration button for the Johnny Miles Half Marathon on June 18th. If you are new to the blog, I ran this last year but it went horrible wrong when my dog died at home two days prior to the race. My training was on point for a decent race but once I lined up and started running I wanted to quit by 5k. Long story short, I almost had a personal worst and to be even more honest – I don’t know my exact time but it was over 2 h 30 minutes.

Having said that, I’m not setting large expectations on this half marathon. The event itself is great but my goals for the race are to run it better then last year and enjoy it. It’s a double loop and relatively flat course with some long inclines along the road, crusher dust trail and great community involvement (sprinklers and extra hydration stations).

Race: Johnny Miles Event Weekend – Half Marathon (Full, Half, 10k, 5k/kids event)

Where: New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Who is Johnny Miles? Well, he’s a Nova Scotian runner that won Boston Marathon in 1926 and 1929. Yes, ages ago but his story is pretty awesome.

Number of runners: Roughly 3,000 (I think – don’t quote me).

My Johnny Miles Half Marathon 2016 recap can be found here. 

Training Week #5

What was Planned vs What Really Happened

Monday: Cross Train | Cycling 20k. I challenged myself to see if I could get in 45-50 minutes and then decided I wanted to make it to 20k, so I kept going. My legs were like jello after that workout!

Tuesday: Yoga | Yoga.  I went to my lunch time yoga class and it was everything I needed. My back is responded really well to yoga so I’m trying really hard to get to this class as well as 5-10 minutes of stretching/yoga each day.

Wednesday: Run | 7k Treadmill run. I glance briefly at my half made up half old training plan and realized that my mid week runs needed to increase in distance so I went for 7k and it was pretty good.

Tiux Compression Socks discount code: ANNASTIUX get’s you 20% off!!

Thusday:  5k Run | Rest Day. I wimped out and took a rest day.

Friday: Rest Day | Rest Day. I kinda wanted to work out but I took the girls to the city for the night so I could have a little break. You see my husband worked M/T/W/F/S/S this week which was 1 day extra and I’ll be completely honest here – I knew that I’d need a little break from my girls to survive the weekend with them. It may sound horrible or selfish or terrible but I’ve come to know my limits and I’ve come to know when I need a little help from my friends and family.

Saturday: 12k Long Run | 12k Treadmill run!!!! I’ll break it down for ya. Saturday morning was going to be spent running errands (without kids) and then the afternoon was going to be my long run. It’s not quiet how it went down but I did get my run in.

I desperately needed new work clothing so I literally spent 3 hours shopping and it was horrible and great. My first purchase was for my daughters – go figure, right! I manged to find some great outfits (shirts, blazer, pants) and even ate out for lunch – by myself! I dropped by to visit my Aunt and Uncle and spent a little more time there then I expected but it didn’t really bother me. My run would happen later in the evening or I’d move it to Sunday.

I eventually made it back to my parents house, had dinner and packed up the girls to head home – it’s an hour’s drive. They brushed their teeth and had their pj’s on as it was straight to bed when we got home. It took about 45 minutes for them to settle down and fall asleep so I jumped on my treadmill at 7:50 PM – YUP!!!

I figured I was either crazy or stupid for attempting to run after such a long day but I didn’t want a third day to be a rest day. So, I plugged away at the 12k. I watched Chicago Med, polished off a bottle of lemon lime Nuun, 2 fruit-to-go bars and a larger bottle of water. After C.Med ended, I started watching Grey’s Anatomy.

I ran at a slow but steady pace. It was comfortable at times and then I’d speed it up. I took a few walk breaks, food/water breaks and then at 11.6k in I heard Hilary crying upstairs. I paused my treadmill and ran up the stairs. HAVE YOU EVER RUN UP STAIRS AFTER 11 KILOMETRES???? Wobbly legs 100%.

She was crying on the toilet for who know’s what reason. So I cleaned her up, washed her face and hands and got her back in bed. “Love you Mama” she said as I left her room, “love you too sweetheart”, I replied back. Oh…some Mama moments are the best.

I ran back down the stairs with slightly less wobbly legs and finished off the last .40 of the last kilometre. And just like that it was done! I stretched, showered, put on a clean pair of Tiux compression socks – actually the red endurance socks and laid on my bed with heat on my back.

I eventually fell asleep but woke up when my husband got home after he finished his shift (he’s a Paramedic). Not 5 minutes later Hilary was up and in our bed upset about something else! She slept between us for a while….well, let’s be honest, it was more like she had her own personal boxing match between the two of us. Hand jab to my back here, foot kick to my leg here, who know’s what she did to my husband. We put her back in her bed and both finally got to sleep.

Sometimes I wonder how we parents function on NO sleep!

Total mileage for this week: 19 km running, 20 km cycling, 1 yoga class.

Last year’s training at this stage in the training plan can be found here. Not a bad week of training. Don’t get me wrong, I’d like to see my mileage a little higher at this point but with one missed 5k and some good cross training this week, I’m find with how it my training this week went.

How was your week?

Have you ever gone back to a race for redemption? 

Does your Province or State have an event similar (after a Boston Marathon winner) event?

I’m joining the Weekly Wrap hosted by HoHo Runs and MissSippiPiddlin.