Half Marathon Training Week 5 – May 2012 LMJS 4th Sunday 10K

half marathon training week five
Monday – 55 minutes kickboxing
Tuesday – ran 2 miles
Wednesday – ran 3 miles
Thursday –BodyPump (60 minutes weight lifting)
Friday – rest
Saturday- rest
Sunday – ran 7 miles

Mileage total for the week – 12

This was a pretty good week for exercise.  We had a substitute instructor for kickboxing Monday night, and to be honest I didn’t enjoy the class.  The usual TurboKick instructors put together routines and combinations that keep it really interesting; this guy just had us do one move over and over and over.  Granted, it was a good workout and I was sweating like mad by the end, but if it’s not fun I’m a lot less likely to go to class.  I hope they find someone good to take it over permanently soon.

Tuesday I was sore, so I took it easy on the 2 mile run.  I ended up with an average pace of 11:24 though, which is pretty good for me, so it must not’ve been that easy.  Wednesday’s run was a bit of a struggle – I felt like I was either pushing or pulling back on my pace the whole time, I just couldn’t settle in.

I had a run scheduled for Friday, but I spent half the work day packing up our office (we’re moving tomorrow), and by the time we got home I was exhausted.  I decided to rest in order to be well-prepared for a 10K on Sunday.

I had 7 miles on the calendar for Sunday, and I planned to run the LMJS Fourth Sunday Run 10K and just keep going a little after the finish line.  7 miles pushes into the distance where I feel like I need to take in some fuel during the run, so I wore my ifitness belt and carried water and a Vega Sport endurance gel.  I also took my iPhone and listened to music, since I was running alone.

My goals for the 10K were:
A)  Finish.
B)  Keep my pace around or under a 12 minute mile, and set a personal record.
C)  Don’t make an ass out of myself (this is also a general life goal)…

Miles 1 and 2 went well, right around an average of 12:00/mile.  I took a brief walking and water break at the beginning of the third mile.  I didn’t necessarily need to stop, but thought it was a good strategy to get through.  The fourth mile was uneventful, I fell into a good pace and got a little boost from passing the 10K halfway point (the course goes twice around Lake Merritt).  At the beginning of the fifth mile, I walked for a bit to take the energy gel. I’ve never eaten a gel before, and I was actually impressed with the orange zest flavor.  It tasted like a mixture of dates and applesauce (even though there was no apple in it), with a nice citrusey flavor.  I absolutely felt a surge of energy, my fifth mile only took 11:30, which is a fantastic pace for me, especially that far in to a long run.  Entering the sixth mile I checked my watch and saw that I could PR, so I decided to give the end of the 10K everything I had, then treat the remaining .8 miles as a cool down.  Approaching the finish line, my Garmin read 1:14:30 when it crossed 6.2 miles.  My official time for the race, however, was 1:15:37.  I was the last 10K runner to finish, but that really doesn’t bother me.  I know I’m slow!  At least I only got lapped by a few of the 15K runners.  The official time is 40 seconds faster than my previous 10K time, so I met my goal of setting a personal record.

As I crossed the finish line, I kept running and accepted a finisher’s ribbon from a volunteer.  She said “still going strong” and as I ran away another volunteer yelled “one more mile!”.  That made me feel so great!  I ran really easy until I reached 7 miles (the blister on the inside of my left heel was really bad by this point), and I was impressed to find that I still had energy to burn at the end.  My total time was 1:24:02, for a perfect average pace of 12:00.  Considering this was the farthest I’ve ever run so far, I was extremely happy with how it went.  Now, to keep building mileage until I reach 13.1!

Food-wise, I wasn’t even close to my goal for this week, which was to leave half of my activity points unused.  In reality, I ate them all and then went even further over my limit.

Totals for 5/23/12 – 5/29/12

Daily points used:  196/196
Weekly points used:  94/49
Activity points earned:  33
Activity points used:  33
Points left on the table:  -45

My resolve was not as strong this week as I had intended.  I know what my nemeses are:  red wine and tortilla chips.  I had much too much of both.  I thought the three day weekend might do me in, but that wasn’t really it.  I just made too many poor choices, and didn’t exercise self control as much as I would’ve liked.  I need to get to the grocery store ASAP to stock up on fruits and veggies to make those choices easier for myself.

Friday, 5/25/12

breakfast – smoothie (banana, raspberries, hemp seeds, ground flax, carob powder, spinach, almond milk)
AM snack – strawberries, 12 almonds, coffee with vanilla coconut creamer
lunch – chickpea flour cake with peppery tempeh-mushroom filling, stir fry with black bean garlic sauce (cabbage, carrot, celery, bell pepper, kelp noodles)
PM snack – salad (romaine, carrot, celery, bacon flavored chips, 1 tsp sunflower seeds, 1 Tbs goddess dressing)
dinner – jerk tofu with vegetables, rice & peas, cabbage salad, fried plantains
after dinner – 18 oz red wine, dinner roll

daily points used:  28
activity points used:  13
weekly points used:  16

Saturday, 5/26/12

breakfast – banana with 1 Tbs almond butter, coffee with almond milk
AM snack – multigrain pretzel braids
lunch @ baseball game – seitan hot dog on wheat hot dog bun with grilled onions, ketchup, mustard and relish, 1/2 oz dill pickle potato chips, grilled asparagus, grilled portobello, 4 oz wine
PM snack – broccoli, carrots & cucumber with 1/4 cup hummus, 16 oz light beer
dinner – Amy’s California burger on wheat hamburger bun with Daiya Jack, pickles, grilled asparagus
after dinner – three small chocolate chip cookies, 14 oz red wine

daily points used:  28
weekly points used:  30

Sunday, 5/27/12

breakfast – sprouted grains English muffin with 1 Tbs almond butter, coffee with almond milk
pre-run – Vega Pre-Workout Energizer drink
during run – Vega Endurance Gel
post-run – smoothie (banana, raspberries, sprouted chia powder, maca powder, coconut water, spinach)
post-run 2 – chocolate Vega Performance Protein in almond milk
PM snack – multigrain pretzel braids
dinner – vegetarian chili with avocado, Daiya Jack and tortilla chips
after dinner – chocolate chip cookie, 12 oz red wine

exercise – ran 7 miles (84 minutes), walked 10 minutes

daily points used:  28
activity points earned:  16
weekly points used:  3
non-existent points used:  17

Monday, 5/28/12

breakfast – grits with nutritional yeast
AM snack – multigrain pretzel braids
lunch @ baseball game – vegan Italian sausage on a bun with grilled onions & peppers,  ketchup, mustard & relish, garlic fries with ketchup, 16 oz light beer
dinner – vegetarian chili with tortilla chips, chocolate chip cookie, 10 oz red wine

daily points used:  28
non-existent points used:  25

Tuesday, 5/29/12

breakfast – smoothie (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, pomegranate juice, plant fusion protein powder)
AM snack – cherries, 12 almonds, coffee with vanilla coconut creamer
lunch – vegetarian chili with tortilla chips, orange
PM snack – carrot & celery sticks with 1/4 cup sun-dried tomato basil hummus
PM snack 2 – chocolate chip cookie
dinner – broiled tofu and roasted cabbage over brown rice with dulse flakes & 1 tsp sesame seeds

exercise – ran 2 miles (24 minutes), walked 10 minutes

daily points used:  28
activity points earned:  5
non-existent points used:  3

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