This is the recap of Week 13 of Mo’ Cowbell Half Marathon training. I had such a great week of training…once I started. If you read last week’s recap then you probably saw we had travel and then a lot of stress came with that and I honestly didn’t feel up to running until Wednesday. I was nervous that last week and this week were going to be the start to my downhill spiral like last training cycle. But don’t fret, it’s not! I ended the week so strong and am so motivated for this half marathon and my training after! We will get right into it!
But first, I saw a fundraiser that I just had to participate in. To Write Love on Her Arms has a fundraiser for the month of October to pledge on 100 miles. I know some of these miles will need to be walking because I will be recovering a little from the half marathon, but since my half marathon is on October 1, I thought this would be a good cause to share about. I first heard of TWLOHA in high school and honestly I think it was the first time I really learned more about mental health. Since middle school I had been surrounded with my close friends struggling with mental health and I think if I would have been educated more on suicide prevention and mental health in general, I could have been a better friend. If you want to help donate to my fundraiser, or share it for others, you can do so by clicking here.
Monday and Tuesday
off days
Wednesday
3.1 miles @ 10:33 pace – I really felt terrible and that all my days off had ruined me and that all my hard work was for nothing when I did this run.
- 10:48
- 10:51
- 10:09
Thursday
3 miles @ 9:39 pace – did a race preview to remind myself which tangents I wanted to run. My legs were back and I felt good. What I needed going into the 5k race and also to continue my training
- 10:08
- 9:37
- 9:14
Friday
Race night! Postpartum PR! I was not expecting this. Honestly, went into this race just wanting to beat the 26:04 from the previous year. I was using it for speed work. I have been trying to get sub 25 on my 5k after having Kaylea, for well 2 years now. It happened! I’ve talked about this before, but once I finish this half marathon, I’m switching gears to see what I can do when I specifically train for a 5k. I have big dreams that may be years from now, but I’ll keep chopping it down bit by bit.
I warmed up .74 miles and stretched and took a caffeinated Huma gel 30 minutes before the race.
3.14 miles @ 24:36 for 7:50 pace
- 7:33
- 8:02
- 7:59
Then I enjoyed a fried oreo and took the rest home to share and also ate a hot dog.
Saturday
rest day
Sunday
I had only planned to do 10 miles but the beach was open and I’ve never ran when it has been open, so I went down to check it out and that added some extra mileage.
11 miles @ 9:59 pace
- 10:26
- 10:28
- 10:32
- 10:14
- 9:58
- 9:42
- 9:54
- 9:46
- 9:49
- 9:41
- 9:22
I took a gel at around 40 and 80 minutes.
It’s crazy to think it’s almost race day. I’m actually pretty excited. I know currently my speed is not with me, or at least where I would have liked to be, but I do think where I am currently is much improved and better quality than my last training cycle. We will just have to see how it comes out on race day.
