Week 4 of Mo’ Cowbell Half Marathon Training

Here we are after a full month training block. Week 4 of Mo’ Cowbell Half Marathon Training (referral link) is in the bags. It was not perfect, but that’s okay! I am so ready to see this year’s swag. They teased the hoodie a little today and ugh, I just want to see it all!!

I first wanted to throw out, that my favorite Shokz that I run in are on sale for Amazon Prime day! I love my OpenRun Mini’s (affiliate link) so much and have worn them since they first launched. They are originally $129.95 on Amazon but are marked down to $89. These use bone conduction and allow your ear canal to still be open so you can hear your surroundings which is 100% necessary for safety! I was actually able to test out the new Shokz OpenFit (affiliate link) earbuds this week, but these are unfortunately too new to be a part of the sale. They also do not use bone conduction, but do still leave your ear open.

I just had to share because that’s a good deal! Now back to training!

Monday

We walked 1.2 miles in the AM and then 1.4 in the PM. We had the day off so we took two walks together as a family.

Tuesday

3 mile run on the treadmill @ 11:41 pace and 141 avg bpm

• 11:48
• 11:40
• 11:36

Had to dress the part for the holiday and per usual, I never have much. I also lifted prior to my run. Speaking of treadmills and our gym – we will soon be getting heating and cooling in our garage which will make this gym even better! I am so excited for this!

Wednesday

off day

Thursday

4.64 miles at 10:48 pace with 153 avg bpm

• 10:16
• 10:49
• 10:38
• 11:24
• 10:52 (.64)

I didn’t follow the zone 2 for this because I was limited on time, but this was my first run using the new Shokz OpenFit. I love these. I didn’t think I would and I didn’t think I did after this run. I thought they were okay. But honestly, I keep choosing them and it’s because of how comfortable they are. They are so lightweight, but the material behind your ear is so much more forgiving and gentle. In fact, I thought they would fly off running in the heat because of how flimsy they feel but nope, they rocked it out and many more times including my long run.

Friday

off day – I was supposed to run but I was exhausted from a busy week. I knew this would put me slightly behind, but it was just a 30 min easy run and I’m so early in training that I just let it be. And you know what, the world went on and so did I.

Saturday

4 mile run @ 11:04 pace with 145 bpm avg

• 11:02
• 11:11
• 11:14
• 10:52

Then we walked 1.5 evening walk together as a family.

Sunday

I tried two new products from my The Feed order! One in particular I had been really wanting to try was the Spring Awesome Sauce. I really enjoyed this! It tasted just like apple sauce. I don’t love the price point on these but I may justify it because you don’t need as many to fuel since they have 45g of carbohydrates in them and I also drink my Gatorade Endurance. So instead of using 1 gel every 30 minutes that is 20-25, I could use less. So that cuts costs a little bit and then also saves time by not having to consume as much (aka rip them open and focus.) I still have other gels to try but this so far is winning for me.

7 mile long run @ 9:53 pace with 154 avg bpm – I did not follow zone 2 because I wanted to work on pushing myself when I was getting tired. So I sort of turned this into a progressive long run. I know I have these in the future and wanted to just give it a go. Since I was down a run, I wanted to make this more than just an easy run.

• 10:09
• 10:16
• 10:10 – took my Spring
• 9:58
• 9:51
• 9:39
• 9:16

Then I tried the Momentous Recovery and liked that it had L-Glutamine and L-Carnitine in it as well. This is another pricey product. It tasted really good. In fact it was the best tasting chocolate protein powder I have had. I’m not in the market for protein right now as I already have some as well as the mentioned supplements that I got at a whole lot cheaper price. But if there ends up being a nice sale and I need to replenish, I will keep this in mind. Also love that it is Informed Sport and NSF Certified which means it went through Third Party Testing.

So that is the update from me. We will see what week 5 has in store! Which heads up, it has a failed hill workout, so you have that to look forward to reading.