Week 12--Check!

Race Day is only 52 days away!  While it may SEEM like there's a lot of time, in reality I know these next few weeks are going to fly by.  Week 12 felt a little bit stronger than Week 11, but I'm still feeling a little tired.  I haven't been settling into the paces that had become the norm for the first half of training as easily (or at all) and it's been a little discouraging.  I think as Race Day approaches I'm just going to have to keep reminding myself that I've put in a lot of hard work and to trust my training.

Tuesday night I hit the 'mill and while it wasn't my fastest 5 miles it felt significantly better than last weeks' did.  I tried to just relax and enjoy my beloved Wait! Wait! podcast and soon I was done.

On Thursday I did the 15 minute Nike Training Club "Butt Buster" workout followed by some various ab and arm exercises I did at random.  Whatever they were they must have done something because my abs were SO sore on Friday! I guess that's what happens when you neglect them for so long.  Oops.

Saturday made me one happy girl because there was a ton of sunshine!  Maddux and I headed out to one of our favorite parks and while we froze our butts off (it was in the low 20s and pretty windy!) we got almost an hour hike in thanks to the shield from the trees.  I loved watching my pup have such a great time!  After I warmed up for a while I bundled up and headed to another of our favorite parks to get in a 5 mile run.  Even though it was cold, it was just too pretty outside to do a treadmill run.  While it took my body quite a while to get warmed up, my last two miles ended up being right around where my pace had been for weeks and the miles seemed to go by really fast despite the cold.

I really love this place.

Sunday was another sunny day!  I had an 8x800 workout on the plan and at first figured I would do them on the treadmill to be sure that I would hit the paces that I needed.  I hated the thought of running inside (especially since it was warmer than Saturday!) and remembered that my Garmin has a virtual pacer option on it.  I had never used it before and wasn't quite sure what to expect, but it ended up being a great tool.  While I'm not sure I'd use it during a race (I could never get it QUITE right and it beeped.  A lot.) I will definitely use it for my upcoming intervals.   It was really nice to have a good, strong workout and I was proud of how well it went.  After a quick nap, Maddux and I headed to the park and got in a nice walk.  He got lots of compliments from a family walking their dog about how cute and well behaved he was.  So proud of my boy!

Today marks the start of Week 13 (I do my weeks Monday-Sunday) and while I would typically take a rest day after a harder run, I knew I had to take advantage of the last sunny, warm day we're supposed to have for a while.  I took a nice easy 5 mile run around my neighborhood and while my quads screamed at me for the majority of it, it was nice to have it checked off.  After a quick shower, Maddux and I headed up to Baltimore to meet up with my cousin and her husband to explore the Soldier's Delight park, one of the trails in our Doggin' Maryland book.  We had a nice, muddy hike and it was a great way to end the long weekend!

I hope everyone's week is off to a great start!