Longest Post Ever.

Week in Review:
Monday- an easy 3.02 miles
Tuesday- 6x400@5k pace = 3.60 miles
Wednesday- Strength stuff in my living room
Thursday- Chocolate cake with cherries + Milk Stout for hubby's birthday.
Friday- 30 35 minute tempo run in the morning = 3.32 miles
Saturday- half marathon expo

Good thing it was a little bit of a taper this week, because work whooped me this week.  I can also tell how busy/tired I am because my Gmail inbox is over 150, which is ridiculous.  I need to take some time to clean that up tomorrow.

Monday's dinner... and leftovers for lunch throughout the entire week:
Creamy Caprese Pasta from How Sweet it Is.
I actually read the recipe on her blog that day, before going grocery shopping after work.  It looked awesome and sounded easy enough so it became dinner that night.



-I used half whole wheat penne and half whole wheat rotini...cleaning up the leftover pasta in our pantry.
-I had 17 ounces of pasta instead of 16.
-I initially cut up 4 oz of mozzarella, but ended up using more like 6 oz after slicing some extra for the top of the pasta dish before it went in the oven.
-The sauce I used was vodka sauce (see above, operation: use what's in the pantry)
-It completely filled an 8" x 8" x 4" deep baking dish






Tuesday: Haircut:

It was long overdue.  Last chop was November.


Details of my Tuesday Speed Work:
After my hair was blow-dried and had anti-frizz stuff in it, I put it in a pony tail and ran.

Goal pace was in the 9:24-9:28 range.
Not very consistent...but consistently faster than 9:24!

I shocked myself with that first 400...while fast, it was strangely NOT uncomfortable!  Maybe after this fourth half marathon is past me, and my legs have recovered, I'll see how fast I can run a mile.  I might be pleasantly surprised.

Wednesday I did strength stuff in my living room:

2 x 10 stability ball pushups

10 chest pushups on knees

10 tricep pushups on knees

3 x 25 regular crunches

2 x 40 bicycle crunches

2 x 45 sec plank on forearms
2 x 20 stability ball crunches

2 x 15 second laying on back with legs straight, feet 6" off ground
15 up and outs (for lower abs - lay on back, legs straight up in the air, bring down and then out straight in front of you. Repeat.)
2 x 20 russian twists w/5lb weight
plank sequence: 20 sec plank...turn to right side, left arm in air: 8 reaches with left arm, 20 sec plank, turn to left side: 8 reaches with right arm

10 jumping jacks

3 x 20 deadlift-->upright row w/5lb weights (see Tone It Up video here, at :58)

2 x 10 tricep extensions w/5lbs

2 x 15 squats with 5lbs
2 x 10 squats
2 x 10 lunges w/5lbs in each hand, arms at sides

30 second wall sit

2 x 30 lunges with bicep curl - alternating sides

No, not in that order. Yes, I wrote it all down as I did it.

Saturday:

Half marathon Expo/Packet Pickup in Philly.

 Parking Garage Fail ^

 Race Shirt - men's sizing only, so I hope my husband likes it.

Looking forward to the souvenir pint glass at the finish line :)

I think this is what I'm wearing tomorrow:

Sweaty band?  + Sunglasses if it's sunny. Or hat instead?
I'll probably bring it all and decide last minute.


Current forecast for tomorrow? Pretty perfect:

Race number pinned on. Garmin is charging. Pre-Race jitters starting to set in.

Going to try to force myself to bed at 9:30 (yikes), for a 5am wake up.

Then at 5am I will try to choke down a banana and some almond butter on toast when my body doesn't even know I'm awake and hungry yet.  Then a 45 minute drive to Philly, then run!

A Goal: sub-2:15 would be amazing! ( <10:19 pace)
B Goal: 2:15-2:17 would still be a PR (10:19-10:28 pace)
C Goal: sub-2:19 would also still be a PR :)  (<10:37 pace)