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Welcome to the start of another week! I’ve been continuing on with my half marathon training and while this past week wasn’t perfect, I can’t complain too much!
Once again, I’m joining Hoho and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap! It’s such a great linkup where dozens of awesome running and healthy living bloggers participate and share what’s going on in their active lives each week! Michelle from Running With Attitude is serving as Guest Host this week!
I’m also joining Courtney for her Weekly Training Linkup! Check it out and see all of the races fellow bloggers are training for!
Check out my #weeklywrap, including running in Kansas City and Nebraska! Click To Tweet
This past weekend, I spent some time in Kansas City and Nebraska with Bret for a long weekend vacay. His hometown was having its 125th-anniversary celebration, some class reunions, and a fundraiser for a new Splash Park for the kids. Bret’s family contributed to the fundraiser and were given special honors, and I was so happy to be there.
Our first day was in Kansas City. We had some flight issues on Thursday evening so instead of arriving around 10:30 pm, we made it there closer to 1:30 in the morning. Spending 5 hours in the Chicago Airport was SO miserable! By the time we made it to our hotel, it was already after 2 am, so instead of getting up early for a long 8-mile run, we ended up keeping it short with 4 miles. We started on a route that I had run on my last visit to KC, but we found a way to keep running farther along the Missouri River. It was nice! After brunch, we should have gotten some Arthur Bryant BBQ, but I was in a brunch mood….while we did have a decent meal, I should’ve listened to my “gut” and got some ribs!
We eventually made it to Nebraska, visiting the Arbor Day Park in Nebraska City, then heading to Bret’s grandparents’ place with some Valentino’s pizza (yum). Soon we would head to downtown Plymouth to visit the history museum, say hello to Bret’s old friends and family, and have a few drinks, lol. I’ve been to Nebraska several times at this point and I always have a good time! We ended up staying out til about 12:30 am…oops!
On Saturday morning was the annual Plymouth Fun Run, a 5K and 1-mile race that you could run or walk. Some of Bret’s family participated, but you know the two of us were going for the 5K! Bret “bragged” to everyone that he was in it to win it, lol! They had a 40 and under division so I knew there was a good chance that he’d do well.
We already registered so we got ready quickly. They said they had about 150 participants, a new record. There were lots of little kids lining up at the front. Bret also went to the front and I went a little farther back (I know my limits). Pretty soon, we were heading off!
We ran down Main Street for a few blocks and then made a left down a major road. After passing some neighbors, we were surrounded by farmland and the view of the corn and pivots was absolutely beautiful. I haven’t run a 5K in a long time so I was pretty nervous about how I would do. I figured that an 8:30 pace would be feasible, but it was TOUGH and I was huffing and puffing the whole way. There was a woman with a pink tank top that I was following and she was FAST. There was another guy who was behind me but he passed me at the turnaround point and I would never catch him. They definitely helped me to try to stay strong.
The race was pretty thin, so it was nice to have plenty of breathing room. I saw Bret as he was heading back towards the finish and he was in the top 5. I knew he was in pretty good shape to place. My Garmin was not consistent with the mile markers, but I actually trust the markers more than my watch…sigh. A few people cheered me as I passed them, which was really encouraging. I just wanted it all to be over!
As I made my way to to the finish I saw that there was a 25:XX on the clock…say what?! My PR for the 5K is 26:01. Was this really happening? My final time based on my watch was 25:28 with 3.04 miles. Wow, I did that!!
After the race, they gave out awards and while there was a bit of suspense, Bret won 3rd in the under 40 division! The first place winner was a teenager who probably finished in 19 minutes or so…Bret finished in 21, giving him a new PR as well! I got beat out by a few teens too, so no awards for me…oh well! We had a great race day!
After the run, a little breakfast, and some rest, we did some driving around town, went to a wine tasting (so fun!), had a chicken dinner that was really good, and hung out with more of Bret’s friends and family. It was a really nice time and the weather was perfect.
Sadly, we had a quick turnaround for the trip, waking up at 4 am on Sunday to be on the road by 4:30 to drive 3 hours to KC. Thankfully we had a direct flight back to Philly and had no issues with our flight! It was really good to get away, even if for a few days! It’s a shame we couldn’t have stayed for the upcoming solar eclipse…they’ll have a perfect view!
Monday 8/7: Rest day. My triceps were feeling super sore from barre class. I rolled my legs with the stick first thing in the morning since my muscles are feeling pretty tight.
Tuesday 8/8: Hill repeats! I had a 1-mile warm up, then did 8 x 1-minute hill repeats at a about a 9 out of 10 effort. It was really tough and I quickly learned I’d need to walk on the way down, lol! I haven’t done any hill work in quite some time so it was a lot of fun. I finshed up my run to get 4 miles.
Wednesday 8/9: About 45 minutes of yoga at work. It was our last class until maybe September, and I almost missed it because I forgot my workout clothes at home! Thankfully I found a T-shirt in work and had to get it done in my work slacks! Fortunately, Amanda was able to accommodate my limited range of motion, haha….I was worried about splitting my pants! Meanwhile, my glutes were really sore – the consequences of hill work?
Thursday 8/10: It was a travel day, so I didn’t get in any workouts. I was hoping to get in a lot of walking at work since we were in the Plant all day for a site meeting, but I stayed inside to get some things done before catching a flight that evening!
Friday 8/11: Because of our late arrival in Kansas City, we ran 4 miles instead. It was nice running with Bret, but the weather was so warm and sunny after 8:30 am that it made things pretty challenging! The last time I ran in KC was earlier this year, so we started out on a familiar route but ended up seeing some new sights.
Saturday 8/12: It was another early morning due to the 5K race in Plymouth. I was pretafterwardterwards and we went back to Bret’s grandparents’ place to take a mid-day nap! We earned it, lol!
Sunday 8/13: Since I wasn’t able to do my long run earlier in the week, Sunday was my last chance to knock out 8 miles. We got home after 2:30 and after relaxing a bit, I finally headed out there with some nudging from my sister. Not enough time for 8, I did run 4.5 miles so that I didn’t completely waste the day. I kept it slow!
It was a really busy week and I made my best effort to have some valuable workouts while on vacation. I’m happy that I was able to do yoga, but I was a few miles short for the week and didn’t do as much strength training as I would have liked. But hey, I PR’d in the 5K distance, so I’ve really got no complaints!! I’m really enjoying this cycle of training and the challenges that keep coming my way. With that said, I’m going to give Week 3 a B-. Next week, I’ve got 9 miles to do, and I’m making sure it gets done!
How was your week of working out? Do you like barbecue? What are some good veggie options?
