Rock ‘n Roll Nashville Half Marathon Training Weeks 1 & 2

Welcome to the start of a new week! Spring is SO close – who else can’t wait to get to the other side?

I’m sharing a recap of my last 2 weeks of training for the Rock ‘n Roll Nashville Half Marathon. For the next month and a half, I’ll be sharing biweekly updates on my progress. These are some of my favorite types of posts – it’s a great way to keep accountable with my training!

I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Rundown, Kim and Zenaida for Tuesday Topics, and Debbie, Marc, and Rachel for the Running Coaches Corner.

Weekly Rundown: United NYC Half

Last week was an extremely stressful time at work, and I’ll just leave it at that…but fortunately, a highlight was going to New York to cheer on Bret at the United NYC Half Marathon, sponsored by the New York Road Runners. This race has about 25,000 runners and it’s extremely tough to get in, but fortunately Bret made the lottery. I hoped to be joining him in this race but I didn’t make the cut – it all worked out though!

We got to New York on Saturday morning and spent some time with Bret’s family in Queens. Then we headed to the Metropolitan Pavilion so he could pick up his bib. We lucked out and were in and out…as we left, the line was starting to get long…really long. Once that was all taken care of, we hung out in Forest Hills and had plenty of beers and dinner – maybe too much food and drink, but hey, I didn’t have a race in the morning!

Wake up was at 5:30 am on Sunday morning. Bret’s brother-in-law dropped Bret, his mom, and me off in Prospect Park. The drive took a little longer than anticipated, but Bret had plenty of time before his 7:30 start in Wave 1. Then Jeanette and I had to take the subway up to Central Park so we could see him near the finish. This turned to take a lot more time since the directions to the train were ridiculous! Fortunately, we ended up finding a spot right on the corner of Central Park and 7th Avenue around 8:30. When we arrived, we could see the elite runners heading to the last mile or so of the race. Thankfully, there was a great app for tracking runners, so we always knew Bret was, and he was doing great!

Finally, we saw Bret on the course! There was a great band layingnear us and between the music and the cheering, he didn’t hear or see us. The race ended in Central Park and before I knew it, I was getting the alert that he crossed the finish line – a new PR at 1:38:40! He’s been wanting to break 1:40 for a while, so I’m so happy for him!

After that, we met up and headed back to Queens. After a nice home-cooked breakfast, we were heading back in the car and driving to Philly. I had originally hoped to be able to meet Cari and Darlene since they also ran the NYC Half, but it just didn’t work out this time. I can’t wait to read their recaps!

Rock ‘n Roll Nashville Training Recap

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been back in training mode – preparing for the Rock ‘n Roll Nashville Half Marathon! I’m once again working with the wonderful Coach Laura and we’re slowly building up my mileage. Here’s how it turned out!

Week 1 Workouts

Monday 3/4: About an hour of yoga at work. I have missed so many classes due to meetings so it was great to get in some quality time. My body needed the workout! Then I went on my first official training run – 30 minutes easy. I haven’t done a timed run in ages, and it was great. It was pretty cold out and still lots of snow/ice on the ground, so I tread carefully.

Tuesday 3/5: I started to feel a sore throat coming on while at work. I haven’t been sick in well over a year, so it seemed like it was time….I originally planned to go to barre but skipped.

Wednesday 3/6: Woke up and immediately was like NOPE! I called out sick. No workouts.

Thursday 3/7: I really wanted to stay home but I had some important meetings so I went in to work. My nose was running like a faucet, which was very annoying since I had to keep walking out of meetings to blow my nose. 30 minutes of running was on the schedule but I declined.

Friday 3/8: Fortunately I had the day off so I spent almost the entire day on the couch, blowing my nose endlessly and drinking lots of fluids.

Saturday 3/9: The running club was heading to Pennypack Park this week, and I debated whether I should still run my planned 6 miles. I wasn’t exactly feeling better, but I didn’t want to miss out. I ended up having a really nice run with the group. I did take a couple of walk breaks, and I have no shame!

Sunday 3/10: Barre class! I hadn’t been to Jessica’s class in a while. It was a really good workout, though the calf raises always kill me! My hips, core, and upper body will be speaking to me in a day or two I’m sure! Since I’m finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel with my sickness, I decided to do my 30 minute run in the evening.

Week 1 Report Card

I’m very glad to be back in training mode. It’s crazy how much my discipline has improved. I’m getting my runs in and I’m doing a much better job of stretching my feet and calves after each run. While I did get sick, I gave myself a good amount of rest and skipped a couple of classes as needed. I’m going to give Week 1 an A- grade!

Week 2 Workouts

Monday 3/11: 30 minutes of easy running on deck. The weather was mild so I really enjoyed this. I was feeling some residual soreness from Sunday’s barre class but otherwise no issues!

Tuesday 3/12: Barre class! Taryn teaches a really tough class and it was packed. We did lots of planks and pushups, thigh and glute work at the barre, and the dreaded “pretzel”, which I actually enjoy and don’t find as torturous as some of the other exercises we do.

Wednesday 3/13: I normally have spin class but it’s at 4 pm at work and when I have late meetings, I have to miss class. So no workouts.

Thursday 3/14: We had weather in the mid-60’s! Because I was going to NYC for the half, I needed to move up my 7-mile long run. And thanks to DST, I was able to run this after work and get home just before dark. I ran on a very hilly route that I haven’t run since marathon training last year. It.was.HARD. I did have to take a couple of walk breaks because the elevation climb was too much! I did my best to dig deep and I was so glad to get it done!

Friday 3/15: No workouts. I needed some recovery time after Thursday’s hilly run! Hey, I’m just trying to prepare for Nashville’s hills!

Saturday 3/16: No workouts in NYC.

Sunday 3/17: I ran 35 minutes in the evening back home in Philly. I did incorporate some hills once again and ugh…it’s really been humbling. My pace seems good but the heart rate is way higher than I’d like.

Week 2 Report Card

I had to move some things around this week, and because of the half marathon, I wasn’t able to get in a second barre class. Regardless, I’m feeling pretty good and it feels great to be back to what I love. I am doing my best to give my feet as much TLC as possible. My hamstrings and glutes definitely need more attention and I’m definitely not ready to run 3 days in a row. So I will give Week 2 a B+ grade. My body’s starting to talk to me, so I need to listen!

How was your week of working out? Did you celebrate St. Patty’s Day?