This is week 9 of half marathon training for the Honor Run Half Marathon in Florence, KY on November 11, 2018 – 3 weeks left! I’m using Hal Higdon’s Advanced program for this one. If you want to register for this race, use this link, and try using code “BIBRAVE15” for $15 off, courtesy of the fine people of and affiliated with BibRave (note that the link IS an affiliate link, the BibRave code is just one I’ve seen on Twitter).
Monday: Intervals. Well, my watch is messed up again, I probably went to sync the workout to correct the same problem two weeks ago, but something happened and it was never corrected (by “something happened”, I mean that someone interrupted me from syncing my watch). So after a solid minute of running, it tried to get me to start the intervals. I dealt with it the same way – run a free mile and then restart the workout on the watch. Through the parks and around the Bengals’ practice field twice. After running straight up to the building (I had to make a full pitstop), 6.79 miles in 53:56 (7:57 min/mile pace). Interval splits were 7:31, 7:15, 7:26, and 7:28. The goal was 7:28 – 7:42, so two were fast and two were on target.
Tuesday: Recovery Run – 3 miles + 7 strides. Ran easy and kept it easy across the Purple People Bridge and then the Suspension Bridge. Even kept it easy after another runner passed me leading up to the Suspension Bridge. Finished with 7 strides. 4.11 miles in 35:01 (8:31 min/mile pace).
Wednesday: Tempo Run – 55 minutes. It was COLD, and I found a cold area on the SE area of the park’s path. My mother-in-law passed away on Sunday and her funeral was today, so got out running early, before the rest of the house (and township, for that matter) were awake. I ran the tempo portion with only enough effort to keep in the pace range because the latter half of this week is loaded. Tempo portion was 6.94 miles, for a pace of 7:56 min/mile (the goal range is 7:41 – 7:59 min/mile). Overall including the warm-up and cool-down was 8.44 miles in 1:08:00 (8:03 min/mile).
Thursday: HM Pace Run – 5 miles. I kinda expected this run to go off the rails a little. It was cold again. The pace wasn’t really that bad, but I was slower than my target pace. Ran out around the Bengal’s practice field (and after that Chiefs game, they probably should have been practicing) and back in and into Friendship Park and around. HM pace portion was 39:38, a pace of 7:56 min/mile (I was targeting 7:28 – 7:48 min/mile, not yesterday’s pace!). Overall, 6.5 miles in 52:55 (8:08 min/mile pace).
Friday: 2:00 3/1 Run. It was a little rainy (not too bad) and warmer. I ran everywhere (seriously, see the Relive video, I don’t even want to try to describe it!). I did miss a turn in Covington, which added an extra block to the route (not a problem). I ran the first 90 minutes at an 8:50 min/mile pace, an easy effort for me. I ran the remaining 30 minutes at an 8:01 min/mile pace. Fueled with Gatorade Endurance Gel (vanilla flavor, which is very much like birthday cake) and hydrated with Gatorade Endurance Lemon-Lime. Overall 13.94 miles in 2 hours (8:36 min/mile).
Saturday: Recovery Run – 3 miles. Ran ~3 miles in the early morning by the few streetlights in the neighborhood and my RunLites. 3.13 miles in 27:29 (8:47 min/mile pace).
That’s it for the week. 43 miles this week, which is the most since I was in the late stages of marathon training. When you get to the advanced training plans they’re all difficult no matter what the distance is that you’re training for.