Race week is all done! I completed my race and hit my goals! Overall, my goal was to run under a 12 minutes per mile pace. I hit that with an average of 11:32 minutes per mile. My heart rate was right on point as well. My average was 141 BPM, which is exactly where I wanted to be. My heart rate also had a perfect, gradual progression as I ran, with my heart rate hitting 162 BPM for the end of my race. This was an awesome 20 week journey and I am so proud of myself for sticking with it even though I had so many days where I had nothing in me. The consistency and hard work really paid off and I cannot wait to start training for my next race. At the very least, I’ll have a half marathon later this year, closer to November.

For now, I am going to get back into some strength training while still keeping my mileage up. After I get passed a week or so of recovery, I plan on shooting for 20 miles a week. I hope to ramp this up to 30 miles per week once I get into another training cycle. My next running goal is to be able to run without stopping. I really cannot emphasize how much the Galloway method helped me get back into running, but I am looking forward to running nonstop. It’s not that I don’t like the run/walk, it’s just too annoying to track for longer distances.

One frustration I had during this training was the Nike changed their running app, making it useless for indoor running and syncing with my coaching plan from Nike Run Club. To add salt to the wound, they recently removed the Coaching feature completely from NRC. Why on earth would you remove something so popular and good? At least offer a paid tier for it. I guess I’ll be going back to building my own plans again, since I will not be spending an average of $70 or more for a single training plan. Maybe I’ll add this to my list of apps I am going to be working on in the near future.

I’ll be getting back to writing about fitness and fitness tech articles again, so stay tuned!

Monday 3/15

For race week, my Monday plan called for a 4 mile endurance run. I was a bit sore from the hike on Sunday, so I decided to take it easy. Also, I didn’t get done with work until rather late, so it made sense to do something easy. I hopped on the trainer for 47 minutes. To my surprise, that didn’t close my rings, so I went on the treadmill for a 10 minute walk. That closed my rings and I was done. In hindsight, I should have just done a yoga routine and then a trainer ride.

• 

• 

Tuesday 3/16

Today’s plan was a 3 x 400 meter speed workout. However, I decided to get in my 4 mile run instead from Monday. Nothing special to report, just more confirmation that working out earlier means my heart rate doesn’t jump so high, which is really good. I felt pretty good after my run, although still tired. I made sure to get in my NRC Wake-up Warm-up before my run.

Wednesday 3/17

For my rest day, even though I got done work very late again, I really wanted to get in some strength training. To loosen up I did my NTC warm-up, followed by my standard core workout I have been doing lately. This includes bar hang, push-ups, squats, Russian twists and laying extensions. I also added in dumbbell should raises, dumbbell tricep extension, and lunges. Overall a really great workout and I think I am going to get back into more strength training after this race. Although, I need to figure out how to keep up my mileage since I will definitely be running another half marathon later in the year.

Thursday 3/18

Today’s workout was supposed to be a 6 x 200 meter speed run. However, I wasn’t really feeling like working out at all but needed to get something in. I went to my usual standby and did a 36 minute trainer ride. I made sure to build the resistance to push myself slightly, but overall I was just exhausted and not wanting to do anything.

Friday 3/19

Another Friday, another planned NTC workout. However, with my race tomorrow we wanted to get in our cleaning today. I took a short break during cleaning and got in a 20 minute training ride. I am a little nervous for my run, but I know I will do well.

Saturday 3/20

Race day! I had 2 Nuun bottles with 1 tab of Nuun Energy in each. For nutrition I had 2 Honey Stinger Chews and 2 Gels. I did my NTC Wake-up Warm-up and then did a 5 minute warm-up walk.

After this, and with my nutrition and hydration all setup on treadmill, I was ready to go. I started with my first pack of chews around mile 5. For my gel, I had to do an extra walk because I was fumbling a bit with it. I took this around mile 6. The gel gave me a pretty big boost. With my hydration, even though the basement was heating up like crazy from the treadmill, I was able to go until mile 9 before I took my other pack of chews. At mile 11 I took my other gel and was ready for the home stretch. I completed my race with no problems and I felt amazing! Sure, I was exhausted and my legs felt like massive weights, but that’s pretty typical after a race like this.

Overall, my race went really well. I walked extra during my nutrition breaks, but otherwise hit all of my Galloway intervals of 2 minutes running at 6 mph and walk for 30 seconds at 3 mph. Even though my legs felt like lead weights at the end, I could still easily move around. I had a monster glass of almond chocolate milk afterwards to help with my recovery. There is just something about chocolate milk! I cannot wait for my next race. At the very least, I’ll be doing the Disney Wine Festival Half Marathon later this year.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Sunday 3/21

Today was a rest day. However, the weather was gorgeous! I went for a nice hike again with my wife. This time we hit up Betzwood a little bit as well, putting our total hike at a bit over 8 miles. It was so much fun! I did go a little slower since my legs were still pretty tired from my race. However, I am so excited that I had a quick enough recovery where I could do this hike. What a way to end my training and race weekend!

• 

• 

•