December! And Swamp Rabbit Half Training (Week 1 of 12)

December and winter have arrived in full force this week - temps in the mid-20s most mornings! BRR!! 🥶

This week also kicks off 12 weeks of training for Swamp Rabbit Half Marathon where I've got some big goals... been a while since I've tackled something like this, and I'm excited about it! My plan is based on Hal Higdon's Advanced half marathon training plan, which has been successful for me in the past. (Link)

Week 1 plan

Monday

2 mi pup run

Honestly hadn't looked at the plan for the week yet so I only did 2 miles.

Tuesday

6.25 mi @ 9:15/mi avg - 6x hill repeats

Ran super early due to chaotic day. Got in about 1.5 miles warm-up before repeating a ~60ft hill that took 62-66 seconds per repeat. Felt good and only pushed about 60-70% effort knowing I've got a pretty big race this weekend. Finished out the 10k Tuesday miles on nearby roads and was back before 6:15am!

Wednesday

2.98 mi @ 9:48/mi moving avg

Easy run with the doggo. She stopped just short of 3 miles and refused to run more (probably tired from doggy daycare yesterday) so we called it good enough. Beautiful lunch run though!

Thursday

40 mins tempo run

Plan said 40 min tempo run, which according to Hal Higdon is really more like a progression run in his plans. In my mind, there's 2 kinds of runs that fit in this category: sustained moderate-hard effort over time, or progression (get faster in a step-wise manner over the course of the run). Hal's "tempo" runs also include warmup/cooldown time

For this run, I decided to do a 10 minute warmup, 20 min hold at tempo pace (7:33-7:49/mi per the MacMillan pace calculator), then 10 minute cooldown. Did an out-and-back route towards USC Upstate, knowing there would be some hills but at least they'd be balanced out and the worst ones would be during warmup/cooldown. 

I'd call that successful! 🎉

Friday

rest

Returning to 5-6 days/wk of running is going to mean rest days are even more important. 

Saturday

Paris Mountain Road Race 20k

12.5 mi @ 8:25/mi avg, 1,700 ft elevation

Ran my third PMRR today, but first one in over a decade (previous 2 times were in 2012 and 2013). I've become familiar with this route, including Altamont climbs in many training runs (there was a time where I was running it weekly, but have not done that in a couple of years). I'm not sure whether familiarity with the route is a good or bad things, but it might have helped with pacing because I was pretty consistent today. I didn't have any particular goals, though I did look up my 2 previous finish times (1:50 in 2012 and 1:48 in 2013), however those routes were different - slightly longer (half marathons) but about 600 ft less climbing. Happy to say that I was able to get in a 1:45 finish today, good enough for 1st in Age Group!!

Coffee mug prize 😍

The hills were just as relentless as ever, and I definitely was feeling it in the quads and hamstrings by the last couple of miles. Still really happy with my performance overall!

Biggest hill, and lots of other big hills

3 year comparison - yes it was cold today!

Sunday

60 min yoga + 2 mile walk

Did not do the planned 3 mile easy run since legs are quite sore from Saturday's hard effort. Got in a nice hot yoga session in the evening with a couple miles walk around Unity park beforehand.