Swamp Rabbit Half Training (Week 8 of 12)

Well, I went from a really strong week of training to... having the flu for most of a week and being in bed, not running at all, skipping a race, missing a birthday dinner, and just generally feeling sorry for myself. 😭

Boooooo flu

Monday

3.8 mi ruck 30#

MLK Jr day, holiday from work, solo day all to myself... Didn't want to run after the 2 hard weekend runs, so I thought I'd go for a nice aggressive ruck hike. Packed up and went to Nine Times Preserve, found a nice loop and started off... not a quarter mile in, I was dying from the pack weight and the steep, relentless climb. 

I swear it felt so much harder than this!

It was lovely with the frost on the ground and was good to be in the woods, but dang. I was exhausted by the end. 

Tuesday

6.2 mi @ 9:35/mi

Did a double loop on the XC course for 10k Tuesday because I still felt like I needed a break from the hard weekend. 

3.1 mi @ 9:55/mi

Snow Run at Rockers! 

Wednesday through Sunday

walks

...aaaaaand I'm sick. Sneezing, chills (fever), congestion, coughing. Probably flu. Yuck. Kept the step streak going with walks but that's all I did the rest of the week. I was SO SAD to miss the Snowbird 50k on Saturday 😭 but having a birthday coming up and bigger races in the near-term horizon, I needed to make smart (dammit) choices. 

Swamp Rabbit Half Training (Week 7 of 12)

Whoaaaaaa we're halfway there...

Week 7

Monday

4.3 mi @ 7:33/mi avg

Given the low-activity of the weekend I decided to do some race pace miles on Monday morning instead of the easy 3 plan. Didn't do much of a warmup because I was short on time, but I wanted to just go bust out these miles as best I could. Paces weren't super consistent - too fast, too slow, too fast again, finally on target. Walked back to the start as an un-recorded cooldown.

Target 7:20-7:30... finally got there

Tuesday

6.24 mi @ 8:50/mi

8x hill repeats on the path to USC Upstate with extra miles to add up to the 10k Tuesday. Intentionally dialed back the effort on the climbs (would call it "moderate") but was only 5-10 seconds per repeat slower than the harder effort from a few weeks ago. 

Each ascent 1:03-1:08... not bad

Wednesday

2 mi pup ruck 30#

Thursday

45 min progression = 5.33 mi @ 8:15/mi

Warmup, 4 mile progression, cooldown. Targeted progression ranges at 8:15-8:45, dropping 0:30 per mile down to 6:45-7:15 but couldn't quite hit that range on the last mile. Still felt like this was a strong run!

Friday

2.4 mi work walk

Saturday

2 mi warmup + Greenville Run Downtown 5k in 22:13 (7:05/mi pace)

Race day! Was a dreary rainy one, but after warming up in the sprinkling rain it turned out to be a really nice morning for a run. 

Sunday

11.5 mi with last 3.5 mi at near GHMP

Beautifully warm sunny day on the Swamp Rabbit trail with some Sparkle Friends. They were doing 12 at easy pace, so kept with them for 8 miles (6 miles out to Furman, then turn around) before kicking up the speed. Felt tough but tried to keep pushing and ended up a bit faster than intended for the first couple of miles... ran out of gas towards the end but overall will call it successful. 

Fast miles.... yeah!

Mr. Rabbit

This felt like a really strong week of training!! 💪

Swamp Rabbit Half Training (Week 6 of 12)

Week 6

Monday

3.6 mi walk

Took a walk once the sun finally came out in the afternoon - easy day!

20 min core/strength

Did Ab Ripper X in the evening while cooking dinner along with some sets of push-ups. 

Tuesday

6.96 mi @ 8:30/mi Track Tuesday

Got in an early morning track workout at Furman in the coooold darkness. I bundled up so well that I was actually too warm, so I removed a few layers once we arrived at the track before I started my intervals. The plan for the day was 8 x 400m at 1:36-1:41 per interval, with 400m recovery in between. 

I'd say... nailed it. 💥

They felt tough but I was really proud of the consistency! The wind was really challenging to fight against - it blasted me in the face right at the final turn (~350m into the 400m loop) each time. 

3 mi @ 9:50/mi

Then in the evening I ran an easy 5k with the Rockers Run Club. Figured it was over 12 hours since my last run so it counts for Wednesday's easy 3 miler instead. 😄

Wednesday

60 min Vinyasa hot yoga 

Took the Wednesday afternoon Vinyasa class at Soul Yoga, and I was sooo happy it was taught by Wednesday (yes that's her name) who has been one of my favorite long-time instructors at Soul. Her voice is so calming, and she always has a good message or mantra for the class. Today's lesson was about "What is for you, what is not for you". What brings you peace, calm, safety, and ease. Not to say these things are effortless, but they will feel "right". Definitely something I needed to hear and take to heart.

2 mi walk

After class I took a nice couple mile walk around Unity park as the sun was setting.

Thursday

5.6 mi @ 8:05/mi avg

45 minute tempo run, did a loop through USC Upstate with a warmup/cooldown and about 20 mins of tempo (sub-HMP) in the middle. Didn't have an exact time for the tempo portion, but made sure I was between the worst of the hills before starting and ending. Worked out pretty well! Initially planned on a 7:30-7:45 target for the speed, but ended up going a good bit faster than that - was definitely a push but felt strong.

Friday

10.17 mi @ 9:15/mi avg

Shifted the weekend long run to Friday morning due to the snow/ice storm arriving Friday afternoon and thankfully being able to work remotely. Met up with some frennnnsssss for an early dark cold run on the Green Valley race course - new edition for 2025, reverse of the typical course direction and the addition of one hill (W Round Hill) which tipped this one up over 1000ft of elevation for the 10 miles. Spicy! 🌶🔥

Saturday

3 mi ruck @ 30#

Let the snow melt as much as possible during the day before getting out for a hilly ruck in the neighborhood. Got to test out my new ruck shoes - GORUCK Rough Runners. 

Shoesssss

Pretty sunset and snow

Sunday

rest

Just a quiet day, a few dog walks, but nothing recorded.

Halfway through the training cycle, feeling good but still feeling like I have a lot to do to meet my goal!

Swamp Rabbit Half Training (Week 5 of 12)

Week 5 - even less consistent lol

 

Monday

rest

Tuesday

3 mi group run + 3 mi solo, both easy 

Took little dude and the pup to the Run In NYE group run in the morning. Enjoyed a fun time and thankfully the rain held off. Got out solo for my other 3 miles of 10k Tuesday once we got home. 

Wednesday

5 mi hiking

First Day hike with little dude and pup, went with the intention to do Lower Whitewater Falls but found the trail to be closed, so we switched directions and headed north to the Upper Whitewater Falls - they did not disappoint! Just a beautiful day, amazing views of the falls, and happy times with the kiddo and pupper in the woods. 

Thursday

1.3 mi walk

Drove up to Boone and then walked to the ski shop to buy some more snowy weather gear. 

Friday

Skiing!

Boy was it cold and was actually snowing while we were on the slopes! Didn't stay out for a super long day, but enjoyed the time we spent and D went zipping down the intermediate trails with ease. 

Saturday

10.83 mi @ 8:20/mi

Runs are all over the place this week but decided to the 90 minute 3/1 long run that was actually on the schedule for last weekend and I didn't do it. Plan calls for doing 75% of the run at a long run easy pace (so 8:45-9:15 for me) then doing the final 25% of the run at close to race pace (I decided 7:45 was a good target). Started out with the Unity Park crew in the morning for their "warmup" miles which were in the low to mid-8s for pace. Kept trying to get myself to slow down once they all took off for their workout miles, but I was closer to 8:30/8:45 for the rest of my easy miles. Finally got to the 65-minute mark and cranked it up, and man these miles felt harder than they should have. I got to feeling pretty steady after about 10 minutes, but then the final 7 mins or so felt really tough. Kept them in the 7:30-7:45 range for the most part and think that was pretty alright! We'll call this one done. 

Post-run peppermint mocha 🥰

2 mi @ 7:30/mi Hare of the Dog race

This was Ivy's first race with me last year, and she joined me once again this year in the Hair/Hare of the Dog 2-mile race. It's an out-and-back course on the Swamp Rabbit from Double Stamp Brewery. Last year we did it in about 17 minutes and got 3rd age group, but this year we snagged 1st Age Group with a 15 minute time! I think the difference was she didn't stop to poop mid-race. She started to lag about 0.15 mi from the turnaround but once we got there and reversed direction, she was speeding to the finish!

We had a very similar photo last year too 😄

Sunday

2 mi ruck 20#

Thought about taking 30# with me but opted for just the 20# since for some reason my back/shoulders were hurting? Just a little pup ruck miles to move the legs.