Windermere 1/2 Marathon: Week 4 down, 8 weeks to go!

The last couple weeks of training have flown by. I am amazed at how much faster I am getting each week. Unfortunately since I have to do most of my workouts at 5 am before work I have been running on the treadmill a lot. It is boring, but at least I can really see my speed improving. A couple of weeks ago, my warm up was at a 6.0-6.5. Now I am warming up and cooling down comfortably at 6.8-7.0 for a couple of Smiles. My 5 mile tempo run for the week was done at speeds all above 7.0. I like the feeling of knowing that each week I am constantly improving.

My weekly workouts consisted of 3 classes with Amy, a hill workout, tempo run, and a long run. In class, I am making an extra effort to add more weights so that I can add some upper body strength by the end of this next session. I think I still have little pebble arm muscles. :)

My hill workout was tough! It took me a couple of days to fully recover. The hill by SAC doesn't look too steep until you run up and down it 8 times. I did a 2 mile warm up on the treadmill, ran 8 sets of hills, and finished with a 2 mile cool down on the treadmill.

I completed my long run on the Bloomsday course. I think the Bday course is one of those that it doesn't matter how many times you run, it never gets easier. It was a little chilly and windy on Sunday morning, but I felt pretty good once I got going. I finished the course in 1:01 which is fairly decent for this time of year and where my fitness is at. The stairs that we have been running in class have helped on hills immensely (thank you AB!). I ran an average of 20-30 seconds per mile faster than my 6 mile tempo run the week before so that is a huge improvement.

I have 8 weeks of training left and I am very excited to see where I am at when race day arrives. I know that I am just doing Windermere to see where my fitness level is at and to have some fun. My real training will begin after Windermere for my 1/2 in October and my marathon in December. At this rate I should have some good races in my future. :)

--Tasha