Bayshore Half Marathon Training: Week 7

This week was supposed to be a cut back week, but I went a bit off course so to speak.  Sadly, I'm paying for that with some really achy legs (to the point of keeping me up at night), but I'll live.

Monday 2/25/13 - Plan: RUN easy 3 miles at 11:12 pace.  Did: RUN - I took advantage of a very gorgeous day here in West Michigan and just ran.  I picked a hilly route and didn't really watch my pace but I felt fantastic and ended up running 4.25 miles in 41:31 (a 9:46 pace).  I really surprised myself.

Tuesday 2/26/13 - Plan: CROSS TRAIN.  Did: BIKE/STRETCH - 45 minutes on the basement trainer and then a 15 min stretching session.

Wednesday 2/27/13 - Plan: RUN easy 3 at 11:12 pace. Did: RUN - the weather turned to shit again so I hit the dreadmill and it was AWFUL. Did 3 miles in 31:55 (10:38 pace). I just kept upping the speed to try and fight boredom, so yet again, I blew the "easy" run.

Thursday 2/28/13 - Plan: RUN easy 3 at 11:12 pace.  Did: BIKE/RUN BRICK - I had planned on running at the gym right after work and then going to a "bring your own bike and trainer" spin class, but the spin class fell through.  Decided to do a brick at home instead.  BIKE inside on trainer 10 miles in 46 min then RUN outside 3.32 miles in 37:28 (11:17 pace). The run felt like crap and I could never get a rhythm due to all the snow piles and ice I had to jump over at every intersection.

Friday 3/1/13 Plan: CROSS TRAIN. Did: REST - Had to work the carnival at my school and then I went out to dinner.  Decided a rest day was in order because my ankle and calf were very sore and tight. 

Saturday 3/2/13 - Plan: RUN "long" run of 6 miles at 11:12 pace.  Did: RUN - I had a conference for work to attend during the day, so my run didn't start until around 3:30 in the afternoon.  The good part of this was that it was still sunny and had warmed up a bit.  By "warmed up" I mean it was in the mid 30s with the wind chill in the 20s.  I wore my jacket but was so warm within the first mile from the sun that I took it off and then froze in my t-shirt.  I'm actually following 2 different training plans and one had me going 3 today and the other 7, so I sorta split the difference because I need my long runs to be more than 3 miles, step-down week or not.  I picked another hilly route (only because it was free of ice and snow) and busted out 6 miles in 1:02:09 (10:21 pace).  I definitely have an issue with finding an "easy" pace.

Sunday 3/3/13 - Plan: CROSSTRAIN. Did: BIKE/STRETCH - rode one of the spin bikes at the Y for 50 min while I watched the end of the Wings game and my girl ran.  Finished with some running stretches with my girl.

I'd say it was a pretty decent training week, but I think I should have tried to follow the plan with regard to the easy runs.  My legs are feeling pretty nuked this week - especially after the back to back run days.  But...I'm really loving my Newtons - all those fast runs have been in them.  I don't know if they improve my gait and my run is more efficient/strong or if it's all in my head, but I'll take it. 

Yesterday, my girl came home with the track and field schedule.  Practices start the 11th and there are already race conflicts - the one Saturday meet falls on a day I'm running a half marathon and she was going to run her first 10k, and if she makes an invitational meet, that happens to fall on the day of the Bayshore Half - which I've already paid for and have non-refundable hotel reservations for.   My son is also in the spring musical and has rehearsals 3-5 days a week.  Neither of them are driving solo yet.  Now I'm panicking about how I'm going to get in all my workouts and what to do about the races I have scheduled.  The fact is - I'm not going to get in all my workouts and because of this, even if I still run the races, my performance is going to suffer.  No matter how much I try or how much mom guilt I have, I can't be in two places at once.  I can try to move more of my workouts to before school - and I'll need to do this next week because I also have parent-teacher conferences (FML) but history has shown that pre-dawn workouts really only work once or twice a week, otherwise I turn into a raving bitch from lack of sleep. Missing meets is hard for me.  What if she gets hurt? What if she has the meet of her life and I'm not there to see it? Mom guilt on top of control issues really sucks.

I'm not really asking for advice but just need to vent a little. My girl has already told me to run the half that she's missing the 10k for.  If I run REALLY fast, I might be able to make it back to where the meet is before it's over, but I probably won't see any of her events.  Sigh.  Can I just say I hate this time of year?