So, I started writing this post at 8 a.m. this morning, because I thought I was going to be really on top of things today. However, I only wrote like five sentences and then I got distracted for a few hours, so I deleted everything that I originally wrote and here we are now.

This week was, in a word, hot. We seriously had an extreme heat advisory (or whatever it’s called) for almost the entire week. That being said, I ran all of my miles on the treadmill this week. The race that I’m running is in early October, so while it could be hot that day, I really doubt it will be as warm as it was this week.

I haven’t been on the treadmill for a few weeks, so getting back on there this week was kind of nice.

Running on a treadmill and running outside are just different experiences. I like them both, and every time I think I start to prefer one over the other I think of another reason to like the other.

Anyway, I ran FIVE MILES (pretty much) STRAIGHT this week. I did take a quick 90 second walking break just so I could drink some water around mile three, but otherwise I ran the whole thing! I was extremely proud of myself.

I also did a four-mile run this week without taking a walking break, so I’m feeling pretty good about how my training has been going so far.

This week, I planned an easy week. I don’t know if you remember, but I originally found a 14-week training plan that I liked, but I wanted to do a 16-week training plan, so I tweaked a 14-week plan. This is one of the weeks that I changed. I was concerned with how quickly I was building up mileage, so I wanted to take a break where I cut back. I am in no way an expert about any of this, but I’ve read a lot of posts from other runners and listened to some podcasts where they’ve mentioned how building up mileage too quickly creates a further risk for injury. And I’m definitely trying to avoid injuring myself!

Another takeaway from this past week that I wanted to share with you is that I did my warm-up stretches before every run that I did this week. Drew and I weren’t even able to run together this past week, so I did the stretches without being forced to. I think this is an example of personal progress.

And, I really hate to admit this, I do think the warm-up stretches made my workouts more bearable. I, honestly, forgot about ankle rolls the day I ran four miles on the treadmill and by the time I was two and a half miles in, my ankles were tired. Then I had the lightbulb moment and realized that ankle rolls are truly life.  

Motivation Monday

“Keep going, because you did not come this far just to come this far.” – unknown (I found it on Pinterest).

That’s all I have for this week! This week’s weather forecast looks amazing, so I’m hoping to get some great outdoor runs in this week. I’ll be back next week with more updates on how the training for my first half marathon is going.

Week 27:  
Miles run this week: 3.1 (I'll include the 4 miles I did on Monday with next week)
Miles run total: 126.55
Overall mood: Determined