Well guys, this is it: the final training update of the Her Tern Half training cycle! Here was my week:
Monday: I was finally ready for my week 10 long run…except the weather was super hot and rainy. People were describing it with the word “muggy” which I didn’t think was possible in Alaska. So I took my run to the gym! I reverted back to my old “run 9:00/walk 1:00” treadmill plan to help break up the monotony of running indoors and also watched HGTV to stay distracted, and after one hour and 45 minutes I was done!
Tuesday: Deep Stretch yoga class at AY. So good.
Wednesday: HTH training group speed day. This was a big day for us as we were running hill repeats up the N Street hill AKA the torturous end of the race. I stuck with my trusty tempo running buddy and she had me booking it up that hill so fast! We ran the loop 3 times, which consisted of 1.5 loops of tempo uphill and easy downhill back to the lagoon. We averaged about 10:40 per mile for almost 5 miles!
Thursday: Flow yoga class at AY. This instructor didn’t turn on the heat (still sweated a ton!) and was really awesome, so I plan on taking her class as much as possible!
Flow class aftermath in the car.
Friday: Our company had a booth set up at the Bear Paw Festival in Eagle River, and my coworker and I had to work at the booth all day which meant I spent 8 hours on my feet!
Saturday: I was so tired after Bear Paw that I decided to sleep in and run my final HTH long run on my own. I was super hot and dehydrated the whole time, but managed to get 6 miles of running (and some walking) done. I decided to stop at 6 and call it a day. I then worked another 3 hours at Bear Paw, where I might have eaten fried oreos and pecan pie for dinner. #sorrynotsorry
Sunday: Disc golf at Kincaid park! I love that the course is so hilly and long that I’m able to count this as a 2.5 mile “hike”.
Right now I’m feeling…well, I’m honestly feeling a lot of things. This time next week the race will be over, and I have no idea what’s going to happen. I’m feeling:
- Nervous! I want to get a PR so bad and my last few long runs have been slow and filled with water breaks. I don’t want my race to be like that.
- Anxious. I’ve never trained this well for a race and I’m dying to see how it affects my race performance.
- Excited! The vibe of all-girl races is so much fun, and the fact that I know so many of these girls makes it even better. Between Saturday’s expo and Sunday’s race I know I’ll be having a blast with all the girls I’ve met.
- Wise-ish. I’m trying to be calm and wise and just think of this as a fun event where I get the chance to run with so many amazing girls and celebrate 12 weeks of hard work. But it’s hard.
- Sad? I don’t want the training group to end! What am I going to do with my Wednesday nights?
I feel like I need to work a bit more to get my mind in a more positive and calm place. I know that it’s silly to put so much pressure on myself for this race, and that there will be other races out there where I can reach my goals if I don’t get there on Sunday. But I want this SO BAD. And my last few long runs don’t show that fire – they just show me being a hot mess under pressure. I want to reach a balance between a drive to get this race done fast and an enjoyment of a great race with my training group ladies. This week I’ll only be running twice before the race (not counting the short group jog on Saturday before the expo) so most of my effort will be spent getting my mind prepped for the race. I know I can finish, and I know I can have fun. Now I just need to make sure I’m able to tell myself that all throughout the race!
How do you prep your mind before a big race day? How do you get yourself through tough times on the race course? Any running mantras you want to share with me?
Mom in the Mtns 
So many feelings! I totally understand where you’re coming from. All you can do at this point is trust your training and try to remain calm.
Haha remaining calm is not my strongest skill 🙂 Thanks for the advice though!
girl, you’re going to do awesome! remember when you pulled out a 19 minute pr without even planning to?! your training has prepared you way more than you realize!
Haha yeah but that was because my only other half marathon was the Disney Princess Half and it was hot, humid, and crowded so it was easy to do better 🙂 I’m hoping I can just take 36 seconds off my PR to get myself under 2:30!
Eeeeee, yay! Congrats on all your hard work. You’re going to have a great day. Even if your last few training days don’t go as planned (they never do!) everything clicks and falls into place on race day. Don’t sweat it, you’re amazing and will amazing =)
Awww thanks girl! It makes me feel better to learn that everyone has crappy long runs!
When I am feeling anxious leading up to a race I try (emphasis on try!) to distract myself with non-running things. Usually starting a new book or something like that. Something relaxing and distracting. There is no use obsessing over what might or might not happen on race day. You’ve done all the training and have gotten to the starting line healthy. I’m sure you will have an amazing half!
That is a great idea! I just bought a new book so it looks like that’s what I’ll be doing on Saturday! Also, I’m glad you brought up the fact that I’m not injured. I totally forgot how stressed I was about my injury back in March and I’m so glad it’s not an issue for me right now!
You are going to do great. You trained hard and put a lot of effort into it. Good luck on race day!
Thank you!
You’ve got this! A strong training cycle should mean your confidence is soaring for this race 🙂
Before Boston, I made a list of all the things right I did during my training cycle (ex: only missing one run in the cycle, running progressive runs often, fast tempos!, treadmill runs that tested my mental strength), it really helped calm my nerves and remind me that I COULD reach my goal –after all, it was what I’d spent weeks training for! So remind yourself of all your successes prior to race day.
One of my mantras is “Nothing worth having comes easy” – it reminds me to push it when I’m feeling tired in the race, because I don’t want to finish with anything in the tank and regret it.
I love that idea! I’m totally stealing that. And I love that mantra too! Thanks so much for sharing!