MGM Half-Marathon Training - Week Eight

The weekend before beginning week 8 of the training plan started a 9-mile long run. The weather was slightly cooler, and the morning stayed cloudy for most of the run, which is great for running. I decided to meet with the group training for the half-marathon which meets at the AlleyBAR every Saturday morning at 6:00 AM. The organizers of the group were shuttling people to various points on the course so they could all end the training run where the actual half-marathon ended. If you wanted, you could also arrange to be picked up at various spots along the course. I decided to do the beginning AND the end, but I’d take a shortcut to reduce my miles. I ended up at 10.3 miles, but that distance included a few walk breaks on the hills near the end of the route. The group is growing larger every week, and the camaraderie during these training days is very motivating. We gather afterwards to rehydrate, socialize and learn from each other. It is a very diverse group.

Sunday I ended up 5 miles around my neighborhood. It was supposed to be a pace run, but still being achy and stiff from the previous days long run, I decided to run it at an easy pace, and skip the pace run. Most of my long run from the previous day was at my race pace, so I figured I had it covered anyway.

The training for the rest of this week was close to what the schedule called for, with some extra runs and miles thrown in to increase my weekly mileage.

The weekend plan will be running with friends on Saturday morning, and resting Sunday for the River Region Runners (R3) 28th Annual 5K/1 Mile Labor Day Run on Monday. Since I’m scheduled for a race pace run of 5 miles, I will keep going after the race for another couple of miles. The weather is looking like it will cooperate and give us unusually tolerable weather for this race. I’ve been told by the race director that there will be a selection of rehydration beverages other than water and sports drinks available after the race.