Week 13 was a cut back week to give our bodies a little bit of a break before the next increase in mileage. What a nice break! Here’s how it went:

Monday 9/3: Ran 4 miles in 43 minutes with Ari and Nicole. Had the day off for Labor Day, and it was a really nice and relaxing!

Wednesday 9/5: Track workout of 3 mile repeats at 5-10k pace, I believe it was. My splits were 8:39, 8:32, 8:37. Not too bad….I think I see a little bit of improvement in my mile time

Thursday 9/6: Ran 3 easy recovery miles in 30 minutes. Totally love short recovery runs!

Sunday 9/9: I planned on getting up to run my long run from Saturday, but totally Stacey style, I utilized the snooze button a few too many times and only gave myself enough time to fit in 7.5. It was a fantastic run, though, and I didn’t want it to end! I had to go to work, though . Finished 7.5 miles in 1:18.

Tuesday 9/11: I am including today’s run since it ended up being my long run from last week. I ran 10 miles in 1:39 this morning! I had such a fantastic run! Since we were actually scheduled to run 7 today and kick up the pace for the last 3-4, I decided to kick up the pace of my last 3 miles even though it was a long run. Here were my splits:

The weather is slowly, but surely starting to become more tolerable. I can already feel myself becoming more capable of running these distances and paces, and it’s only going to get better!

I can’t tell you the last time, before this week, that I have had runs that I didn’t want to end. I could have kept going without hitting a wall (at least that’s what it felt like.) The heat is an amazing thing. I am learning a lot about the physiology of running and endurance sports from the book I am reading. It is very interesting what the heat does to your muscles! I might have to do a post on just what I have learned so far from the book.

Week 13 down, and I’m almost halfway to my fundraising goal! Please stop by my donation page (see link on left side of page)and make a donation if you haven’t already. Anything will help at this point! It goes to a great cause! Thanks so much to those that have already donated!

Happy Trails!

Stacey