RnR NOLA Countdown: 2 WEEKS!

The countdown is on! Less than two weeks until I travel to New Orleans, Louisiana with my dad and my rescue Greyhound, Derby, to visit my cousin and her puppy and run a few races!!! I am really excited to see where my cousin lives and have her show me around NOLA (I’ve never been!) – she absolutely loves it and I’m sure it’ll be a great time.

This weekend is 100% dedicated to having fun, being with family, and enjoying the city so no pressure on myself. I plan to run the 5K (Saturday) with my dad at his pace and will do my best on the Half Marathon (Sunday)!

Thank you to Lifelong Endurance for always coaching me through to each Start line and keeping me healthy and strong!

Monday

Plan: 4 miles easy

Ran: 4.11 miles/40:25/9:50 min/mile

It was 25 degrees! Twenty-five! That is COLD for Texas. In fact, this may have been my coldest run. Ever. It was tougher than I thought! I didn’t “warm up” until my watch hit 3.48 miles. So, there was a nice half mile in there somewhere!

Tuesday

Plan: 8 miles – 2 miles easy, 4 miles @ 90 seconds @ 7:30-7:15, 90 seconds @ 9:15/easy, 2 miles easy

Ran: 8.02 miles/1:10:57/8:51 min/mile

This one felt good! It was 39 degrees and just perfect running weather. It felt really good other than being chased by two big dogs, which turns out is way more terrifying in the dark. I’ve had my fair share of dog scares, but usually in the day light.

Wednesday

Plan: 5 miles easy

Ran: 5.2 miles/49:11/9:27 min/mile

This one felt pretty good – another early morning run – I’m loving getting my runs in before work and having the evening to cook and lounge! I also did a Gold’s Fit (think Crossfit) class and it kicked my BUTT. I need to do that more often! I’m also ready to transition to lighter shoes already. Since the Turf Toe debacle, I’ve been hesitant to transition to any other new shoes so I’ve been doing ALL runs in my heavy (butt tried and true) Asics Nimbus. I’m slowly adjusting the the New Balance 1500’s and love them so far!

Thursday

Plan: 5 miles + 5 x 100m strides

Ran: 5.45 miles/49:39/9:07 min/mile

I was really tired at first – I opted for a little extra sleep and did an evening run and my energy dwindles throughout the day so  I felt a bit “blah.” Plus it was 82 degrees! Yes, 82 degrees in February. That’s Texas for you! I switched into the NB 1500 on the last mile (to get the legs used to them) and boy… I felt like I was FLYING! Shoes make such a difference! I can’t wait to really run in them.

Friday

Plan: 5 miles – 3 miles easy, 2 miles @ fun tempo!

Ran: 5.35 miles/47:58/8:58 min/mile

I was tired again but it wasn’t bad. Nothing spectacular.

Saturday

Plan: 12 miles – 3 miles easy, 4 miles @ 90 seconds “on” (8:15) 90 seconds “off” (9:30), 3 miles cool down, 2 miles hard like a race

Ran: 12.02 miles/1:48:53/9:03 min/mile

OK y’all. I’m super proud of this run. It was POURING rain. Thankfully I ran with a group or I would have been tempted to take cover. We were literally drenched from head to toe. Sloshing through puddles (or shall I say rivers) of water. The first 10 miles went as planned, then we were so cold and soaking wet, that we just agreed to get the miles in. At this point the rain felt like rocks against our faces. So, the last two miles were not “hard like a race” – but I tried to pick it up a bit (which is difficult when your shoes weigh 20 lb each) but was just happy with the miles. I’d never been happier to take a hot shower and put on dry clothes!

Sunday

Rest!

There you have it! On to the next week then it’ll be race week!

Anyone else running RnR NOLA?

What do you do when it’s raining? Run through it? Treadmill? Skip it?