Half-marathon training week 2 = done! This was also the week that I finished my 6-week hypertrophy strength training. (A form of strength training that requires heavy lifting and minimal reps.) My body is thankful to say “goodbye” to my monster weights for now, but I also can’t wait to pick them back up when this race is over. I just love heavy lifting! But now I get to focus on my runs while I do moderate strength training in between.

While this is the first half-marathon that I’ve actually signed up for, I have completed training programs for halfs in the past. All programs I’ve seen have a similar structure: endurance runs, intervals and progression runs, distance runs, and “recovery” runs. This has always been a bit of an oxymoron to me. For me, running is hard. Period. I don’t have great lung capacity, so I’m always breathless, no matter my pace. Whenever I hear, “nice, easy, conversational pace” I think, “ha! I can’t have a conversation at any pace!” So that’s what I’m working on. In the past, I’ve tried to continue improving my pace even on my recovery runs. Not this time. My goal is for these runs to really FEEL easier. 13.1 miles is a long way. I need to be able to run “easy” when I start to feel breathless or need to calm my heartbeat. Learning to recover in a run or jog is the goal for these next weeks. It won’t be easy as I’m running in the cold and my running route is filled with hills. I often hear that recovery runs should be as flat as possible but the reality for me is that it’s just not possible. But hopefully it makes me stronger in the end.

So here’s my question to all the seasoned runners out there: would you rather hit a hill during an interval (when you’re supposed to be going faster and really want to see that pace improvement) or on a recovery from an interval (when it’ll be harder to catch your breath because you’re running uphill)? Answer in the comments! I think about this question often on my runs. 🙂

It was a long week and a hard week for lots of reasons. Here are some snapshots and descriptions: 1-2) We went for a nice walk and picnic on the mild Tuesday we had! Anyone else anxious for real spring? Or summer?! 3) I’ve been working on improving my sourdough and experimenting with different recipes. My family’s favorite boule is the whole wheat and this one came our beautiful. 4) Thursday was the longest day with several sourdough orders (I run a humble cottage bakery from my home) and a million other things happening at once! 5) My youngest son, Logan, had his last gymnastics class and I took him to Coldstone Creamery to celebrate. 6) Our city currently has an art show for students happening at City Hall. My oldest, Abby, submitted a watercolor of a horse (it’s beautiful!) and we went to the opening reception Thursday evening. There are so many talented young artists in Leominster! The artwork will be on display for the next two weeks. 7) Hubby and I had a date night Friday where I finally got a Guinness on tap–I hadn’t had one since returning from Ireland a year ago! 8) And I tried out a new to me recipe for sourdough potato buns and they are our new favorite burger bun.