This begins my first week of half-marathon training for the Lake Minnetonka Half-Marathon.  I decided to do something a little different, yes I want a PR but I also want a “fun” race with maybe some scenery. Running part way around Lake Minnetonka seems to fit that bill!  As far as a training plan goes, I really enjoyed Hal Higdon’s marathon schedule that I used last fall so I thought I’d give him another try with his Advanced Half-Marathon program.  It is a 12 week program that begins NOW!

Monday I did my standard loop around the Metrodome for 3.14 miles in 27:14.  It was 33 but 24 wind chill. I was a little overdressed for pretty much the whole run.  Most of the sidewalks were clear with only small patches of ice to be found.  Oddly my Garmin said it’s battery was low and didn’t even last long enough to find a signal.  That was frustrating since it was fully charged yesterday when I unplugged it from the computer.

Tuesday I ran to the West River Road so that I could do hill repeats going south up the the Franklin St Bridge.  The sidewalks were still a mixture of slush and ice thanks to the warmer weather we’d been having.  It was actually 40 with off and on drizzle for this particular workout.  I finally got off the sidewalks to run on the road because they were so dangerous.  About 2 miles into the run I had hopped back on the sidewalks and fell.  I didn’t just fall, somehow I fell and rolled.  I got up shook myself off and kept running.  My knee hurt a little bit but I felt fine.  I continued on to the road and did my 6 hill repeats.   I did 3 up the southbound ramp to Franklin’s eastbound.  They are approximately .15 of a mile or 264 yards.  They were in 1:10, 1:15, and 1:11.  The next 3 were straight up the River Road towards Franklin and approximately .23 miles or 400 yards.  I ran them in 1:37, 1:35, 1:36.  They were longer but not as steep. Total mileage was 7 miles in 60 minutes.

Wednesday was a nice easy 3 miles in 25:02.  It was a good recovery run with the temp above freezing again at 33 though the wind chill was 25.  Most of the run was on dry pavement which was a very nice change in pace!

Thursday I took off.  I deliberated back and forth about this but my schedule makes Friday a better morning to do the Tempo run, even though it would be before Saturday’s long run.  I think I’ll plan on doing it this way unless I have something else on Friday morning.  Basically I’ll do the tempo run on which ever day is more convenient!

Friday I set off for a 40 minute tempo run along the Greenway.  The plan was 20 minutes out and 20 minutes back. There was light flurries and it was 18 with the wind chill at 8.  It was a headwind on the way out.  I ended up running 5.13 miles in 38:32. Close enough right?  There were little patches of ice here and there. Unfortunately my pace chart shows that I didn’t do a very good job of making it a tempo run.  I hit my 10k pace 2x’s but didn’t sustain it for very long. Some of the spikes in the chart are due to icey patches.

Saturday morning the Polar Bear group met at the Longfellow Grille/Dunn Brothers and set out for a nice long run on the River Roads.  We went south crossed Ford Bridge and then went north crossing the pedestrian bridge just south of Washington Ave for 11.37 miles in 1:27:37.  It was 10 but the wind chill of -1 made it kinda chilly.  You could see the frozen mist again which actually turned to snow for the latter portions of the run.  I waxed and waned throughout the run but the hills in the middle wore me out by the end.

Sunday we met at Minnehaha Falls again and ran the Get in Gear loop, again.   This was actually the fastest we’d run the course on a Sunday morning this year.  These Sunday runs are usually a recovery run for most of us.  It was 5 above with no wind chill so a pretty nice morning to run. We ran it in 54:04.  As the weather has warmed a bit and we are also getting into spring training cycles I’ve seen more and more people out on the trails.

Total Mileage:

Running – 35.9 miles

Biking – 7 miles

Last Year

Mileage –

Run: 28.2 Miles
Bike: 14.0 Miles

The week began with a look back at Week Two of my half-marathon training.  The Complete Running Network created a Facebook group for their members to use as another way to connect. I’m a member of both CRN and the group but I’m not really active in either community. Former Governor and then Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee is an avid runner and ran last year’s Boston Marathon.  I like measuring my training and numbers, so I offered 3 reasons why  I like to bike.  I biked a lot last year getting over a 1,000 miles on the two wheel machine! Last year’s Foto Friday was an ice sculpture of the sinking Titanic.