Rock n’ Roll San Diego Training Recap – Weeks 9 & 10

It’s race week already! I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. Our weekend was jam packed and really fun. I ran all three days and had three great runs. Finally, running is feeling good again. My legs have gotten so much stronger thanks to 21 Day Fix Extreme and the fact I’ve now been running consistently 4-5 days a week for 10 weeks. For a long time, running in the low/mid 9s still felt hard (not like tempo hard, but not easy) and I’ve finally gotten to the point where it’s a comfortable “easy” running pace. I’m not going to bother recapping my training for race week (the plan is 3 runs between 3-4 miles during the week  and a short 1-2 mile shakeout run on Saturday), so this will be my final recap.

As you know, I’ve been working with Suja Juice during my training for Rock n’ Roll San Diego (they are the title sponsor). They have been sending me juice and are giving me VIP access at the race in exchange for talking about their products (click here for a buy one get one free coupon to try the juice yourself!).  I’m totally open about my partnership with them and all brands that I’ve worked with. I don’t actually take many offers to work with brands, so when I do, it means that I either really enjoy the product already or am really curious to try it and share with others (plus, it has to be a product that fits my readership). In Suja’s case it was both – I’ve tried their juices a few times and liked them but wanted to try more! So, throughout this recap I’ll also talk about the way that Suja has fueled my training.

Week of May 16-22

A great week of training – this is the week when I felt like everything really clicked. I started to feel like my old self on runs again and I started really to fall back in love with running.

Monday – Upper Fix & 10 Min Hardcore Abs

Tuesday – Easy 5 miles with Allison.

Wednesday – 21 Day Fix Pilates in the morning and 1 hour of yoga at work. I’ve been LOVING these free yoga classes at work. The classes are a perfect mix of strength training and stretching and even though it’s kind of weird to be doing yoga in the middle of my office, I leave feeling so incredibly relaxed! Before yoga, I drank one of my favorite Suja juices – Uber Greens. It’s my favorite way to get in extra greens on days when I feel I’m lacking them.

Thursday – 50 minutes of Treadmill Intervals. This workout felt great. I actually really don’t mind doing speed work on the treadmill. The workout was ( I actually just made this up):

• 10 min warm-up
  2 x 1 min @90% effort w/ 30 sec rest
  2 x 2 min @ 90% effort w/ 30 sec rest
  2 x 5 min @85% effort w/ 1 min rest
  1 x 10 min @ 80% effort w/ 1 min rest
  2 x 1 min all out effort (10 MPH is the highest my treadmill goes!) w/ 1 min rest
  7 min cool down

Friday – Mike and I took the day off of work and put Siena in daycare so that we could spend a full day togehter, uninterrupted. We got coffee and then headed to Torrey Pines for a 1.5 hour hike. We had brunch and got massages and went to happy hour. It was wonderful!!! I thought about doing 21 Day Fix that morning but decided to sleep in and enjoy the day with Mike.

Saturday – 6 miles easy on the coast.

Sunday – 13.1 miles with my friend Brooke in Mission Bay. I love long runs in Mission Bay – it’s so flat and beautiful! I rarely get down there (it’s about a 25 minute drive) but when I do, I never regret the time in the car.

After the run, I happily drank a Suja smoothie on the drive home that I brought in a cooler. The smoothies are perfect for post-workout because they have slightly higher sugar content. Right after a hard workout, your body needs that sugar to recover so it’s perfect. I rarely want solid food right after a hard workout too so this is a great way for me to get in calories during the ideal recovery window of 30 minute post exercise. Once I get home and shower, I’ll go get a bigger meal to recharge.

Weekly Totals: 

• 29.5 miles run
• 1.5 hours hiking
• 2 hours strength training

Week of May 23-29

This week was awesome because I got in ALL  five of my runs with friends! Seriously if training could be like this every week I’d be happy. I didn’t do as many 21 Day Fix workouts as planned, but as I’ve said this whole time – half marathon training and family comes first.

Monday – Upper Fix and 10 Min Hardcore Abs

Tuesday – 5 mile run with 2.5 mile tempo. My legs were still tired from the previous weekend’s long run but Asia and I got out and did this together. It was hard but I’m glad we did it!

Wednesday – Easy 5 miles with Allison.

Thursday – Hill Repeats with Asia. We did the same workout as before – 1 mile warm-up and 30 minutes of 50 second hill repeats + recovery and a cool-down to 5 miles total.

Friday – Lower Fix and 10 Min Hardcore Abs. I always forget how HARD and amazing Lower Fix is. I was dripped in sweat and felt SO strong afterward. I love this one!

Saturday – 5 easy miles on the coast with Allison. Despite sore legs from Lower Fix, I felt really good on this run!

Sunday – 8.5 mile long run with Asia on the coast. Another great run with a great friend. In the afternoon Mike and I did 21 Day Fix Yoga (and he loved it!).

Weekly Totals: 

• 30 miles of running
• Strength Training: 2 hours

That’s a wrap. I’m happy with my training. I feel good going into this race. I hope to write a post later this week with my race strategy – but in a nut shell, I have NO idea how fast I can run so I’m going to go by feel. It won’t be a PR but it may be faster than I originally thought. Either way, I am really looking forward to RACING again!

Do you drink Suja juice? Anyone else running Rock n’ Roll San Diego on Sunday!? Ever run a race where you have no idea how fast you can run it!?