RnR San Diego Half Marathon Training Log: Week 2

Last week, I got sick for the first time in a long time, and it derailed my training a bit. I still had a solid week, though, and my weekend of running has me excited both for this week and to explore new routes during this training cycle.


Monday: (1) 4 easy miles in AM, (2) plyometric drills + upper body strength workout in PM.

Four easy, recovery miles along the San Diego Creek Trail, finishing with 5x20 second strides. I felt fine that morning but started feeling worse and worse as the day went on.

I soldiered through plyometric drills (that's a raised agility ladder back there), and did the same upper body strength workout I'd done the week before, but by the end I felt queasy and abandoned the second set of core work to go home and eat/sleep.

• Three sets of 12 reps of: (1) chest press, (2) fly, (3) high row, (4) low row, (5) shoulder press, (6) lat pull-down
• One set of (1) knee-ups and (2) reverse sit-ups

Tuesday-Thursday: Off (sick).

Tuesday morning I was so sick that I had to leave work before lunch and spent the rest of the day sneezing and sleeping on the couch. Felt well enough to go to work Wednesday but really didn't want to push it after the strength workout Monday night that I think got me sicker (or at least didn't help). Did manage to stretch and foam roll a lot since I was pretty achey.


Friday: 3x2400m @ half marathon PR pace.

Felt pretty much 100% Friday morning, other than some residual congestion, so I decided to attempt the speedwork I'd had slated for Wednesday morning.

• Dynamic stretching
• 1 mile warm-up
• 3x2400m repeats at (what I thought was) half marathon PR pace with 1:30 recovery in between: (1) 8:41, (2) 8:37, (3) 8:36
• 1 mile cool-down

So I thought my half marathon PR pace was 8:42. Turns out my half marathon PR pace is actually more like 8:36/mile. Yes, I should have looked that up. It was in the right range, at least.

First repeat had me huffing and puffing, especially because I ran the steep, short underpasses that take you under roads on the San Diego Creek Trail instead of crossing the streets (I rarely have to stop early in the morning since there aren't many cars on the road). As I caught my breath and hacked up phlegm during my 1:30 recovery, two men across the creek yelled "hey, thank God it's Friday, right?" I could only manage a thumbs up, but seriously, thank God it was Friday. Second and third repeats were pretty smooth, even with the steep inclines, and the pace felt decent by the third one. Still, got some work to do over the next ten weeks!

Since the partners in my office were at the annual firm partnership retreat, we had a Hawaiaan-themed lunch party and were given leis to wear all day. SoCal law firm life is where it's at, I'm telling you guys.


Saturday: (1) 6 relaxed miles, (2) strength workout with Melanie.

I met up with Mary Kate for six miles of her long run at Back Bay. It was overcast and humid, but cool enough to make it a great morning for a run. I also hadn't run with anyone in a while, so the miles flew by as we chatted. Since I'd run 3x2400m the day before, I eased off the planned tempo and aimed for "conversational but not recovery" pace miles, which matched up with Mary Kate's paces well.

Followed up the run with stretching then a strength training session with Melanie. We focused on the lower body, doing some supersets that exhausted the quads and glutes.

• Two sets of 15 reps of two core exercises
• Two sets of 15 reps of two supersets (two exercises per superset including kettlebell squats and weighted step-ups)
• Two sets of 15 reps of an oblique exercise
• Stretching focused on hips and hamstrings

After showering, Sourabh and I headed to local car dealerships to test drive several models since we'll need two cars when he's working. We took a break to grab tacos from our favorite local taco place: Taqueria El Zamorano.

I don't normally post food pictures, so I hope you understand how great these tacos are. Homemade tortillas and some kind of pork genius happen here.


Sunday: 9 mile long run.

Kara drove down from LA and we carpooled to Aliso Creek & Wood Canyon Park for our long run. It was so much fun to catch up and explore a new route. We kept a very relaxed pace (especially since I was hitting my highest mileage in a 3 day period in a loooong time). However, I was surprised that our pace was solidly in the 10's instead of the 11's or even 12's, which is what it felt like. Had pizza the night before so just had 1/2 a banana and a glass of Nuun to fuel and felt fine.

Splits: (1) 10:49, (2) 10:22, (3) 10:23, (4) 10:32, (5) 10:46, (6) 10:55, (7) 10:48, (8) 10:35, (9) 10:35

After finishing our run, we headed to Laguna Beach for brunch. We ended up at The Dock, which was literally right on the beach. We were definitely the least dressed up people there (because it's Laguna), but they seated us, so... oh well.

I got home and Sourabh wanted to walk Mason, so we headed to Peters Canyon Regional Park for a short 2.5 mile walk around the lake. Or rather, what would be a lake if we weren't in the midst of a multiyear drought. Southern California has put me in the odd position of hoping for rain instead of sun!

Finished up the weekend by making Skinny Taste's kheema matar, an Indian lamb dish that's one of Sourabh's favorites. The recipe was easy to follow and turned out to be delicious -- highly recommend for easy at-home Indian cooking!


Weekly Mileage = 25.7 miles