Week in Review: May 6-12

It's time to get back on board with my weekly training posts.  And posting in general.

Last week, summer arrived.  It had snowed the week before, so we literally skipped spring and went straight into summer, without giving my body any time to adjust.  Despite the heat, I had some decent runs.

Monday - Rest
I had done a tough run the day before and had not hydrated well afterwards.  Despite plans to start the week with a 5K in the morning, I slept in.

Tuesday - 7K
In high heat, and poor air quality, I went out and did the river walk loop from the rec centre.  I had left my Garmin at work by accident, but I don't think I want to know how long this one took me.  It was very hot, and despite the short distance, I found myself needing a little walk break part way through and thankful for the stoplight for a break.

Wednesday - Rest

Thursday - 8.5K
Our local running store is putting two teams into a local relay race next weekend.  I'm on one of the teams, and a group of us wanted to go out to practice some stages before hand.  Only 3 of us ended up running, and our injured store owner went on bear patrol/pick up duty so that we didn't have to drop a car at the end.  The race is on a very hilly route, and stage one, our practice stage for Thursday night, gets things rolling right from the start (so punny, ha ha).  This was the longest 8.5K I've ever run with the combined hills and heat.  One of those runs that makes you feel like if you can do that, you can do any course.

Friday - Rest
I planned to go out Friday morning...it just didn't happen.  No excuses.  I was lazy.

Saturday - Stretching

Sunday - 17.1K
Two of us met up on Sunday to practice stage 2 of the relay.  This will be my stage next weekend.  I can only hope I have the same kind of day next Sunday as I did this Sunday.  I got off to a slower start, but then again, the first 4K are pretty steady climbing.  I felt stronger as I went.  The rolling hills in the middle were easier than I thought, and I felt confident running, rather than plodding up some of the shorter ones.  The stage ends with 6K of fairly steady downhill, so I flew to the finish.

It was a perfect day.  Warm, but with a nice breeze, some clouds for an occasional break from the sun, and we were out early enough that we still had a bit of shade as we did the toughest climbing at the beginning.  My goal for next weekend was to finish in 1:42, but since I finished just a bit faster than that this Sunday, I think I'm going to really race to the finish and see what I can do.  My team is not competitive, so there is no pressure except for what I put on myself.  I was a bit nervous when I signed up for this race, but now I'm excited!

Have a great week!