Summary – We had a good week of training despite all the moving around. We enjoyed some good long runs in the mountains of Virginia along the Appalachian Trail, a gorgeous day in Raleigh, NC on roads and trails, a run around Beaufort, SC, some trail running with our friend Ryan and his baby Halsey in Mount Pleasant, SC and a run along the beach in Myrtle Beach, SC. All in all a really good week, especially given the challenges of constant movement.
Total running time: 494 minutes (8 hr, 14 min); Walking: 406 minutes ; Core: 85 minutes; Stretching: 134 minutes
Saturday – Ran for an hour on the beach with Julie in Myrtle Beach at 9 am from our hotel room. We got in last night and hadn’t seen the place in the daylight but had fun exploring the beach north of downtown MB. Easy run even though I think we were both a little sluggish. All the driving around and the increased mileage this week is probably taking its toll.
We walked for 88 minutes around MB, much of it at the Junior Olympics Cross Country race which happened to be in MB this weekend. We saw signs for it while driving around and stopped to cheer on the kids and get a good walk in on the golf course. I also managed to get in 17 minutes of core and 15 minutes of stretching.
Friday –68 minute run with Ryan (with Halsey in the baby-jogger) and Julie in Mount Pleasant. It was a pleasant day, shorts and t-shirt weather with some of the run on trails and some on the roads. Feeling good.
Walked 70 minutes, did 17 minutes of core, and 25 minutes of stretching.
Thursday –60 minutes of running around our place in Beaufort, SC on the roads with Julie. It was a pretty neighborhood around an old golf course and weaving amongst beautiful homes and not so beautiful swamps. The weather down here is ideal this time of the year: warm enough for short sleeves and shorts, along with temperatures to work up a decent sweat.
Walked for 95 minutes around Savannah, GA with my parents and Julie during the day and then did 10 minutes of core in the evening and 25 minutes of stretching.
Wednesday – Walked 23 minutes and otherwise took the day off. We drove 330 miles from Raleigh, NC to Beaufort, SC.
Tuesday – Ran with Julie for 60 minutes around Raleigh, NC from the Honda dealer while we waited for an oil change. We were afraid we wouldn’t find a good place to run but were pleasantly surprised to find a park close by with a nice greenway trail. It was paved but had us back in the trees with their changing leaves and following along a small creek. Felt good.
We then walked for about 70 minutes with our cousin John and his baby Grayson around a lake in town. I managed to do 18 minutes of core in the evening along with 32 minutes of stretching.
Monday – 2 hours of running the Appalachian Trail north from Rockfish Gap outside of Waynesboro, VA with Julie. The trail was much more technical than yesterday’s run with many more rocks to maneuver today. There was also a good deal more climbing. Julie was feeling it quite a bit today. While I could tell the difference in the terrain, the pace was very relaxed for me and I was comfortable the entire way. I again carried my hand water bottle to get used to lugging it around on my runs. I have decided not to eat anything at this duration of run yet though.
I managed to do 23 minutes of core work in the evening once we got to Raleigh, NC and 37 minutes of stretching before bed too.
Sunday – 2 hours and 6 minutes of running on the Appalachian Trail, south from Rockfish Gap outside of Waynesboro, VA with Julie. It was awesome to be back on the trail and we even passed a shelter I specifically remember stopping in for a break the day we hiked through this past May. Unfortunately, there was a new shelter journal so we weren’t able to read our entry. The running was generally smooth considering the usual rockiness of the AT and the biggest obstacle was the dry leaves that could get slippery on downhills. Overall great day though and good start to the week.
Walked an hour to the store to pick up dinner too.