Week 5 in my training cycle for the Erie Marathon is complete. The race just sold out this week!! This week I only ran, with no cycling. That was by design because it seemed the biking was flaring up my hamstring soreness. So I took some time off, even though we had some great days to get a ride in 🙁 The soreness is much better, so maybe I can ease back into some rides soon. Miles run: 41.5
Monday – 5 easy miles. Vacation is over. Back to reality, back to work, and back to my training plan! 5 easy miles for Monday morning, but it sure felt a bit challenging. Let’s say it was the humidity. I need to organize my running clothes because I could only find this lovely combo this morning and the shirt was not very breathable!

In case you missed it, I have some really pretty pictures from our Smoky Mountain vacation here: Great Smoky Mountain Park recap
Tuesday – 6 miles, “track” day. Summertime… and back to my straight “track” for speedwork! I will be spending a lot of my summer mornings here on this strip of the trail.

You know how you get those “magical run” days? This was it! The humidity was gone, it was a crisp 50 degrees and the running was GREAT! It was a day for a jump 🙂

I even made it to the gym today! I’d really like to get in 2 days of strength training during this marathon training cycle so I need to get more consistent!!

Wednesday – 4.25 miles. Now that summer is here, the Daybreak Divas group has started back again. This is a womens only group that is organized by Dave’s Running shop. Best part? It’s only 4 miles from my house, and it’s early… but not TOO early (6am). So, a quick car ride to meet my friends, run, do core work, and maybe win a raffle prize. And guess what? I was a lucky winner today. Time for a new pair of socks! 🙂
Thursday – 7 miles, tempo workout. This run went well. The middle miles were alternating marathon pace (8:50) with threshold pace (8:20-8:30). I kept my paces in range. High five for that! I’m also trying out some headbands instead of hats. Not sure I’m digging the look for me at all!

I made a quick stop at the gym too for the leg machines. I really wanted to get my goal of two gym days this week!
Friday – 4 miles, trail running. I got my run done while my daughter was at cross country “conditioning” with her friends. I stopped dead in my tracks when I thought I saw a bear on the trail in front of me!! But then I remembered I was not in Tennessee anymore and we don’t have bears around here. LOL!

Saturday – 15 miles, long run. This was supposed to be 14 miles but I ran into some friends and went a little farther. I was actually a little underdressed for the weather today. It was 64 degrees, but it rained several times and I was getting a little chilly in my tank top and shorts! I am so sick of rain!!!

I ended up running right next to a race that was going on, so I saw a lot of people I knew. I was debating on running that race (a half marathon) but was dragging my feet on signing up. That turned out to be a good thing because this run didn’t go so well. I was trying to do this run just based on my heart rate, but my HR was running high. Miles 12-13 were plagued with side stitches. After I was home, my stomach was angry and lips were purple. Ugh, what an ending.

Sunday – Rest day! Happy Father’s day to all of the Dads out there!!
I was feeling a little bit off this week, and here’s the reason – we have foster kittens from the Humane Society! It’s a pair of black kitties which need a home for about a month. I keep thinking I’m catching a cold/sinus infection, but it might be more of an allergic reaction to being around the kittens.

They are cuties, but also a bit rambunctious (as kitties are!).

Need some more inspiration? I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Check out all of the fun blogs there!
Q: Do you have any cats? Dogs?
We do have 2 adult cats of our own, but have been fostering kittens for several years now during the summer. One time we had 7 kittens. That was a bit overwhelming!!
Q: Is there any chance you would run into a bear on a trail where you live?
I think the chances are pretty slim of seeing any bears where I live in Ohio, but we do have a couple of coyotes that have been lurking around! Crazy.
Cute kitties! No bears here in the UK! I have one cat, a giant ginger and white boy, very lazy. A good, solid week. I’ve had enough of the rain here, too!
The rain has been awful here. I can’t believe this is even “summer”. Too bad we didn’t get all of it back in the winter. I would have loved a bunch of snow!
I have not had one of those magical running days in a long while. I think I am due for one! Looks like a solid week for you. Thanks for linking up
Deborah Brooks recently posted…Weekly Run Down Father’s Day Edition
I sure wish the magical runs would happen more often! But hey, if they choose to only show up on race day, I wouldn’t complain either. haha!
Ha you ran right next to that half? Wow! Sorry it didn’t go well but wtg for finishing. I hope.I never see a bear – I’d be frightened!
I wasn’t scared by the black bears in Tennessee at all, but if it was larger than a black bear I would probably be pretty afraid! That tree stump really made my heart skip a beat!!
7 kittens at once, holy moly! They are so darn cute though..we used to have two cats and our current dog Matilda, but the two cats both passed away within a week of each other. Now it’s just Matilda, but I think I have my husband convinced that she needs a friend!
Awesome week of training for you- I have heard that the Eerie marathon is a great one! I like the looks of your “track” for speedwork. Perfect place for it!
7 kittens was downright craziness. And of course they decided to go to the bathroom in our potted plants, etc. But boy, when they napped, it was adorable 🙂
Those kittens are too darn cute! The weather, OTOH, yesterday was chilly here when we started, and I was in a tank & capris. One of my friends commented on it, but I started earlier than her. I was perfectly comfortable.
That does look like a bear! There actually have been a few bear sightings here. We live in suburbia, but with the destruction of habitat . . . one of my friends actually saw one TWICE while she was doing hill repeats.
I do a lot of running by myself, so I sure hope I don’t see one!
We have 2 dogs.
I went from 1 cat to 2, then 1 cat very briefly to 3 (when we adopted kittens). Then 2 eventually when the older one passed, which is when we got our first dog. A year later we got Lola.
Then one of my cats passed, so it was 2 dogs & 1 cat. Then one of the dogs passed, so for 6 months it was a dog & a cat, then we adopted Bandit so it was 2 dogs & 1 cat. Gizmo passed this year, so now it is 2 dogs. It’s really the first time in my life I’ve been catless.
Follow all that? 😉
Got it 😉 We have never had a dog, although I could see me having one some day. They are such great friends! But since I’ve never even had a dog when I grew up, I’m clueless about the care involved, so I’ve always avoided adopting one. We like the flexibility to just leave a few bowls of cat food and water and go away for the weekend!
Wow! You got some great miles in! I have never run the Erie Marathon, but I have heard some great things about it and it is on my list. Maybe next year. Those kittens are so cute! We used to have a black cat, Julie. She loved to be 20 years old! Now we just have a black dog, Benji.
Laurie recently posted…Trail Blazer Run Race Report
Erie does have a course that I really like (2 loops, lake on one side, wooded park on the other), but it’s the Boston qualifying rate that really draws people in. And they’ve had a lot of chocolate milk at the end. Can’t beat that!
My ex got the two cats in the divorce. My black Lab died a few years ago and I am reluctant to get another. I love dogs but they require way too much attention. Moving to Colorado is still on my bucket list and I might reconsider then. Seems like people in Colorado are almost required to have a dog. Not any bears in Chicago as far as I know. I see deer, coyotes, raccoons, rabbits, and squirrels on my runs, but no bears.
I agree, there are a lot of dogs in Colorado! I have a cat you could have… she seems to think the carpet is her litter box. Minor issue. Besides that she is a great cat 🙂
No bears in my area LOL I have horrendous allergies…and my reaction to the cats (on an allergy test) was off the charts. It took awhile to find a dog breed that would be compatible for me (and my kids, too). AND we alI wanted a shelter dog, so we got really lucky when we found Max in a shelter (about 40 miles away)…he’s a shih tzu/lhasa mix and is perfect. Great week for you, Lisa! Thanks for linking!!
I guess when the kittens are here I am holding them closer to my face than I do with my cats. It really gets to me after a while of cuddling with them! Your dog sounds great!
Those kittens! <3
Congrats on the raffle win
Way to go on the solid week, and I hear you on the rain. I think we have a week of it coming
Thanks! I just realized that was actually week 6 of training completed. Where the heck has the time gone already? Boo on rainy days!
So glad you had a great run day with no humidity before the tough long run. Total bummer but at least you didn’t sign up for the race…or run into a bear! That is my worst nightmare and it’s totally possible in the woods of the northeast where I live.
Hope you’re feeling better and get in some good play time with those adorable kittens!! I love animals and we had a dog for about a year but she had serious aggression issues and we had to re-home her. It was kind of traumatic for me and my family so we’re waiting a while before trying again!
Allie recently posted…The Rundown – Camping, College and Crashing into Summer!
The half marathon that I passed on was actually really cool – the finish line is in the middle of our Toledo Mud Hens (baseball) stadium. Quite an afterparty I’ve heard! I would have spent it in the port a potty . LOL!
what a great running week! well except that you didn’t feel that great on Saturday. I hate side stitches!
I love kittens so much. And funny thing is, I think my husband is even more crazy for kittens/ cats than I am (and that’s saying something!). We have 3 cats; 2 British Short Hairs, half-sisters who absolutely abhor each other (so nice to hear growling and fighting all the time) and a calico that we took in when one of our neighbor’s died suddenly (she had 4 and her sisters tried for 3 months to rehome them all; we finally broke down and took Spooky in). I’ve always had cats, except when I was 4 we had a dog.
I don’t think I’d ever see a bear out running here! But we have highland cows here and lots of normal cows. And we have wild horses near us as well. And sheep. So many sheep!!
Our adult cats have lived together for 4 years now and they still spend most of their day ignoring each other, or smacking each other in secret attack moves! Can’t we all just get along? 🙂
I’m allergic to cats, so there’s no way I could foster those cutie pies! Plus we have the evil Cocoa…
Looks like a nice week for you and yep, nice jump!