Hurray for vacation!!! I was super excited to head to Myrtle Beach with my family and enjoy some relaxing fun and a recovery week of running. I learned quickly, however, that a beach “vacation” with 3 children is not really a vacation at all! My body and legs were beat!!! Between hauling stuff on and off the beach, trekking up and down the condo steps, and fighting the sand/waves/undertow on the beach itself, it was quite a workout. It was a great time though, and the kids had a blast. Plus it was so fun to be able to run someplace new. I also took full advantage of the pool on the property and soaked my legs post-run on a few days. Here’s how the week shook out:

Monday: 5 miles recovery (8:59 pace)

Tuesday: 7 miles w 3/miles at tempo

Wednesday: OFF!

Thursday: 7 miles recovery (8:51 pace)

Friday: 6 miles recovery (8:50 pace)

Saturday: OFF (travel day)

Sunday: 12 miles medium + easy

Total miles: 37

Every run this week I ran with my Dad – that in and of itself made this a fantastic week of running for me. Even though most of the runs didn’t feel that great (tired legs!!), it was wonderful to have his company and get to enjoy the ocean views and FLAT terrain.

Tuesday’s Tempo – Tempo miles at 6:36, 6:34, 6:36. Now that’s more like it!!

Dad and I ran the warm-up together and then we parted ways to run our respective tempo paces. It was definitely the warmest and most humid tempo run I’ve done in a very long time, but the flat route made this one not quite as bad. I was happy with the paces given that my fueling this week has been less than stellar – too much wine and junk food!

Sunday’s run was my long run for the week. Finally back in Richmond after a long travel day on Saturday, my parents joined me for this long run from a park downtown. It was really nice to be back on the RVA streets. I ran the first 6 of these miles solo at a medium pace, and then joined Dad for the last 6. Legs were a little heavy despite the rest day on Saturday, and I can only attribute it to a week of beach living! My feet were actually sore on the bottom from where the sand had rubbed away my calluses and left me with tender skin! I’ve got to toughen them up again I guess.

While I had fun on vacation, I’m happy to be home. I love where I live and I really missed my nice bed, foam roller and good, healthy food!!

Up Next: First week of official training

Next week I’m back up to 67 miles or so as I jump into my official schedule. I’ve got a hill workout on Tuesday replacing my tempo run and I’m both excited (and a bit nervous) to tackle it. I’ve also got to jump back on the healthy eating train. I usually eat pretty cleanly and while I didn’t go completely nuts on vacation, I did eat my fair share of treats (ice cream & turtle cookies!!) and had more wine and cocktails than I normally indulge in. Time to buckle down and start eating right. If I want to be able to run the higher mileage I need to make sure I’m giving my body the proper fuel. I’m also looking forward to getting back in the gym for my Body Pump and Core classes this week.