American River Parkway Half Marathon Training Week 16: 4/24-4/30

This was it. This was the week for my goal half marathon. Week 16 is in the books and I finished the American River Parkway half with a PR! I'm happy I got it but I'm not going to lie because I was actually a little disappointed since I was hoping and targeting for a faster a time. I believe the weather and not hydrating enough was a factor and I will have more details in my race recap later this week. Even though I did not get the time I was targeting, I am happy and very appreciative that I got it especially because I knew I tried my best. There will always be other half marathons to improve so I'm not too worried.

Here's a recap of what I did last week following Coach Dawn's plan:

Monday 4/24 -
Scheduled: Rest
Actual: Rest
Tuesday 4/25 -

Scheduled: 2 miles easy, then 2x1 miles @ 8:00-8:10, 0.25 recovery in between, 10 min c/d
Actual: 2 miles easy, 2x1 miles were at 8:00 & 8:09, 0.25 recovery in between, 10 min c/d

I was right on pace so I was happy with that.

Wednesday 4/26 -

Scheduled: 3 miles @ recovery pace with 4x strides
Actual: 3 miles with 4 strides.
Thursday 4/27 -

Scheduled: 25-30 min with 3x strides
Actual: 30 min w/ 3 strides. Our last run before the half marathon.
Friday 4/28 -
Scheduled: Rest
Actual: Rest
Saturday 4/29 -

Scheduled: American River Parkway Half Marathon
Actual: American River Parkway Half Marathon. I PR'd! :)
Sunday 4/30 -
Scheduled: Rest
Actual: Rest

The weekend started out nicely with the kiddos soccer games Friday evening. They are always fun to watch and I'm so happy they are having fun out there.

Saturday morning was the American River Parkway half marathon. I ran it with my friend Lenora. I also met a new friend, Myrna aka @run2bfierce and we even ran with her the first 10 miles. Always so fun to meet people in person that you've been following for a while on IG. 

We are happy we finished and with our cool personalized medals! I'm also happy I PR'd. I finally got it since my last personal best was set back in Nov. 2014 at the Philly Half Marathon (1:54:01). Many thanks to Coach Dawn for working and providing a training schedule to help me get the PR, along with my friend Lenora for pushing me the last 3 miles when I was struggling. More details will be in my race recap on the blog hopefully coming the end of the week!

We stopped at Baskin Robbins after the race for a mint chocolate chip milkshake which was delicious after the race. :)

The rest of the day consisted of some errands and then joining our neighborhood block party bbq. It was a fun way to get to know some of the neighbors we had not met and just hang out.

On Sunday, the boys had more soccer. 

Then we relaxed most of the day. We went out for dinner since I was craving sushi. It was sooo good. Sort of a celebration for my PR. We also stopped for some dessert. :)

After dinner we went for a short walk. It was much needed after all of the yummy food I ate for dinner.

And that pretty much sums up my week! Linking this post up with HoHo Runs and MissSippiPiddlin for their Weekly Wrap. I am looking forward to an unstructured schedule and just running for the fun of it!

Have a great week!