Not a bad week of training this week given my fairly lousy week of training last week, minus my PB for the race last Sunday, which Im still pumped about! My running has been going surprisingly well despite my training not being 100% perfect.

Monday
A frustrating swim session. Our normal coach still isn't back, we had yet another different coach for the lesson - which isn't actually my problem. I actually like the variety of the different people and their teaching styles.

However! The half a pool we utilise for the swim lesson was split in half again, each half had enough space for 1 person going 1 way and 1 the other way, no room for overtaking. The coach asked us to pick the fast or slower lane based on our abilities. Im the sort of person that tends to not think Im good enough, so I went in the slower lane.. and I regretted it for the rest of the lesson. I was constantly stuck behind other people in the class and there doesn't appear to be any sort of sticking to swimming ettiquette. Usually if a swimmer is faster than me, I'll stop at the bottom and let them pass.. but that didn't happen.

A photo posted by Laura Dryden (@laura_fat2fit) on Feb 6, 2017 at 2:17pm PST

Instead, I spent just 10 minutes of a 30 minute lesson actually swimming. ugggh.. Thats the last time I underestimate my abilities.. Im going in the fast lane next time!
Wednesday
Got straight back to it with the running, no rest for the wicked since I have a half to continue training for. I did a quick 2 miles. Kept both miles under 10 min/mi. 9:35 average for both miles which I was pretty pleased with.

A photo posted by Laura Dryden (@laura_fat2fit) on Feb 8, 2017 at 2:48am PST

Thursday
Another day, another run, headed out for 3 miles - had the intention of doing negative splits and then got caught in waiting for traffic around the local school to cross over.. so my middle mile slowed significantly. Ended with 3 miles at 30:10 averaging 10:03 with splits of 9:57, 10:25 and 9:45 - at least I ran the last mile the fastest.

Friday
A not very redeeming swim session at lunch time. I had the intention of going in the morning to fit in a good swim session, however, traffic was horrendous in the morning, so I decided to go in work early and had back out at lunch. I ended up being stuck in traffic for the second time, I almost gave up but decided 20 minutes was better than nothing!

A photo posted by Laura Dryden (@laura_fat2fit) on Feb 10, 2017 at 5:47am PST

Saturday
No parkrun due to Phillip being on call, so decided on a Turbo Session instead. I dont know what possessed me to do so.. especially the day before a long run - but I picked a 20 mile, fairly flat route to do. To be honest, I didn't think I would complete it all and figured Id see how far I could get.

1:28:30 later. I'd completed 20 miles on the turbo. Boy does sitting on the seat for that long hurt, geez!

A photo posted by Laura Dryden (@laura_fat2fit) on Feb 11, 2017 at 10:07am PST

Sunday
The plan was to head out with Phillip for my Long Run(10 miles this week), he's been accompanying me on my long runs lately - it's been quite nice as I hate long distance running(Yes.. Im running a half marathon but hate long distance ;) ).

We headed out a lot later in the afternoon compared to usual early morning. I wont be doing that again, a heavier meal doesn't work very well for running. We planned to run the first half of the run at a slower pace along the river and faster miles on the way back along the road.

It didn't go exactly to plan.. my slower miles were supposed to be around 11:00min/mi with the last half of my run being at least 10:30.. closer to 10min/mi.

The first 5 were 10:38, 11:05, 10:33, 10:56 and 10:25. I find it SO hard to run slower than my usual pace.. if I wasn't paying attention to my watch.. which I don't most of the time, I just settle into my usual pace which appears to be around 10:30.

I did manage to speed up for the last half, despite my legs feeling a little ropey(most likely from the turbo session). Last 5 mile splits were 10:06, 10:07, 10:11, 10:23 and 10:25(the last two miles I could have sworn were slower than 11 as I was struggling! but alas, they were still under 10:30!).

A photo posted by Laura Dryden (@laura_fat2fit) on Feb 12, 2017 at 9:20am PST

So I finished up with 10:13 miles in 1:45:58 with an average pace of 10:13min/mi. I was so glad to be done with the run. I got a little emotional after finishing(you may see on a sneaky training vlog I filmed whilst I was out ;) ).

I've been getting quite overwhelmed with my running lately. I've been running so much better than I thought I would!

I worked out with Phillip that I would get a PB in a half marathon if i maintained my pace for the last 3 miles of the long run I completed. So it's looking positive. I just don't want to get my hopes up too much incase something goes wrong on the day. Im just gonna keep going with training and we will see what happens in 3 weeks!

---

Im linking up with Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC again to share training diaries with other runners! So check out the linkup on her blog! :) Also, if you want to catch up on my other training diaries, you can find them all HERE.

Question: Do you prefer shorter or longer runs/races? How do you cross train to compliment running?