Half-Marathon Training Review: Week 14

Hey there everyone!  How are you today? I hope you're well!  The weekend was exciting and fun for me and I hope yours was too!  Lots to catch up on, but first the final half-marathon training recap before I get to tell y'all about the race itself!

Can you believe this is here already?  It feels like week one was yesterday.

This review is for the week of April 16, 2012 through April 22, 2012.  Here is a breakdown of my daily exercise over the course of last week:

• Monday - 3m outdoor run
• Tuesday - rest
• Wednesday - 5m outdoor run with Jesse :)
• Thursday - rest
• Friday - rest/leisurely bike ride to & from dinner
• Saturday - 12m outdoor run + 1m cool down walk
• Sunday - rest 

I'm sure you noticed that I had more rest days than normal this week.  Usually I have two or three at the most.  I was supposed to run on Thursday, but my knees were bothering me and I felt it was prudent to give my body rest instead of pushing myself too hard and getting injured just a week before the race.  Despite my rest days, I still exercised for about four hours and ran a total of 20 miles.

The biggest milestone was reaching the 12 mile distance this weekend! It was a personal PDR for me and I was really excited.  The run was challenging and humbling, but I completed it with minimal walking and I am very excited about it!  It made me excited for the race come Saturday!

Well folks, that is my last recap until I tell you about the race itself!  This week, I have two runs totaling five miles to complete and other than that, I'll be resting up in preparation for the half on Saturday!  Woowee... I can't believe it is almost here!

If you missed them and are interested, here are my recaps from weeks one, two, three,  four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve and thirteen.

Over the weekend, I indulged in lots of tasty food and hit up one of the two festivals going on in town, and napped.  It was great.  Friday night, Jesse and I went out to Atkins Park for dinner and then I called it an early night so that I could get up early for my 12 mile run Saturday morning.  I got out of the house by 8:15am to run and finished around 10:30.  After a good shower, some grub and icing my knees, I laid down and took a glorious, much needed nap.  Then, Jesse, his parents and I met up and headed over to the Dogwood Festival.

To be honest, the festival has gotten a little too big for my taste.  In previous years, it was a bit smaller, easier to find affordable and unique artwork and was a bit more genuine.  This year, it seemed more like a fair than a festival.  There were huge rides, exorbitantly expensive art, and celebrities.  It was still fun, but we didn't end up going back a second day.  It just wasn't worth it.  Here are some photos from the event...

Some of the rides

Clark Howard!

Beautiful view of the city

It was fun to walk around and be outside, but it was just a bit too crowded and everything seemed to be overpriced.

We never made it to the Sweetwater festival, but I did run by during my run Saturday morning.  It looked fun, but Jesse and I were festivaled-out after Dogwood and decided to spend the rest of our Saturday relaxing.  We went out to dinner that evening and enjoyed some really great food courtesy of a Scout Mob deal we found near my house at a place called Cafe Circa.

The food was great!  I enjoyed an Old Peachtree cocktail with our meal and Jesse had an Old Fashioned.  We usually both drink beer, but we figured with the discount it was OK to get some fancy beverages.  They were delicious and the food was outstanding!  We shared the jerk wings, a bowl of rice and peas, and the shrimp and grits meal.  So good!

Sunday was quiet but lovely.  We didn't do much... checked on the garden and read a bit.  The plants are getting huge!

We're going through a cold snap right now, so I'm hoping all the plants survive.  Hopefully we'll have some fruit and vegetables soon!

Aside from reading and gardening, I got into deep cleaning mode Sunday morning.  After I finished vacuuming, mopping, scrubbing and sanitizing the house, Jesse and I hit up 5 Seasons Brewery for lunch.  We then came back and took another nap before our weekly trip to Whole Foods.  It was perfect.

Now, it is Monday.  Unfortunately I'm home with an eye infection (ick), but the doctor said I'll be non-contagious by tomorrow so it'll be back to work tomorrow morning.  For now, I'm going to take advantage of being home by snuggling with my little Sadie monkey.  She's dreaming away... 

I hope you have a lovely afternoon!  Til tomorrow  :]

Tell me...
What did you do this weekend? 
Do you ever go on deep cleaning sprees? 
What is your favorite "fancy" cocktail drink?