What an exciting fortnight of earthquakes, birthday parties, a 10k race in fancy dress, tonnes of work deadlines, Easter Egg hunts, and yes, lots of training too! 🙂

Week 4

Monday: After a week off training because of my cold, I was eager to get back into things! So although a run wasn’t scheduled for today, I went for an Easy Run with my cousin: 4.19 km, 34:57 min, 8:20 min/km pace. It was a much longer one than usual, but a nice conversational pace and before we knew it, it was time for our pilates class. It was later that evening though that things got really exciting… I was reading the kids their bedtime story when we heard something in the ceiling. First, we thought it must be a rat, then it sounded more like a cat, but when it started to sound like there was a cow up there, we knew something was wrong! Earthquake!! We quickly ran outside, and it sounded like there was a huge truck passing through the house. It turns out it was the second strongest earthquake recorded in Botswana (6.5 on the Richter Scale) with it’s epicentre around 250 km from Gaborone. Tremors were felt as far out as Zimbabwe and South Africa. Thankfully, there was no major damage so we could enjoy the little “excitement” while it lasted!

Tuesday: Today was my dad’s birthday so we had dinner at a lovely Portuguese restaurant. The kids were in extremely high spirits and we all had a fabulous time!

We got home around 9pm but I knew I had to run. So I grabbed one of the dogs Sadie and went for an Easy Run, 3.59 km, 28:46 min, 8:00 min/km pace.

Wednesday: My daughter had her first play at big school so I missed both my run and pilates session. It was a fabulous production and I was so proud of my little girl on stage!

Thursday: I made up for my missed run and did a Steady Run, 2.64 km, 20:42 min, 07:49 min/km pace. It was quite “exciting” at the beginning because I got charged at by two dogs – a Rottweiler and a Rhodesian ridgeback. But I immediately stopped and after a few seconds, I slowly walked away. Pheeeww! I then changed direction and headed out to the main road for a less exciting run! This run was followed by my conditioning exercises.

Friday – Saturday:

Sunday: Today was the fourth Race of my “17 in 2017” Goal! It was the Lady Khama 10k Trail Run and I did it dressed as a Ladybird! My final time was 1:16:44, 07:34 min/ km pace. This was not a PB time but what a wonderful day we all had!! Check out the Race Recap here.

Week 5

Monday: After a brilliant race, it felt so good to go for my pilates class! It was a very intense “cardio” session.

Tuesday: Today was my daughter’s FIFTH Birthday! I organised a lunch with the family and we had a lovely afternoon. She is ecstatic to be five and I am so excited that I have been a mum for five years! 🙂

Later in the evening I did a tough but good Tempo Run, 2.95 km, 22:03 min, 7:28 min/km. 

Wednesday: I was exhausted from work, but managed a Steady Run, 2.80 km, 21.18 min, 07:36 min/km pace. As usual, this was followed by a great pilates session where the instructor focused a lot on exercises for running.

Thursday – Friday: On Thursday, I was supposed to do some conditioning exercises, but I felt so tired and found myself slumped on the couch after the kids were in bed. Friday was a “legal” rest day. 🙂

Saturday: I was so nervous about my scheduled Long Run. The longest run I have done (excluding the races) is 5 km so I worried that I wouldn’t manage 8 km without the adrenaline rush of race day. I was supposed to make it an easy run, but I wanted to experiment a little bit with pace. In my last two races, I have found that in my quest to finish the race, I have held back a bit, for fear of running out of steam at the end! So I did the run at a faster pace than my last two races, 59:49 min, 7:28 min/km. Definitely a PB pace!! I followed this with the conditioning exercises I had missed on Thursday.

Sunday: Rest Day and an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids in the garden! The last two weeks have been so challenging as I have been pulled in all directions with several personal and work commitments… BUT… what a great feeling to have actually succeeded with most of my training. I am feeling a lot stronger than two weeks ago. Diacore is only three weeks away, but before that I have the Palapye 10k where I am secretly hoping to PB! Sshh…!

(I am linking up with the lovely Courtney at Eat Pray Run. I am also linking up with the two Jess’s (Jess Runs Atlanta and Jess @ The Right Fits) for their Week in Review. Be sure to read what they and other bloggers have been up to this week!).