I’m currently training for the Gabs 1/2 Marathon on the 10th March 2019. This will be my third Half but the first of the five Half Marathons I have planned this year. I have done this event twice before, in 2017 and in 2018, but both times I did 10 km.

Week 9: This Relentless Heat

Monday, 25th February: Rest Day. I was actually supposed to run today but after my 18 km run on Saturday, I felt like I had been hit by a truck and decided not to. I considered doing some weights at home but quickly changed my mind. I felt only slightly guilty as it was really hot and I thought “Surely, I can take at least two days off after a Long Run”. 😉

Tuesday, 26th February: Pilates Class (1 hr). I almost hopped on the Excuses Bus again but quickly changed into my workout clothes and headed to the gym for pilates. Lots of core and leg work and I put in quite a bit of effort. The following day my hip flexors felt really sore – but the good kind of sore where you know exactly what you worked!

Wednesday, 27th February: Steady Run, 8.67 km,1:03:30. It was great to get my first run of the week done. It was a scorching hot day and although I started at 6 pm, it was still around 40°C (?!?). I mean. Come on. Lots of people have said this is the hottest summer they can remember in Botswana. And it’s not just the heat. We are used to high temperatures. But it’s this prolonged intense heat with little to no rain that’s just sapping everyone’s energy. This was meant to be a Tempo Run but after a while I just aimed to finish and was glad to see my average was my Goal Half Marathon pace.

I was so glad that the kids and hubby kept me company on their bikes. I’ve really enjoyed the last few Wednesdays where we have worked out together at the Agricultural College Grounds.

Sweaty and tired afterwards, we made the impromptu decision to eat at Nando’s.

Thursday, 28th February: Rest Day. I had scheduled pilates but my boy was not well. I actually picked him up about an hour after he started school because he was vomitting. Thankfully, it just turned out to be a 24-hour tummy bug that was soon over.

Friday, 1st March: Rest Day. Technically, this was the first day of Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. What a joke – another 40°C day. I couldn’t cool the room down enough to run on the treadmill so I just left it. It was bad.

Saturday, 2nd March: Long Run, 12.38 km, 1:31:55. There was no way I could avoid my Long Run and I was thankful that it was shorter than previous long runs! My husband accompanied me for the first 2 km and then I continued on my own.

I did a loop (as opposed to the usual out and back) and really enjoyed it! It was nice to run in some new territory and I even incorporated 2 flyovers for some elevation training.

I wanted to set off before it became too hot so I cut short my warm up. The good thing is I was back before the crazy sun became unbearable. But my shorter warm up also meant that my knee was sore for the first 3 km of the run. 😦 Once my knee was warmed up though, the rest of the run was good.

Sunday, 3rd March: Rest Day. Another unbearably hot day, and we basically shut ourselves in the house the whole day.

Summary: The heat got to me this week and I only managed 2 runs because of it. But they were good runs and in terms of overall mileage, I didn’t fare too badly. Only one week to go now until I line up for my THIRD Half Marathon! I’m feeling okay, a teeny weeny bit nervous now… but mostly just praying it’s a cool day. And I’ve said this several times this week – I CAN’T WAIT FOR WINTER! Anything but this!

[Weekly Mileage: 21.05 km |Gabs 1/2 Training Cycle: 231.72 km | 2019 Mileage: 231.72 km | Gym Classes: 1]

The Weekly Wrap Link-Up hosted by Holly and Wendy is no more. It was a great link-up which really helped to keep me accountable.  But I was excited to see that Kim from Running on the Fly and Deborah from Confessions from a Mother Runner have started a new link up, “Weekly Run Down”. Both Kim and Deborah have been so supportive of me on this running journey. I just missed the link-up this week, but I’ll be sure to join in next week.