Almost Halfway There – Week 8 Marathon Training Recap

After a solid training week during Week 7, aka my return to the road, I approached Week 8 with excitement. What’s not to be excited about – a holiday on Monday, and then a beach escape for me for a post-Labor Day weekend getaway. But, some planning had to go into my week: did I want to run on my vacation, and how long/far? Did I really want to do a long run on vacation? That would mean packing all the gear, getting up early, and trying to figure out a route for 15 miles at Exit Zero NJ (Cape May for all of you who don’t determine locations by Garden State Parkway Exits).

I decided Saturday morning would be reserved for acting like a vacation (no alarms, or even ideas of when I should wake up), but since we would be leaving Sunday – that would be fine to get up and run too. But if you know Cape May, it’s not very big, and I don’t like running in circles – I like a back and forth, but I don’t want to see it a third, fourth or fifth time in one run. I’ve been going to Cape May for years, and spent a lot of it on The Point, walking, biking, but never running so I thought that it would be nice to see it in this “new” way. I was on the road by 6 am, ran the length of Beach, did a little criss-crossing to get back to the other end of Beach, then ran to Sunset Blvd. to go to The Point. From Sunset Beach, I ran a little on the beach then circled and made my way through areas I spent many younger days. It was wonderful. I did stop a lot and take photos – because I’m a photographer, and it was beautiful. It was a total amazing running experience. And bonus, I remembered I had tucked some cash awhile ago into my utility belt bag so to celebrate I went to my favorite coffee shop Coffee Tyme, and got a delicious caramel coffee (and whoops, forgot to ask for non-fat milk, but oh so yummy!!).

I definitely paid for it after, I didn’t ice after 15 miles, and then sitting in a car for the ride home – I didn’t do my knees any favors. But overall a great running week – and I logged a total of 30 miles.

How was your running week?

Week 8’s Running Views

More Photos from my Cape May Long Run