I hope that all who celebrated it had a Merry Christmas yesterday! Happy Kwanza to those who are celebrating it! I spent my Christmas exchanging presents, going for a little run, eating too much delicious food, and hanging out with loved ones.
I also spent some time googling half-marathon training programs. I'm running the Team Ortho Get Lucky 21K (also known as a half-marathon) on my birthday, which is in just under 12 weeks. While I have run a number of half-marathons and haven't always exactly followed a plan, I decided I'd like to have a training schedule as I train for this half. Since I will be traveling during the first two weeks of this plan, I decided to go ahead and account for that and make some changes to the plan. I'm must trying to hit close to the planned weekly mileage and not worrying too much if I miss a cross-training workout or run. Because of my schedule and my knowledge of what tends to work best for me, I picked a plan that had me running four days a week rather than five (which basically eliminated most intermediate half-marathon plans I could find on the interwebs). I also figured that I won't have time to do more than 6 miles on days that I teach, so I altered a few runs during the later weeks.
| Week | Monday | Tuesday | | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | | Saturday | Sunday |
| 1 | | 4m easy | | Rest | X-Train | | 4m easy | | Rest | | 6m long | | 3m rec |
| 2 | | 4m fartlek | | 4m easy | X-Train | | 3m easy | | Rest | | 7m long | | Rest |
| 3 | | X-Train | | 5m tempo | X-Train | | 4m easy | | Rest | | 8m long | | 4m rec |
| 4 | | X-Train | | 4m fartlek | X-Train | | 4m easy | | Rest | | 6m long | | 4m rec |
| 5 | | X-Train | | 4m tempo | X-Train | | 4m hills | | Rest | | 9m long | | 5m rec |
| 6 | | X-Train | | 4m fartlek | X-Train | | 5m easy | | Rest | | 10m long | 4m rec |
| 7 | | X-Train | | 5m tempo | X-Train | | 5m hills | | Rest | | 11m long | 3m rec |
| 8 | | X-Train | | 5m fartlek | X-Train | | 5m easy | | Rest | | 8m long | | 4m rec |
| 9 | | X-Train | | 6m tempo | X-Train | | 6m easy | | Rest | | 11m long | 3m rec |
| 10 | | X-Train | | 4m hills | | X-Train | | 6m easy | | Rest | | 12m long | 3m rec |
| 11 | | X-Train | | 5m hills | | X-Train | | 6m easy | | Rest | | 8m long | | 3m rec |
| 12 | | X-Train | | 4m easy | | Rest | | 3m easy | | Rest | | Half!!! | | Rest |
Once HBBC is over, I'll be doing a training recap once a week to check in and reflect on how things are going. How do you go about selecting training programs? If you've been running for awhile have you changed the way you choose and use them?
So glad you're healthy enough again to start a half marathon training plan! Yea for healing!!!
ReplyDeleteAll the best with your training! I've used the run less run faster program since I started running longer distances so I'm a really low mileage girl. My injuries this year caused me to come off the plan quite a bit. Id hoped to try the Pfitz marathon training plan this year but somehow that didnt happen.
ReplyDeleteI usually use Hal Higdon's plans and just adjust them to work for me. But last summer I just did what the coaches for my run club told me to do and I tried to run 8-10 miles every weekend, and that worked well for me.
ReplyDeleteGood thing you posted about it being time to start a half marathon training program. Kind of forgot about that! ;) I do want to do that half, but my training in Jan/Feb will be interesting as I have 3 trips in the first 6 weeks of the year... and my sinus surgery... so yah. We will see how this goes. I think I will be flexible for the first 6-8 weeks of the year and then try to build from there in the last 6 weeks before the race... This will definitely be a 'tune up' race for me!
That looks like a great plan. I started off with some plan I found on the internet that was pretty much 5 days a week running, with a speed work during the week and a long run on the weekend. This last time I used Hal Higdon, which was basically the same formula. So I think that it doesn't always matter WHAT plan you have, as long as you do have one! Good Luck!
ReplyDeleteCutest Christmas beagle ever (suck it, Snoopy). Good luck with the training, I think you'll rock that half!
ReplyDeleteI'm way too lackadaisacal, but the last year or so I've been trying to maintain a base of at least 15K for my long run, building up to 20+ by two weeks before a Half. That long run happens on Saturdays, generally, with 2 or 3 other runs during the week, if I can manage -- and I switch up a mix of speed training and stairs, usually 6 to 8 or 10K for the shorter runs, sometimes as short as 4K. I usually fit in 2 Pilates classes a week as well, which helps me with flexibility and strength. Can you see why I got pissed off when my daughter (an RMT, chiding me a bit about lower back/hip tightness) called me a Weekend Warrior today? Um, hello!! I think I do a wee bit better than that . . .
ReplyDeleteShould say, though, that I also have slack-off weeks and I think that those can be really important . . . As well, ever since reading Born to Run, I've been making sure to focus on enjoyment -- running is a privilege, especially at my age, and I try to feel that and celebrate it with as many steps as possible.
Happy New Year -- and Happy Half Training!
It's always exciting to start a new training plan. I'm already salivating over possible post-baby races (like, spring 2013 post-baby, it's gonna be a while). When I switched from a "just kinda running on most days with long runs on Saturdays" approach to training via a real training plan, that's when I started to see real results. Best of luck! Can't wait to follow along!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your training. I'll be running that race as well, so I hope to see you there. :) Right now I'm training for a Half at the end of January. I've heard good things about Hal Higdon's plans, so I chose the Novice II. In mid-February, I start training for Grandma's marathon, and I signed up to follow their Intermediate training plan. I have no idea what it looks like, but I hope it's good and easy to follow. I'll be student teaching at the esame time, so I am a little nervous about it.
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm hoping that the Get Lucky! fits nicely in the Grandma's training plan. :) *fingers crossed*
ReplyDelete