So from the Running Down a Dream blog series, the first comment I received from someone was that I should talk about my training and about the different work-outs that I do. Which is pretty much the one thing that I said I wouldn’t write about. Well, you want to hear about it, you got it. Maybe it will help someone in their training. Maybe it will motivate some people. Maybe it will help keep me accountable in my own training schedule. Or, or, maybe it’s some sort of cool training plan that you’ve never even heard about. What? We’re not in the tree? Don’t worry. We are in the tree.
I’m training to run a half-marathon below 1:25. I’ve never raced a half but ran a 3:24 marathon about a year ago on only 6 weeks of training. It was back in my “I can do anything” post-Iraq phase. I did it though. I’m on week 4 of a 9 week training schedule. I really like this schedule because it loads a lot of the miles on the weekends and keeps the miles during the week down. That is why I’m running a half, I just don’t have the training time it takes for a full right now. I’m doing the “expert half-marathon” training plan posted on this website under training plans. We’re working on this feature in the website but here you can see what training plan I am following by strolling down to “expert.”
I’m not religious about my running training schedule. I do every planned run but sometimes find the need to switch rest days and long runs around to fit my social life. I know the schedule is made up to give me the optimal build and recovery periods but it is not necessarily optimal for my life. Maybe I’ll rest, not run the 6 miles Saturday calls for and make it up on my Monday rest day. That is what I’m going to do this weekend. I hung out with some friends unexpectedly on Saturday and decided to switch my schedule around a bit. I mean, I know that’s not the best for me going into Tuesday’s intervals, but I’ll still hit my interval times. It just may hurt a bit more but it is worth it. I think that while you can be serious about running, you can also maintain a healthy social schedule around your early Saturday morning races and long training run Sundays. You have to live a flexible schedule where you can socialize, work, and train in unison. Yeah, you probably won’t be on the couch/tv scene too much, but it is worth it to keep all of those things at optimal levels. You just have to be flexible. So do the butterfly stretch and get limber!
I’m also doing a half marathon trail run this weekend at Thrills and Hills XTERRA trail race series and substituting it for a 16 mile run. Depending on how tough it is I may add a couple of miles to my Sunday run. Keep it loose. Have a flexible lifestyle. Trust me, everyone around you will appreciate it.
Tags: Add new tag, half-marathon, trail running, training