It’s been forever since I’ve trained for a half-marathon. So long in fact that this past week found me searching out advice on the best approach to training for a goal time come October 8. The chips are down and I’m back in training mode and ready to run. This is sure to be different from what I’ve become used as I’m now focusing on shorter tempo runs and speed work minus the famed long runs. Although, I’ll still be doing a bit of the long runs, only not as much, as I have another race–my yearly charity run–that same month. Double Yikes! I have never ran a half and full marathon in the same month before. Even so, my goal is centered on the half and so training is geared towards increasing speed and performance for 13.2 miles.
It’s incredible how quickly the year is flying by. My plea remains, “Why the rush?” I’m only just beginning to embrace Summer and all that it means. Never mind the temperate weather patterns we’ve been experiencing. I’d love to hang out here a bit in the sun, kicking the waves and dallying in the sand under the blue skies. Alas, that seems but a fleeting reality, which I’ll have to grab before it is but a distant memory. Pretty soon it’ll be August and then we’ll start counting down the weeks to race day. For now, I’ll hunker down in training and try to catch some waves on the weekend as much as I can–after training of course. Here’s a quick look at what my half-marathon training will look like:
- Mon – 3 easy miles and cross training (body pump gym class)
- Tues – 5 mile tempo run (increasing by 1 mile weekly)
- Wed – 5.5 miles speed work (intervals or hills)
- Thur – 6-8 miles (half-marathon pace on weeks where tempo run is on Sat otherwise off day)
- Fri – cross training (cycling/yoga/rowing/abs workout/weights)
- Sat – 10 mile tempo run (increasing every other week to accommodate for marathon training at marathon pace)
- Sun – rest day
runningwithfaith 