For my first half marathon, I printed out my 12 week plan, tapped it on my bedroom wall and surrounded it by motivational sayings and clippings of workout moves from my fav health and fitness magazines.
This time around, I looked into a few different training plans, but after upgraded my MapMyRun to the MVP version, decided to use the training feature for my next half marathon. While my original training plan still hangs proudly on my wall, I am happy that I can view my schedule at any time.
Knowing yesterday was day 1 of my training, I was excited to see what would be in store. I chose an intermediate plan this time, wanting to finish this time around 15-20 minutes faster than last time.
I opened my app to find that while my training started yesterday, my runs didn’t begin just yet—it was off day.
Off day on a Monday? I love running or at least weight lifting on Mondays because it starts my week off the right way. Mind over matter? Probably, but after sometimes having cheat weekend meals, I look forward to this fresh slate. Luckily, this weekend I relatively behaved. While I did have a very filling and unhealthy Chinese dinner on Friday night, I went running on Saturday morning in the blazing heat and suffocating humidity to burn it off. While it was only 2 miles, I did give it my all, so it sure is better than not running at all. The rest of the weekend I was busy going back and forth, running around without actually running.
I did debate going for a run anyways. Would that have been cheating? Is it okay to not follow the plan exactly? Ultimately, I got home exhausted and decided to instead go to bed early to be well rested. Tonight calls for a nice and easy 3 mile run.
It is the start of a new month, so I am feeling good about officially starting my training today. In June I ran a total of 136.15 miles. Let’s see what July has in store for me!
I decided that I will write about each week’s training and nutrition in either a weekly or twice a week post. I tend to write a bit much sometimes, so for longer posts, I will spilt them up into two. Feel free to comment with your half marathon training tips and tricks along the way!
When training, do you stick exactly to your program? Do you run on your days off?
A training plan is a living breathing thing. It changes as you progress. Don’t feel like you have to stick exactly to a plan, especially a plan that is created by a computer algorithm. Know that you ultimately hold the key to success. Consistency is key. I would suggest to make sure you still take rest days, but try to run as much as you can. Running three days a week will not get you the same results as running five days a week. If you are truly serious about developing a plan I suggest the book Road Racing for Serious Runners by Pete Pfitzinger. The serious in the title means serious about training and achieving goals. Remember run often and run happy, but always keep running.
Such a great comment. Thank you so much. I agree, running 5 times a week will have different results than running 3 times a week. I was consistently running at least 5 days even more “officially” starting my training, but it is good to hear that I fine tune it to meet my needs. I am planning to take one rest day for sure and a second “rest” day to cross train. I really about reading running books and will check out the book you recommended!
You are going to rock your race!! I know what you mean about taking off on Monday!! I really like to start off my week with some great workouts!!!