1/2 Marathon

likitisplit

I registered for October 26th. I think I'm going to go be sick now.

timeasterday

Awesome!! I just signed up for the Allstate half on 10/6 and the Publix half on 3/23/14. Was thinking about doing the Publix full marathon but thought I should play it safe for now (my wife is doing the full). I can always upgrade it later. We just got back from the Peachtree race expo and they had some discounts to sign up for these races. I'll be nervously watching the weather tonight as I prepare for tomorrow's race.

jessiekanga

Woo hoo!!!! Take a deep breath and rock on!

crista_b

Yay! Good luck!

likitisplit

I'm so excited for you, Tim. I wish I was doing the Peachtree tomorrow.

Next year!

romyhorse

You've got plenty of time to train, you'll do great!

bttrthanevr

I'm so excited for you!!!! Go Varda!!!! Wish I could be there to cheer you on!

bttrthanevr

It's that Marc Parent at work on you, isn't? LOL! Good for you!

likitisplit

All of a sudden I realized that running was more important than checking a box. Yes, I had planned to walk a half marathon in Callaway Gardens seven years back and got pneumonia and wasn't able to do it.

However, I love the Silver Comet. The race start is within 6 miles of my house. I'm not going to have to negotiate child care. I'm not going to have to drive for hours. It's going to put me on track for my "ideal" race schedule for next year.

What's the big deal about Callaway Gardens again?

rduhlir

Mine is the weekend before that so we can virtually train together. I will be keeping you accountable. What program are you using?

likitisplit

Runner's World. In one of those serendipity things, I realized that the current plan I'm on that was the pre-Train Like a Mother 1/2 plan was actually a 1/2 plan that (dum, dum, dum,) was set for a race date of October 27. However, I'm not on that plan because it's taken me so long to recover. I'm going to need to re-jigger it. I'm happy that you're doing this too - it'll be great to have another virtual training partner.

timeasterday

I'm reading "Run Less, Run Faster" right now and I think I will follow their plan for my half marathon training. I like that they recommend just 3 days of running a week (quality over quantity). And just 2 days of cross training. I think I can handle that and actually enjoy it. But their plan is 16 weeks and I only have 14 weeks to my first half. I know I can complete the race by then but I just need to be conservative and not push the pace too much. I'm running another half marathon on Thanksgiving and that's the one I am gunning for a good time.

likitisplit

Maybe I need to look at that plan. I'm looking at another one through a link in the "running in the heat" article. Runner's World wants me to move up to 4 days a week and I just don't know if that's sustainable for me with everything else that I'm doing - so I'm looking for three day plans.

crista_b

Maybe I need to look at that plan. I'm looking at another one through a link in the "running in the heat" article. Runner's World wants me to move up to 4 days a week and I just don't know if that's sustainable for me with everything else that I'm doing - so I'm looking for three day plans.

Here's a plan that has once a week training: http://bloging.lifeplusfitness.com/index.php/half-marathon-running-program/
I'm sure you could easily modify it to add a couple days each week, or you could probably adapt one of the 4-day plans to be a 3-day/week plan?

likitisplit

I actually really like this one:

http://www.jennyhadfield.com/articles/the-busy-girls-half-marathon-plan/

There's less math than Run Less. It also focuses on effort instead of pace, and can be easily adapted to heart rate zone training.

I like that a lot of the runs are time based, instead of mileage based. It makes it easier to schedule and lets you work a lot harder when you've got more to give.

I think it's also going to be easier to drop into given my current challenges than my current plan.

bttrthanevr

I'm trying to get my mind off of pace and just focus on paying attention to my body posture and breathing and running longer. I did my first run that way last night. I ran without headphones and on a new route to make it more interesting. It went well! I was very even in my pace (13:30...almost exactly 1 minute slower than my pace for my shorter runs). I was going to allow myself walk breaks, but I never felt the need, so I just cruised on. It felt smooth and good despite crazy humidity. It was almost dark/then was dark, so the temp was cooler.

likitisplit

That's perfect, Beth! I admire your ability to run without headphones. I can only do it on trail runs.

I had the most awesome running moment last night. I was helping a couple of kayakers that got separated from their group: I let them use my phone, and then they were still there when I got back from my run. So one of the ladies asked me how long I'd been running. I told her that I'd graduated C25k in February and did a 10k in June. She asked me which 10k and then asked me if I had a half marathon in my sights. And I was all, "Oh yeah. I've signed up for the Silver Comet in October." Of course, then I added, "For 48 hours after I signed up, I wondered what the hell I was thinking." But it really sounded all cool and runner-y and stuff.

timeasterday

Last night was my first run of my half-marathon training plan. I did the group run with the local running store and the plan was to do 2 miles easy, 3 miles at 8:19 pace, and one mile easy. I think I went too fast on the first two easy miles and could only hold the faster pace for two miles before slowing down. The humidity was awful and I just felt like I didn't have the strength. I cut it short at 5.25 total miles partly due to fatigue and partly due to the big boom of thunder I heard when I was a long way from the starting point. And my hip was hurting again but not as bad as last month. We'll see what the doctor says next Monday when I go in.

My running plan is calculated from my last race pace which may be too fast. I might have to go back and recalculate for a slower pace. Tomorrow I'm headed to a local high school track to run intervals. Then it's a 8-mile slower run on Sunday. In between I will be working on developing some cross-training routines that aren't too lengthy. No more P90X - it's just too much. I'm going to concentrate more on improving my core strength, hips/glutes/hammy strength & flexibility, and overall balance. Plus some biking sometime each week too.

likitisplit

Pilates is like the best cross training specifically for running.

timeasterday

Pilates is like the best cross training specifically for running.

I don't know a lot about pilates but I think many of the exercises I plan to do are very, very similar. I should ask my wife - I am sure she has a pilates video or two somewhere.

rduhlir

Pilates is like the best cross training specifically for running.

People could argue this lol. There are losts of cross trainings "best" for runners. Weight lifting, swimming, biking, walking to name a few.

Anyway, my first half marathon run was Monday, and it actually corresponded with my running group which is great. I have actually maneuvered my training schedule to do that. Threw in a few fartleks, and it is nice because they require you to run without head phones, so it takes me out of my comfort zone. Ended up being just and easy 3 mile run, with 9-min/1-min run/walk splits. My group is just the intermediate 2. The advanced group ran by us covered and dripping in sweat, was actually glad I wasn't in that group lol.

ShannonKN

Way to go, Vardaeml!!! When I started C25K for the *mumble* 3rd? 4th? *mumble* time, I wasn't convinced that I even wanted to finish the program -- I could happily keep running week 3 over and over again for a cardio workout. Then pride and curiosity kicked in and I buckled down to the challenge. Next, I stayed at the 5K distance for a while, content, before I got twitchy and started 10K training. I'm not done with 10K training yet (work travel has been really rough and didn't include hotel gyms or safe running spaces), but I'm already starting to think ambitious thoughts about half marathons. Having you in my feed is a great influence!

likitisplit

Pilates is like the best cross training specifically for running.

People could argue this lol. There are losts of cross trainings "best" for runners. Weight lifting, swimming, biking, walking to name a few.

Anyway, my first half marathon run was Monday, and it actually corresponded with my running group which is great. I have actually maneuvered my training schedule to do that. Threw in a few fartleks, and it is nice because they require you to run without head phones, so it takes me out of my comfort zone. Ended up being just and easy 3 mile run, with 9-min/1-min run/walk splits. My group is just the intermediate 2. The advanced group ran by us covered and dripping in sweat, was actually glad I wasn't in that group lol.

What I mean by "best for runners" is that, if you read the book "Anatomy for Runners" and look at the auxiliary exercises he mentions or if you read the recommended exercises for this and that on Runner's World, that's pretty much my Pilates class. Also, Tim already does most of the rest of it, but it's a rare guy who does Pilates (although, I think Dean Karnazes recommends it too.)

Shannon - I was 40 when I graduated C25k. That's a lot of *mumble.* And I was totally convinced I'd fail at some point. So the fact that I'm looking at a half is a little ridiculous. But incredible You'll get there at some point and that's all that matters.

likitisplit

FYI - I'm going to do blog posts about 1/2 marathon training, instead of treating this message board as my personal blog:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/vardaeml/view/marathon-training-week-one-552748

If you want to see when I post a new one and you aren't my friend already, just friend me.

timeasterday

What I mean by "best for runners" is that, if you read the book "Anatomy for Runners" and look at the auxiliary exercises he mentions or if you read the recommended exercises for this and that on Runner's World, that's pretty much my Pilates class. Also, Tim already does most of the rest of it, but it's a rare guy who does Pilates (although, I think Dean Karnazes recommends it too.)

Yep - that's pretty much what I did. Yesterday I grabbed "Anatomy for Runners" and "Run Less, Run Faster" along with some stuff I had printed from various sites, headed into our exercise room and started developing two routines. I am also borrowing some P90X moves too. One routine is more core focused with some arm/shoulder/back stuff. The other routine is more lower body focused with some chest stuff.

Hopefully I can get out and run some track intervals today before the storms hit. Thankfully it's not that hot out with all the clouds.