Today marks the official start of my half-marathon training for the Little Rock Half Marathon on March 15, 2009. I'm following a 14 week training plan in the book Marathoning For Mortals by "The Penguin" John Bingham. He writes an excellent column in Runner's World and has a lot of great advice for those of us who aren't too speedy but aspire to going longer distances. I used his run/walk plan for my last half marathon - the Colorado Colfax in May 2007 - and improved my time over my prior half by about 13 minutes. This time around, I'm doing the walk/run plan which puts more emphasis on the walking. I don't have any delusions that I'll be able to do a lot of running at the beginning of my training so this is the better plan. I need something that is realistic and that I can stick to, but I do have in the back of my head that I can start to add in more running as the weeks go by if my body tells me that I can.
In any case, as always I need a goal to shoot for or I never seem to get myself going. When I have a plan to follow, it holds me accountable and gets me out the door. I always feel great after a run, but just taking those first steps can be rough for me. I actually didn't get to work out today because I have HORRIBLE blisters that are now scabbed over. (I was really stupid and wore low-rise socks) I'm hoping an extra day will make it bearable to put on real shoes because at that moment I'm living in my clogs. I think I'll print out my plan and put it on the 'fridge and mark it off as I go. Maybe give myself a sticker when I successfully complete a week???? Yeah, I am that pathetic and in need of motivation. It's amazing I ever completed as many races as I did!!!
1 comment:
Glad to hear you're back to your marathons, that's incredible! I can barely run 3 miles and have the utmost respect for anyone who does more than that! I've gained a new found respect for tri-athlete's. I hope motherhood is settling in and I've found running to be my saviour, when the weather is good of course. I'm a fair weather runner of course.
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