Training Plans

After registering for the half marathon at the end of April I went online to Runner's World and printed out one of their training plans.  This is week three of that plan.  Starting last week I also get a weekly email with a training plan from Bart Yasso for the half marathon.  I've been doing a combination of the two plans and so far have been running more than they say to run.  The one from online has me running way slower than my normal.  Part of what I have been frustrated about lately is that my time from my first 5K to my most recent one has not improved much at all.  I know all courses are different and the last one was longer than 3.1 miles, but if I had been training as I should have been, I think i would have seen improvement.  I think I let myself run slower instead of pushing a bit to go faster.  These past three weeks I have been pushing more, not a ton, just putting it up .1 to .5 higher than easy for the speed on the treadmill and with this little bit of effort I have seen my time per mile getting better.  Next weekend is my first 10K which turns out is supposed to have a lot of hills, which I haven't really started training for yet.  I've been focusing on on thing at a time and for right now that is small speed increases.  I've been wondering how other people train.  Do you pay for a plan?  Follow one to a T?  Modify an existing one for you own goals?  Is there a right or wrong way to do it?

Eating Machine

This week so far is one of my worst on record calorie wise since I started counting again in October.  I just seem to want to eat all the time!  I am feeling stressed about a bunch of things and my children are picking up on this and pressing my buttons which is making it worse.  It actually started last week and I thought I had made it better by doing my long run Friday.  I hoped that would release the stress and burn off some of the extra calories, but I am still feeling a stress bubble inside of me.  Maybe tomorrow it is time to break out the yoga workout I used to love but haven't done in years.  Perhaps I need something different to calm me and ground me.  I just need to get in the mindset that each day is a new one and mistakes eating wise from today are left in today and I can do better going forward!

Extreme Shed and Shred

My goal last week was to make sure that I was doing some sort of cross training with the running and walking, but I didn't do so hot on that front.  As with a number of other goals I am trying to look at things from the perspective that what is done is done and I can focus on doing  better in the future, instead of beating myself up about slip ups or missed opportunities.

This morning I planned to run.  My children have been wanting to run with me so we were going to go to a park with a paved and marked track to run/walk this morning.  There is a sandbox in a separate loop and I figured I could run around that to get more distance in once they got tired and I would still be able to keep an eye on them.  Once I got ready I checked the temperature and it was only 20 degrees.  They would have never lasted long so I changed my plan and tried this instead.  Michaels recommends doing Level one and two at the same time, but with the kids around I opted for just level one.  The workout part is a half hour and then stretching and so yoga moves are the last fifteen or so minutes.  I know that is working out too, but it doesn't feel like it all the time.  I am glad I tried it, I think I still like the 30 Day Shred one better, but it is good to be able to mix things up.  Hopefully I will work myself up to the point where I am getting up early to do one of these before I start the day except on the days I have plans to run with friends.  I love when I get the workout in before I start the day and it isn't hanging over me for the day!

Half Marathon time!

For a month or so I have been toying with the idea of signing up for a local half marathon.  I loved the idea of doing it, but was really worried that it would be too hard for me.  I've never run that far and haven't been running for all that long.  There was fear that I would embarrass myself or maybe not even be able to finish it.  Yesterday I did my long run and went 9 miles for the second time.  The first time was last month right before Christmas.  I didn't worry about speed just distance and running the whole time.  I took it slow but steady.  My training plan said this week's long run was supposed to be 8 miles at a slightly slower pace than what I did.  I don't know how important it is to follow a training plan to the letter, I've never really tried before, but I wanted to go for nine so I did.  I even thought about trying to go one further as I've never done ten, but I didn't.  last month the nine mile day left me really tired, this time I'm fine.  My knees were a little tired or sore, but otherwise everything was fine.  That run made my decision and I registered for the race last night.  If I have to walk for part of it, then I walk for part of it, but I feel like I can do it and will be very glad about my decision when it is all done.  It is still more than three months off and I am sure I will have some second thoughts along the way, but I am ready to push myself to meet this goal!