Tag: workout

Half Marathon Training – Week 2: Jan 26 – Feb 1, 2020

My running schedule is: semi-long run Tuesday, short run Thursday, long run Saturday. The miles that I run during the week are dependent upon how many miles I will run on my long run. I cut the long run distance in half and move one of the miles to Tuesday and the rest on Thursday. If I am running 8 miles for my long run on Saturday then Tuesday I run 5 miles and Thursday I run 3 miles. If I am running 9 miles for my long run on Saturday then Tuesday I run 5 miles and Thursday I run 4 miles. I try to run 10 seconds/mile faster on my semi-long runs on Tuesday and to run 20 seconds/mile faster on my Thursday short run. I keep a spread of 10 seconds for my splits so that I stay consistent. After I see where I am at on my first long training run tomorrow, the rest of the long training runs will be going on the paths (asphalt and concrete) that have a lot of hills to make sure I can keep my pace during the half marathon and keep my muscles strong!

Woke up Sunday morning to do my first long training run to see where I am at and choose a goal pace. Went to a place that is asphalt and concrete and pretty flat and ran 6.01 miles at a 10:46 pace, 1:04:43 overall followed by a 0.30 mile cool down walk. I am so happy with how good my legs and lungs feel after my first long run!! Bring on the rest of the week!

Monday my sister-in-law hiked up the mountain and jogged easily down (with my gracefulness I would trip and land on my head so it has to be an easy jog down) for 2.00 miles and a 0.19 mile cool down walk. My legs still felt good even after the first long run yesterday!

Tuesday I ran a 5.00 mile semi-long run at 10:30 pace, 52:33:50 overall followed by a 0.25 mile cool down walk. Felt pretty good even with the hills tossed in.

Thursday I ran a 3.01 mile short run in my neighborhood at 10:29 pace, 31:35:00 overall and a 0.25 cool down walk. I went and met my sister-in-law for a 1.02 mile run at 11:41 pace with a nice 0.89 cool down walk. Thursdays I have to do all except 1 mile in the morning because I always run with her in the afternoon!

Saturday I woke up and was not feeling very well (my stomach was upset and I didn’t think I would be able to make it on a run) so instead of a long run, I went for a 2.05 mile walk. I sure hope this goes away quickly because I am already so far behind!

Even though I still have more training weeks coming up, I am so far behind in my training and that is never easy for me! I am a planner and like a good schedule!

We shall see what week 3 brings us!!

Half Marathon Training – Week 1: Jan 19 – 25, 2020

I am going to run the half marathon (Kiss Me I’m Irish) that starts and end at Westgate on March 14, 2020 and the back-to-back sinus infections and multiple rounds of antibiotics have me almost 5 weeks behind on my training! Let’s hope I can get my running game ramped up in time to have a solid race.

I have asthma so running can sometimes be a big challenge for me. I worked closely with my doctor over the years and have a schedule for using my rescue inhaler during my runs. The schedule works for me and I will not be sharing that information on this blog because you should work with your doctor to find out what works the best for you. I can tell you that at the end of all of my runs I don’t just stop and start walking, I gradually slow my running pace down until I am at a slow jog then begin walking. It keeps the shock factor of the blood rushing to my lungs if I go from running pace to walking quickly.

Years ago we had some really good runners tell us that stretching elongates the muscles and when you run they are working in a compact form so the best thing to do was to either do a short, slow warmup run or start out at a slow run and speed up as you warmup. It has always worked for us in the races that we have ran and I will stick to that method. My goal is to be at my running pace by 0.25 miles into the run. After all runs or hikes, we always go through a stretch routine to show our muscles some love and keep them happy. The cool down walks are always nice and easy, no speed walking for me!

*Note: all times listed are minutes:seconds or hours:minutes:seconds

Monday my sister-in-law and I went for a nice hike. Once we got to the top, we jogged down and ended with 2.02 miles for a 31:53 overall time. We did a 0.11 cool down walk. The hike / jog down is always nice because it gives my muscles something different from regular runs.

Wednesday I went for a quick midday run 🏃‍♀️ to get my lungs and muscles working hard. These short, quick runs get my body ready to push harder on the next run. Ended with 1.25 miles at a 9:38 pace, 12:07 overall and a 0.14 cool down walk.

Thursday my sister-in-law and I went for a run: 1.00 miles at a 12:30 pace and a 0.87 mile walk.

Saturday a friend and I had previous plans to go take pictures at the zoo so I postponed my long-run to Sunday this week. At the zoo we ended up walking 4.2 miles so I got some work in!