My Half-Marathon Training Schedule #FitnessFriday

I've been running 5ks and 10ks for a few years now---I love them. The excitement of training and having something to look forward to. The bling. Y'all know that I LOVE my race bling! The accomplishing feeling of doing something for just me. Not for my kids, not for my hubby, not for work. Just me.

Last week, while I was working out with my BlackGirlsRun buddy, she asked why I hadn't run a half-marathon yet. My reply: Um...hello...it's 13.1 miles! Enough said right? But then she reminded me that I can run 5k even 10k with a sub 9 and still hold a conversation. She told me flat out: "You're not challenging yourself anymore."

That hit me like a ton of bricks. After all, isn't the reason why I run to challenge myself? So, I amped myself up, got pumped and signed up for my FIRST half-marathon race! I've walked a half-marathon before---but I've never run over 10 miles straight. Needless to say, I really need to put a training plan in place. Welcome to #FitnessFriday 2.0 with my goregous co-hosts Lexi, Britt, Ebony, and Dani. Today I'm sharing my half-marathon training plan! Here's what I got so far:

RunKeeper's Sub 2:15 Half Marathon Training Plan (3-4 days a week)
I love the RunKeeper app and I was stoked to find that they have a half-marathon training plan! The training plan slowly advances both my volume and pace so I can reach race day ready to finish with a time of sub 2:15 without getting hurt in the training process. Oh yeah! This plan has me running 11:15 to 11:50 pace or slower, which will be hard for my legs to get used to. I have to remind myself that this race isn't about a personal best time but about finishing!

Strength Training (10-20 minutes a day)
“Runners need to do more than just run.” My biggest fear with this half training is getting hurt. Getting hurt is no fun and reducing the chance of injury can be done with 10-20 minutes a day of strength training. I guess that I won't be abandoning my Jillian Michaels DVDs after all!

Walking (warm-up/cool down daily)
I've realized that I run better when I'm warm. My body feels better and I can better control my breathing. Since I struggle with my asthma is this a win/win! Usually a mile or so does the trick. The same with my cool down.

Rest
The likelihood of me not doing anything at all on rest days is pretty crazy. So for now, my goal is to do yoga on rest days. Yoga is low impact and will help stretch out my muscles from a week's worth of training.

Anyone else training for a race? What is your secret?

Besitos!
KLP

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