Next Half Marathon Training Indecisiveness

Half Marathon Training...Round 5.

I'm torn on what to use for my next training plan:

• I was pretty pleased with Hal Higdon's Intermediate (with a little Advanced thrown in) for my April and May half marathons this year.  
• I tried to pick a goal time range faster than my previous best time, and looked up equivalent paces for training using the McMillan running calculator (5k, 10k paces for speed work)
• From my actual training paces, I tried to figure out where in that range it was looking like an attainable race time would be for me.
• Heather from Miss Fancy Pants Tris passed along a training plan from Women's Running that she thought looked good, and I agree!  
• Involves 3 target runs a week and gives paces for training runs (easy, long, tempo, race pace) based on your half marathon time goal.
• I like 3-4 runs a week, 5 can get a little tiring and tough with weekend traveling.
• My 2:56-marathoner friend Ben says I just have to work on getting more comfortable with my goal half marathon pace, gradually build my distance at that pace, and if I can get up to 10 miles at that pace, I'll be able to do 13.1 miles at that pace.
• He says 400s and 800s are probably not all that helpful in improving half marathon time.  
• He also says hills will build leg strength but won't necessarily help increase my pace.
• He also thinks I could aggressively train for a 9:00 pace this September (eek!)
• My 5/22 half was at a 10:20 pace; I'm not sure I want to push that hard?

To consider:

-I know I'll be out of town for 2 or 3 weekends in July, maybe another weekend in August, and a long weekend in early September.

- Summer is here and I have a VERY reduced work schedule for the next 10 weeks, so my running/workout schedule is pretty open with the exception of the above travel.

-I don't currently belong to a gym (haven't since end of April), but plan to re-up soon so I will have access to a treadmill for speed work on super hot 90F+ days.

-I will be doing several of my longer weekend runs with a work friend who is also training for a fall half marathon.  I can't be too much of a control freak with my pace on runs with someone else.   The pace on our last run ranged from 10:20-11:30 and we talked the whole time.  So not as slow as a long runs should be; yet not fast enough to be a pace run.  I like the social running, I just don't really know where this type of run falls in to my soon-to-be training schedule.


Sooo I'm thinking a reasonable- but still needing to work for it- goal will be a 9:50 pace (2:09 half marathon).  If I am being ambitious - and if I work my butt off and race conditions (i.e. temperature/humidity) are good - maybe I could reach for a couple minutes faster, like 2:06?

Thoughts? Do I have a reasonable time goal?  Am I crazy?

Talk amongst yourselves.

Easy Mid Week Meal + Recent Runs

Easy Mid-Week Dinner
(Especially when it's 98 out - like last week - and you don't really want to run the oven for an hour)

Enter: Foot Network Magazine Mix and Match Pasta Salad
I wish the online version was a pretty as the feature in the magazine.

The only extra heat this involved was the stove top for the 10 minutes I cooked the pasta.

I used stuff I had on hand...a can of tuna, some broccoli, some cannelloni beans, celery, and a very small amount of red onion.  I made the creamy Parmesan sauce which involved light sour cream, mayonnaise (a new kind made with canola oil), and Parmesan cheese we had on hand.

Runs and Stuff since my last post (The Dragon Boat Race)

Monday 6/6: 20 squats, 10 lunges on each side, 30 second wall sit
Tuesday 6/7: 2 mile easy* run
Wednesday 6/8: 25 reg crunches, 50 crunches reaching to opposite side
Thursday 6/9: 3.93 miles, mostly easy with some random faster bursts (this is why I need to actually sit down and make a new training plan)
Friday 6/10: 3.58  miles, progressively faster starting at 11:42 pace --> 10:06 pace.
Sunday 6/12: 5.57 easyish* miles

=15.08 miles


Tuesday 6/14: 5.31 miles (1 mi warm, 1 mi@9:20/.5 mi easy; 1 mi@9:05/.5 mi easy, 1.3 cool)
Wednesday 6/15: 150 crunches, 50 bicycle crunches, 2 x 1 min. plank on forearms + 2.3 mi dog walk
Thursday 6/16: 2.2 easy* miles
Saturday 6/18: 6.8 miles w/work friend! Ranged from 10:30-11:30 pace, talked the whole time + 3.25 mile hike/walk with husband and pup (in the park where I ran my April half marathon)

We explored some of the horse trails with our horse-dog

Then she got to cool off in the Neshaminy Creek

*easy runs are being run with a focus on keeping my heart rate under 160, because I'd like to work on lowering my heart rate more.  So I should probably focus on keeping my easy runs easy,  and try not to get excited that I'm able to comfortably run my easy runs at a faster pace, like I did this spring.

This week
=14.31 mi (+ another short 2-3? easy Sunday run)

=5.55 mi hiked/walked

I'm REALLY going to plan out my next training plan today/early this week.  Seriously.

Last Weekend: Dragonboat Race!

Last Sunday, hubs and I joined my coworkers for a dragon boat race at a nearby park.  It was part of the "Paddle for Pink" dragon boat festival, a fundraiser for breast cancer.

 I'm in the boat with the blue and pink t-shirts!

 One of the first boats to race flipped over!  

They were a little excessive in their celebration after winning, and over the boat went.

My work had 2 teams: an all women and a co-ed team.  Our co-ed team made it to the finals, and we weren't last!  It looked like it could have rained, but it didn't, and it wasn't too hot (maybe in the upper 60s -70s?)  Great weather for the event.

My arms/shoulders were fine after our recent practice, but I guess rowing in 3 races is a little different - I was sore between my shoulder blades the next day.  Luckily it didn't last too long and I was feeling good by Tuesday.

Oh, and Saturday the farmer's market near us started for the summer.  We had just gone shopping and didn't really need produce, but we did pick up the following:

Local honey is good! This cranberry blossom honey is something different.  And the Garden State is great for growing tomatoes...but it never occurred to me to make ketchup.  This isn't your Heinz ketchup though.  It has tomatoes, onions, apple cider vinegar, garlic, salt, other stuff I can't remember.  It had more texture to it than Heinz.  To be honest, I'm not even a huge ketchup fan unless I'm having a burger and fries, but this stuff is really good!

Do you have a farmer's market near you?  What do you like to get?

Rest Week and Long Weekend

I'm running about a week behind here...After my half marathon on May 22, I took the following week easy.

It's weird adjusting to NOT running 4-5 days a week.  But, I'm not training for a next event yet, so there was no reason for me to push the running (and during such a hot week...toward the end of this week/into Memorial Day weekend, the high temperatures were in the upper 80s/low 90s with high humidity).


Later on the day of the half marathon and Monday morning, my quads and hamstrings were feeling tight. I wore my Zensah calf compression sleeves the night of the half marathon, there's no way to tell if that lessened the tightness in my legs, but it couldn't have hurt, right?

I think I should have stretched more than I did immediately after the race or I should have taken them up on the 5-10 minute post race massage in the finisher's area (But the beer tent's call was louder than the line for the massages).

I scheduled a last minute massage for Monday afternoon with a focus on my legs.  It felt like more of an intense stretching session than the typical relaxation that might come to mind when you think of a massage.  It was hard to keep my leg muscles relaxed as I braced myself for the pressure of the knots being worked out of my legs.  It was definitely worth it though.  Tuesday I felt like my legs were back to normal!  I was told that my legs are so strong that next time I should schedule the entire hour just for my legs.  Yay muscle!

By Tuesday afternoon my legs were starting to itch to run again, but I took that entire day off.  Actually, that's a lie.  I went to a rowing practice for a Dragonboat Race I will be taking part in with my coworkers.  I'm pleased to say my arms and shoulders were not one bit sore the next morning (and yes I paddled by little arms off at the practice).

Wednesday I went for an easy 2.28 mile run after work.  Pretty uneventful.

Thursday I did nothing. Except this:
3x20 stability ball crunches (1 set was alternating sides)
3x20 lower back on stability ball
3x10 tricep overhead extensions w/5lbs in each hand
45 sec plank w/arms extended
60 sec plank on forearms
3x12 shoulder press w/5lbs in each hand

Friday Hubs, pup, and I went for a hike at nearby park. We covered 3.13 miles, then stopped for cold coffee beverages on our way home.

 We found a frog. toad?

 I wore my Merrell Pace Gloves.

Iced coffee beverages and a nap on the...dirt

Saturday Hubs and I went for a bike ride to a nearby Revolutionary War battle field to see a little of the re-enactment action going on.  Then we biked back.  It was hot.

 

After we got home, I made use of a portion of the several quarts of strawberries we bought.

We grilled lots of salmon and made fish tacos (subbing salmon for the tilapia used in the recipe).

Sunday Did this in my living room:
2x25 reg crunches with knees bent, feet on the floor
25 crunches with legs out straight
2x25 crunches alternating sides
45 second plank

Hubs and I biked to a nearby farm/farm store to pick up rhubarb to make strawberry rhubarb pie with all the strawberries we bought at the grocery store the day before.  While there we took a break to have some frozen cider and cookies.  Then we made the bike ride back home.  And I can't actually take any credit for the pie...that was all him.

Monday (Memorial Day): Planned to run early in the morning.  Was awoken by a crazy thunderstorm with lightning and sideways rain before 6:30 am.  Was bummed that I wouldn't be able to run through my favorite park, and went back to sleep for 2 hours.  Got up and was way too indecisive and couldn't figure how far/where I wanted to run.  Ended up heading out around 10am and ran for 4.93 miles...through the park that I thought would be too wet (it wasn't).  It got pretty warm, I ran until my HR got higher than I wanted it to for an easy run, then walked until it went back down.  Then repeated.

What celebration of Memorial Day is complete without...

That's all for now.  Hope everyone's enjoying their weekend.

This morning I ran a virtual 5k and went to a friend's baby shower.  Tomorrow I've got a dragonboat race!

PS - Make sure to congratulate Alyssa on her first ultra marathon!!