The Little Things
January 6, 2012

It’s been awhile, hasn’t it? The last post I did was on December 10th when I recapped the Jingle Bell Jog that I had just completed. Since that time, I enjoyed a long Christmas break with family, and rang in the New Year with some good friends. It was restful, enjoyable, and ended much too quickly. Other then that, my IT band was aching even before the Jingle Bell Jog, so I decided to take a few weeks off. Instead, I took a few spinning classes, took a yoga class, and did Pilates many times.

Working my core

The cross training was good, worked out different muscles, and kept my cardio out without running, which was ideal. I’m blessed to have a family who loves to exercise, so we make time each day of Christmas break to work out.

I guess it’s time for my big announcement now. For Christmas, my brother registered me for my first half marathon race! I’m excited and nervous, and trying to get my act together for training. Over the last week I’ve spent countless hours reading information about training for half marathons, as well as printing off four or five different plans. This week and next week is all about getting back into running, as I’ve taken almost a month off. I did two runs this week, 2 mi and 2.5 mi, and both went well.

A few things:

I could use your help! I know that many of you are pros at training for and racing the half marathon distance, so I’ll take any advice I can get from you all. A few questions I have:

 

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12 responses to “A Big Announcement!”

  1. Markemmanuel (@markemmanuel) says:
    January 6, 2012 at 11:17 am

    When creating your training plan, start from the end and work backwards. It’ll help you figure out how many days you have to train. The more days you have, the more wiggle room you have to adjust your schedule. It helps give you a realistic expectations of yourself.

    I schedule a lot of training runs on the day of the week and time my race is.

    My cross training days are usually recreational bike rides. It stresses me out too much to have every training day structured. The only structure I keep for marathon training are my running days. For example, my brother and I are biking about 30 miles to eat some good BBQ.

    Good luck!

  2. Markemmanuel (@markemmanuel) says:
    January 6, 2012 at 11:22 am

    Oh and in terms of my long day, It wouldn’t hurt running a full 13.1 miles on a training run so you know how the distance feels especially for the final three miles. My marathon training didn’t prepare me for the full 26.2 when I topped out at 20 miles. I’ve been reading more and more articles about upping my volume.

    Running three and cross training one sounds good. Just make sure you get the long days in.

    Rest is good. It’s one of the most important yet neglected parts of training. It’s where we recover heal and build strength.

    –Mark–

    • Caroline says:
      January 6, 2012 at 11:25 am

      Thanks so much for your advice. I like the idea of working backwards, and seems to make good sense. It seems to me that it would be valuable to do some of the long runs at the time of day that I’ll actually be racing. I’m not a morning person at all, so I know it’s going to be rough getting up that early anyways. Thanks again!

  3. Heather says:
    January 6, 2012 at 11:59 am

    I, too, am running my first half marathon this year! Mine is in April, and like you, I’m having some difficulty coming up with a plan. I think I’m going to tweak this plan a bit: http://www.halhigdon.com/halfmarathon/novice.htm

    For stretching, nothing beats yoga. I also like the P90X stretching DVD.

  4. Caroline says:
    January 6, 2012 at 12:03 pm

    I’ve printed out Hal’s plan, and it seems to be pretty good. I’ve also heard a lot of great things about the plan. Thanks for stopping by!

  5. Waning Woman says:
    January 11, 2012 at 9:43 pm

    i don’t know much about running, but my hat’s off to you for undertaking such an endeavor. Good luck!

    found you via #commenthour

  6. Pepper says:
    January 11, 2012 at 10:18 pm

    Wow, congrats! I love that your brother registered you for it! What a great brother to push you! I wish I had someone who was like that in my life!

  7. Morgan Dragonwillow says:
    January 12, 2012 at 10:29 am

    I have never much cared for running but I admire those that do run. Good luck on acheiving your goals. May the road be smooth and the air be fresh.

    Peace,
    Morgan

  8. A Lupie Existence says:
    January 12, 2012 at 9:55 pm

    Wow! I don’t know what it is about watching people workout from the comfort of my sofa, but I love it! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not lazy. I love being active and working out. It’s just that for health reasons I have to be careful. But I love to hear about (and watch) other people get out there and be active doing what they love! So I can’t join you or share similar stories or offer advice, but I make a wonderful cheerleader!!
    Go Caroline…go Caroline…go, go, go Caroline!! 😀

    #CommentHour

  9. Chasing Joy says:
    January 16, 2012 at 7:06 pm

    Yes, go Caroline go, go Caroline go! I have no advice to give. I am training for my 2nd ever 5k run. I was not able to run the entire 3 miles last time. I hope to be able to do it this time. I will visit you here to see how your training is going and learn all that I can.

    #commenthour

  10. Maggie @ Say Yes to Salad says:
    January 29, 2012 at 5:43 pm

    Good luck! I’m using this training plan for my race in April – http://www.halfmarathons.net/training_tips_schedule_beginner_runners.html