Starting Monday, training for my first half marathon is officially starting! I’m pretty excited, I hope everything goes well. I haven’t registered yet because of my recent health issues. I want to make sure I can handle the running and clear it with my doctor before I make the investment.
For training, I’m following Hal Higdon’s 1/2 Marathon for Beginners. I read about a lot of different training plans before I chose one. There are basically 2 different kinds for beginners. The first is like the one I’m following where the weekly long run gets longer and longer all the way up to race day. The second tapers the long run for 3-4 weeks before the race.
I’m just going off of how I think my body will respond to training based on how I know it’s responded to other types of training for sports. I don’t think my body will perform as well after tapering off miles for 4 weeks. Simple as that.
Here’s a break down of the plan.
Half Marathon Training: Rock N Roll 1/2 Marathon, Las Vegas!
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
week 1 stretch/strength 3m run 2m run/cross 3m run + strength rest 30 min cross 4m run
week 2 stretch/strength 3 m run 2m run/cross 3m run + strength rest 30 min cross 4m run
week 3 stretch/strength 3.5m run 2m run/cross 3.5m run + strength rest 40 min cross 5m run
week 4 stretch/strength 3.5m run 2m run/cross 3.5m run + strength rest 40 min cross 5m run
week 5 stretch/strength 4m run 2m run/cross 4m run + strength rest 40 min cross 6m run
week 6 stretch/strength 4m run 2m run/cross 4m run + strength rest or easy run rest 5K Race
week 7 stretch/strength 4.5m run 3m run/cross 4.5m run + strength rest 50 min cross 7m run
week 8 stretch/strength 4.5m run 3m run/cross 4.5m run + strength rest 50 min cross 8m run
week 9 stretch/strength 5m run 3m run/cross 5m run + strength rest or easy run rest 10K Race
week 10 stretch/strength 5m run 3m run/cross 5m run + strength rest 60 min cross 9m run
week 11 stretch/strength 5m run 3m run/cross 5m run + strength rest 60 min cross 10m run
week 12 stretch/strength 4m run 3m run/cross 2m run rest rest Half Marathon!
I’m not going to lie, it’s a little daunting seeing the miles all typed out like this. The longest I’ve ever ran is between 5 and 6 miles, and I’m doing that in week 1… yikes!
I was really tempted to do an intermediate program because I’ve pushed myself before and I think I could handle it. But I really hate speed training so, like a coward, for my first long race I’ll just focus on finishing.
Goals for the Race
- finish
- hopefully run the whole thing
- enjoy it don’t get caught up in the competition
- remember that training is flexible, switching a rest day and a run day is okay!
