Jumping back into my half marathon training schedule. I’ve decided to use Hal Higdon’s Novice 2 program again for this race. Again, of course, is used loosely, as I have *yet* to follow a prescribed training program (and I’m already a few weeks behind). Be that as it may, I’m determined to make this training better than in the past.
The Dam to Dam Half Marathon in Des Moines is on Saturday, June 4, so only 9 weeks away! I typically structure my training program for Sunday races, but ultimately decided to maintain a Monday-Sunday training schedule and keep my accountability posts in line with that.
This week of the program calls for one cross-training workout, two 3-mile runs, a 4-mile run and a 6-mile long run. Since I’m “easing” back into this, I opted to do a walk for my first training day in place of one of the 3-mile runs.
MONDAY: 2-mile walk around my neighborhood. I was mostly curious how many miles that I could get in my development before getting bored and to get a look around the entire sub, and looks like I can probably do 3-4 miles before I start getting sick of seeing the same houses. I have access to trails nearby, but there’s one stretch of road without sidewalks to get to them that could be challenging. I was happy to get out and moving on such a beautiful day though!
I followed up my walk with some core work on my exercise ball and push-ups in my HOME GYM (So excite! It will soon have a treadmill, too!).
TUESDAY: Rest Day
WEDNESDAY: One hour of yoga at Life Time Fitness (they call it Yoga Roots; warm but not hot). I took advantage of the class with a free day pass, and the facility here is super nice. There are a few different levels of yoga classes, too, but I opted with a beginner’s session to get acclimated to any changes in flow and poses (and there were a few that tripped me up). I hadn’t had a regular room temperature class in a while either!
THURSDAY: RUN 3 miles (actually 2.96, dammit!) — I started off WAY too fast and like I was ready to anger-run, but I was able to reel it in after hearing my time at my 1 mile mark from my MapMyRun app. I mean, I WANT to run faster, but I also need to be able to sustain a pace. Unsurprisingly, I was bored with my neighborhood after 2 miles and circled around my block like a crazy, lost person to finish it up. I will definitely need to change things up!
I posted this to Instagram, and you wouldn’t believe it if I didn’t track it:
Yes, a 3-mile neighborhood route in Iowa is hillier than my same-distance neighborhood route in Pittsburgh. I was surprised, too!
[splits: 8:46/9:18/9:18 // average: 9:07]I followed up my miles with another quickie push-up workout. By the way, I’m still doing my hip strengthening movements every day! Also, also: I officially joined Life Time fitness, so I see more classes AND social run group in my future.
FRIDAY: I ended getting super bogged down with work stuff and worked a little longer to get ahead of next week’s hot mess of a schedule. I felt super stressed for most of the afternoon, but by the time I started slowing up and relaxing, I was ready for my WINE.
SATURDAY: Rest Day. Today was our day to explore downtown Des Moines! And I can’t wait to share everything that we did.
SUNDAY: Holy, random 80-degree day! Instinctively, I planned a good day to run outside. Today’s plan called for 6 miles, and since the boyfriend went to the golf course, this was a great day for me to get out and explore another route. But mentally and physically I just could not complete 6 miles — I barely cleared 3 (2.94). IT SUCKS. I feel as if I’m starting completely over in my running ability, and I’m completely frustrated! Maybe I can just chuck this one off to the heat or because I waited for too late in the afternoon or because I was basically doing resistance training due to the wind or [leave your excuse here]. UGH. Honestly, I’m really bummed because how did I just do a big challenge race a little over a month ago and be completely deflated and done by 3 miles now?!
[splits: 9:18/10:38/9:47 // average: 10:02]