Feeling Good with the New Plan

I'm really liking the new running plan that I am using. It is sort of a hybrid of a few different plans and it isn't something that would have worked for me when I was starting out or even last year but it is perfect for where I am now. One of the huge things that I have learned especially over the last year is that you have to adapt everything to yourself. There is no cookie cutter plan that is perfect for everyone. We are all different and finding what works best for you is part of the learning process. 

You all know I love Galloway and the run/walk method. That has not changed, but with all of the races I have coming up, his plans didn't really fit because I have so many races so close together. That's why I started looking at other things. I saw that RunKeeper has training plans that you can use too so I looked into them. I found the beginner half marathon plan and really liked it. It is NOT FOR THE TRUE BEGINNER because there is a LOT of running and the mileage goes up quickly, but for someone that has been running 5Ks for a while and can easily get in a three mile run without feeling too tired, it is a good plan to help build mileage. With the RunKeeper schedule, you start out running 3 miles, three days a week and then a longer run on the weekend. the first week it is 3, 3, 3 and 4. Then it goes up to 3, 3, 3 and 5. After a while, you change up to 3, 4, 3 and a long run then eventually three 4 mile runs a week plus your long weekend run. One of the things I like about this plan is that it has me running back to back every week. The last shorter run each week and your weekend long runs are on back to back days. Since I am planning to not only do the Glass Slipper Challenge in February(10K Saturday, half on Sunday) I am planning to do the unofficial Pixie Challenge at Tink(10K Saturday, half on Sunday), I figured having back to back runs in my training early on would only help me out with these tasks later. The first week I was a little worried about the back to back runs but I felt good after. I didn't push too hard and I got them both done with decent average paces.

I am also incorporating the Weight Watchers 5K plan that I have used a few times now. I'm using the interval progressions in it to help me build back up to running for 30 minutes(or longer) straight. Even though I plan to continue to use intervals for races and long runs, I want to be able to run 30 minutes so that those intervals feel easier and I can sustain them for longer.  With every double digit run I have done up until now, I have always had to mostly walk after mile 9. I want to be able to keep doing my intervals all the way until the end. I am hoping that building up the the 30 minutes and building my overall endurance will help me to sustain a good 1:1 interval for longer. I started adding in the WW interval progressions to my shorter weekday runs two weeks ago. I did the RunKeeper plan by itself with my normal 1:1 intervals for about a month to help build a good base. This week, my longest intervals were 5:3. They were tough but I made it through .

Right now, Saturdays are my long runs. Since it is hot and I am running at night, we do the back to back runs on Friday and Saturday night so Mac can run with me. Once it starts cooling down(after ToT), we will shift it to Saturday/Sunday runs during the day. Last night, Mac and I got 6 miles in at my normal 1:1 intervals. The intervals felt so short after a week of longer intervals. I felt really good for the entire run except for getting hungry at the end because I didn't eat enough during the day. For the past month I have been doing 5 miles every Saturday but tonight started the steady climb until Tower of Terror Ten Miler. We did 6 tonight and will increase by one mile every week until I drop back for a taper the weekend before the race.I shifted some things around in the RunKeeper plan to fit my race schedule but I am confident that it is going to work out well. I feel like I will be able to have a good strong race if everything continues the way it has been going.

Things are starting to get real but I am feeling really good. This is the first time I have been really excited about where it is all going instead of just forcing myself through it all just to be able to finish. I'm still not fast and I don't expect a stellar finish time at any of these races but I am hoping for good times for me. In the three half marathons I have completed, I have yet to actually finish with a time under the required pace. I am actually confident that at the Tower of Terror Ten Miler, I will finally be able to say I ran "fast enough." I'm really hopeful and that feels really good.