Training. Huh. What Is It Good for?

Last week I ran with Shelby on the Bike and Hike.

"I have to admit that I run faster in these cold temperatures, even if I don't want to do it, " I said.  "Plus, I've actually spent this winter following a training plan for a half marathon.  I really should sign up for a half marathon in April.  Maybe the Pro Football Hall of Fame."

Silence.  Running.

"But then I would have to run a half marathon."

Shelby:  "I was waiting for it."

Shelby gets me.

It is true that after reading five books and countless online articles on marathon and half-marathon training, I came up with a plan, and I have followed that plan pretty well this winter.  This is unusual for me, as I never felt the need to follow any sort of plan for a half-marathon, even when I had an ambitious (for me) time goal. I've always just thought, "Run more; run faster," and for the most part it worked.  Except that lately it didn't work.  This year I didn't reach my sub-two-hour goal for a half marathon, and I could give lots of reasons why, but I won't.  I didn't hit it, and I moved on to other goals.

What is my training program?  Glad you asked!

I have divided my program into indoor and outdoor running.  Both use a heart monitor, but outdoor running uses mileage and indoor running uses time. This is a typical week:

Monday: no running.  Yoga.

Tuesday: Tempo run.  Outdoors: 1 mile warm up.  3 miles @ 8:50/mile.  1 mile cool down.  If indoors, 10 minutes warm up.  30 minutes @ 6.7. 10 minutes cool down.

Wednesday: Weights and Core.  30+ minutes weights and 10+ minutes running in place with 2 lb. weights.

Thursday: Intervals.  Outdoors (in theory--I haven't had the opportunity to do this outside yet): 1 mile warm up.  1/4 mile @ 8:00/mile, 1 minute recovery x 12, 1 mile cool down.  Treadmill:  10 minutes warm up.  1 minute @ 7.6, 1 minute recovery @5 x 12.  Cool down until I hit the rest of the remaining mile.

Friday: 4 miles minimum of whatever I want to run.

Saturday: 5-6 miles either hills (Sand Run) or easy on the treadmill while watching Supernatural.

I tell myself that I only watch this so I can converse with my 13 year old daughter, but I think we all know better.

Sunday: Long, slow, distance run.  10+ miles.

I have noticed that when I run outdoors, I have been running faster more easily.  Is that the training or the temperature or both?  Who knows?  I know that I should sign up for something right now so I can see if this is my moment. . . but I can't seem to care.  I really enjoy the training right now, but I have nothing going on until May.  Is it too soon?  Will I burn out?  I don't know.

I do know that I am currently enjoying myself and sleeping better.  The downside is that I am constantly hungry, but I am used to this feeling.

I am going to save it for Cleveland, Peeps.  Will you join me?  Sign up for the Race Series Challenge; I'm running the 8k/Half Marathon.  Come give me some motivation.  Until then, run happy, Peeps!

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Thin Starts in the Kitchen

Today I ran just over eight miles!  I am so happy because I am on my way to beating that train in my 10-miler coming up.

Now that I am increasing my mileage, I am starting to feel the soreness of the legs that comes from the long run.  When I got home today, I did my favorite recovery pose:  Legs up the Wall.





Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman are my heroes.

Tomorrow I will do some recovery yoga, courtesy of Rodney Yee.

Ooooh.  Stretch it, baby!

One thing that ticks me off about yoga (and this is perhaps the only thing) is that I can't get more calories than a hundred or so on Myfitnesspal.com.  Do you know about My Fitness Pal?  It is a calorie and exercise-tracking website, completely free.  I joined it when I joined a subset of The Ohio Runners Network.  Our goal is to lose five percent of our group's bodyweight.  

I do a great job with exercise:  running, dancing, Zumba, kickboxing, light weights, and yoga.  My problem is my mouth, and this time I'm not talking about how I run my mouth.  I'm talking about what I put IN my mouth, which is anything edible.  All the time.  

Ten years ago I dropped forty pounds, and I did it by logging everything I put in my mouth.  It was hard.  It was painful.  I hated it.  

I'm doing it again.

My Fitness Pal lets me set a goal, and it gives me a number of calories every day to reach that goal.  If I exercise, I get more calories, but the problem is that the REAL calories come from cardio.  I love cardio, but I'm smart enough to know that I've got to do the other stuff, too.  This is where I hate My Fitness Pal.  It gives me very few calories for yoga, and it gives me NO calories for strength training.  Boo.

Nevertheless, yoga is what I must do on recovery day, and strength training is very necessary to maintain good muscles and a strong core, so I will suck-it-up-Buttercup and eat less tomorrow to maintain my calorie goal.

But I won't like it.

Do you use My Fitness Pal?  How do you deal with hunger?

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