Sunday, October 19, 2008

Half Marathon Training

Okay, the half marathon is less than 4 weeks away, and I've run more than 13.1 miles in one day once in my life. But after the Army Ten Miler, I was tired but definitely had 3.1 more miles in me should the circumstances have required it. I'd like to get in a couple of 12-15 mile runs before November 15 just for comfort, but when can I fit this in? Weeknights? Not happening, I'm way too tired after the workday. The most I've run midweek is (I believe) 9. Weekends? Possible. Here's the training schedule I've set up for weekends:

Sat Oct 25: 3-4 mile group run, run as much of this as I can, hike the rest if I get tired.

Sun Oct 26: Off day, cheering on fellow runners at the Marine Corps Marathon, then Pats game at Murphy's Pub vs the suddenly dangerous St. Louis Rams.

Sat Nov 1: 8K for INOVA Hospital, then a hike somewhere around Sky Meadows State Park, since I'm halfway there already.

Sun Nov 2: If I'm going to get in the 12-15 mile run, it's probably today.

Sat Nov 8: Long run or hike near Shenandoah NP, it's the last day of daylight savings time after all. Cry knowing daylight savings time is over. I'm kidding!

Sun Nov 9: Veterans Day 10K.

Week before race, taper off distances quite bit.

I know doing lots of hiking may not seem like ideal training for a half marathon, but it does keep me aerobically fit, and I ran a ton, partially because I couldn't hike much, to get ready for Pikes Peak and it worked just fine.

2 comments:

Bill-DC said...

My cousin Katie ran the Marine Corps Marathon in 2001. I went down with my Aunt and we had fun following her throughout the course. We rode Metro, walked, jogged and if we had a llama we would have used that to get around too. It's a fun event and hopefully the weather cooperates.

maryjanejeff said...

Cheering on my friends was great! Fantastic day for a race, my running friends appreciated us coming. The weather definitely cooperated. You never would have known that yesterday was one of the worst 2-3 days of the calendar year weather wise.

I went to mile 23 in Crystal City, figuring they'd need to see a friendly face the most right about then. I saw most of my friends but almost missed 4 of them when I went to the port restroom, by the time I saw them they were past me and wouldn't have heard me yell!