Vacation is great, but going back to work is rough sometimes! Not to mention since we ate our way through Boston I have to really reel it in this week! In an effort to make the most of my break from school and to challenge myself a little bit I signed up for the Columbus Half Marathon today. This was my first marathon back in 2006.
I really enjoyed running it and it brings back some good memories. Not to mention fall is the BEST time to run in Ohio! I only have 6 weeks left to prepare but since I just ran the 1/2 relay last weekend I think I will be OK.
The Plan
I am going to follow a new plan this time around. Every 1/2 marathon I have ran so far I have used the Hal Higdon method. I have done both the novice and intermediate plans and gotten great results for both. This time I am going to use coach Jenny Hatfield’s plan. This was featured in the recent issue of Women’s running. Each Monday (Tuesday today) I’ll post my plan for the week. Here is this week’s.
Monday – Rest (Travel Day)
Tuesday – Rest (Does signing up count?) I hate to use my rest days two in a row, but it is what it is.
Wednesday – Run 35 minutes
Thursday – 20 mile bike ride (Abercrombie and Fitch race!)
Friday – Run 40 minutes
Saturday – 6 miles (long run)
Sunday – Jillian (cross training)
There are two version of the plan. One is for a 5k to a half, the other is for a 10K to a half. The 10K to a half includes interval training and negative split runs. I am excited to try some of those but stuck to the easy plan this week.
What is a negative split run? A NS is where you run the 1st half of your workout an easy effort level of 6. You then increase the speed slightly faster to 7-8, aiming to finish 30 seconds to two minutes faster. You want to start out slow (her tip is to think “tortoise”) and finish fast (i.e. beat the hare). I am going to try this on Friday.
What are your favorite training plans? Have you tried any of these techniques?
