It's On

I just registered to run my first half marathon on St. Patrick's Day this year.

Daunting, I know.  Especially since I've never ever run this far before.

Although I enjoy racing, most of the time I'm too cheap to pay registration fees.  I figure I can run around my neighborhood for free and I'm too slow to care much about my time.

But hubby wanted to do it, and I figured training for a new distance would be a great way to keep myself motivated to run through the winter.

Here's how I'm doing most of my training:

This was M's Christmas present to me... he got it for free on craigslist!  It was the best money he ever could have spent! :)  It's old, but it works just fine for what I need.  In the month of December, I wasn't able to do much running... not any at all, really.  M usually runs in the mornings before work, so that time is out... it was too cold to take the kids out in the jogger during the day... and by the time M got home from work at 4, it was already dark.

So now I'm using this during nap time or very early in the morning while M is out on his run.  It has been SO wonderful and makes me very happy.

Here's my half marathon training plan; are you ready?

If I can get three or four 30-60 minute workouts on the treadmill in during the week, I consider that a good week.

On the weekend I find time for one long run.  Here's the 9-ish miles I typically do (elevation diagram courtesy of mapmyrun.com):

(Yesterday, I added 1.5 miles to this run to set a new mileage record for myself... 11 miles.)

Now, compare that to the elevation diagram for the half marathon that M and I will be racing:

An elevation gain of 528 feet versus an elevation gain of 39 feet.

I figure, if I can run 11 miles in our very very hilly neighborhood, I should be able to do 13.1 on a flat surface.

So, making that assumption, I don't see too much need to increase my distance much more before the race.  If I can squeeze in a 13.1-miler before I get to the race, great.  If not, no worries.  I don't have much time for 2+ hour runs anyway.

I've thought about setting a time goal, but I'm hesitant.  I think I should probably focus on the fact that merely finishing this race will be a huge accomplishment.

Soooo... I'll let you know how it goes!  Cheer us on, okay??