Wow… This week has really been a wonderful experience. I really can’t believe A1A is over AND that I totally crushed my A goal with a time of 1:56:45 for my half marathon debut. On top of all of that… I signed up for the A1A Half Marathon again next year. It was an extremely positive experience and I can’t wait to do it again. But now I’m back in the midwest and hitting the training hard.
I have a few running related things up on my to do list over the next few months. The DINO trail series starts up again in less than a month and I am planning to do a few of their races again this year. The season begins with a 15K at Mounds State Park on March 14, about 2 hours south of town. I never really plan a real time goal for trail races because every race is so different. Depending on how they make the course, there can be sections of bush whacking and river crossings that really slow you down. Trail running is really just a fun experience and pretty scenery. But I gotta say, I love doing it.
My next big goal is the Holy Half Marathon. I have no idea what to expect and I am sure a lot of it depends on weather. I am not very good at running in the cold, which may have been the reason I over-estimated my pace so much before A1A. If the temperatures are reasonable, I’ll probably shoot for getting into the 1:55’s. If the weather is bad, I’ll just aim to finish.
So, how did training go this week? I was tired and it was SO COLD! I had to take a few of my runs inside even though I hate treadmills. My long run was with a few of the professors in my department, so not only was I intimidated by running 10 miles one week after a half, but I was also intimidated by the people. There was certainly some suffering, but less than I would expect given the conditions.
Monday: Rest Rest Rest
Tuesday: 3 very slow miles on treadmill
Wednesday: Yoga
Thursday: 4 very slow miles outside + yoga
Friday: 4 miles + yoga
Saturday: Cross country ski
Sunday: 10 mile long run
Total: 21 miles
This next week I am switching over to Matt Fitzgerald’s half marathon training plan. His method is to run by time and heart rate, not by milage, which is what I am used to. I’ve heard good things about his plan, but my main reason for making the switch is that he has some pretty good speed word in his plan, which is what I am really looking to add to my training. He also has some pretty strict nutrition plans, but I’ll see if I stick to that.
Next week training:
Monday: Rest Rest Rest
Tuesday: Intervals
Wednesday: 40 minutes easy + yoga
Thursday: Figure out max heart rate (20 min run) + yoga
Friday: Tempo run + yoga
Saturday: Hiking?
Sunday: 12 mile long run
What are your upcoming plans? Have you ever tried to train by time instead of milage?
She Runs the Wasatch 
I want to run in the snow someday, but I don’t know HOW people run in negative temps!
I’m running another half in March and then it’s time for me to take a bit of a break from long distances and refocus on my 5k and 10k times!
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Running in negative temps suck, as does running in snow. It makes having the right clothes so much more important.
Good luck on your 5k and 10k endeavors. I find 5k’s to be kinda intimidating, since they are practically a sprint.
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Thank goodness for cats on cold days. I feel bad complaining about temps here when your no-windchill is -19!? (That’s about what we have real feel wise.) Major props for continuing to train so hard through this! I bet you will meet all your goals in your next half. 🙂
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Elly is a champion at lap warming. She also sleeps really close at night to keep me warm. I grew up in Florida, so winters in the mid-west are always a shock to the system. I doubt anyone likes -19, though. haha.
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This is totally my own hang-up, but I just can’t run by time. I’ve trained by mileage since day 1 and I just can’t let go. Even though I recently read somewhere that the long run is really the only type of workout where you should train by miles instead of time (can’t remember the exact reasoning). I think it might be mental – you can make 5 miles go by faster, but you can’t make 45 minutes go by faster! 🙂
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Yeah. I’m kinda excited to try this, but I’m worried it might mess with my head a little. Matt Fitzgerald really swears by it, so I’ll give it a go. I’m really curious to see how I adapt to it… like how do I know when to turn around and go home? And what if my house is like 0.5 mile away, but I already ran my time…should I just finish it? We’ll see how this goes.
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Good luck! Do you run with a Garmin? Maybe there is a way to get it to beep at you after a certain time has passed? Or I guess you just have to keep looking down at it. There’s gotta be a way to set that up right?? Haha
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