Where to begin?

Step One: Sign up for half marathon.  Check!

Step Two: Train for half marathon.  What…???

So how does one begin training for a half marathon?  To answer this question, I turned to my answer for everything, the all-knowing Google, and found countless training plans.  All were somewhat similar in terms of timeframes and ramping up distance, but most assumed the person using the training plan has an established base of several miles.  Which I do not.   Does that mean I’m not ready for this distance?  Is my goal too lofty?  I kept searching around and finally found a plan for a true beginner runner.  Jeff Galloway, champion of the Run-Walk-Run method, has a 35 week plan, where your long run for Week One is 1 mile and slowly increases distance to 14 miles over time.  Hmmm, this seems doable.  And, I’m already ahead of the game because I can jump in at like Week 5. I can do this!

Here what the week looks like:

Monday: off

Tuesday: 30 min easy run

Wednesday: off

Thursday: 30 min easy run

Friday: walk

Saturday: off

Sunday: long runs, increasing distance each week

In looking at this plan compared to others, this seems a little too easy, but maybe it’s designed that way with the beginner in mind. There also seems to be a lot of idle time during the week, so I plan to mix in some cross training on the off days.  I’ll give it a try and see how it works for me and can always reevaluate if needed.  One thing I definitely plan to deviate from is the Run-Walk-Run method.  While I like this idea in theory, mixing in walk breaks with the running, I signed up to RUN a half marathon, and that’s what I intend to do.  If a walk break is needed, I’m okay with that; I won’t see myself as a failure because I had to walk for a moment or two, but to train to run 2 minutes, then walk 1 minute the entire half marathon is not an option.

What my challenge will be is sticking to my plan.  I get lazy.  I use “life” as an excuse and allow it to get in the way too easily.  While preparing myself physically, I also need to prepare myself mentally.  Make this my priority.  Not let life get in the way too easily.  Plan my day around my runs, instead of planning my runs around my day.  Hopefully, by blogging and putting this out there for all 2 people reading this, it will help in holding me accountable.

I know what my goal is, the end result.  I’m ready to put the work in.  Training officially starts on Monday.  Let’s do this.