Half Marathon Training Recap
I still can’t believe it’s September! There’s Pumpkin flavored everything now. I stopped by Dunkin Donuts for a morning coffee earlier this week and they already had their fall specials. One thing I am looking forward to is cooler weather. This summer has been a bit of a rough one for me in terms of running but it’s going better now.
My first month of training started off well. Unfortunately Hurricane Harvey took a week from me but I’m not too worried. This is my first training cycle that I have completed eliminated spin classes (except for the charity class this week) and have added strength training twice a week. I’ll admit, my first week of doubles was HARD. My legs were exhausted and it was a struggle not to eat everything under the sun. I wanted to make sure my nutrition consisted of clean foods and less processed foods.
Once I began to make adjustments on the amount of weight lifting and the amount of running I did, my body felt much better. Food was still wishy washy for me but I was making sure to get enough sleep. I slept for a minimum of eight hours every night. Even with 4AM wake ups! It was truly amazing. That week felt like heaven.
Of course then everything would go downhill and the last few runs have been hard. Speed work sucked, food was basically anything I could find, and sleep? That’s funny! Am I upset that this happen? Of course, but I can’t control life. So much has happened that has been out of my hands that I am just rolling with the punches.
I’ve picked up my usual schedule this week and I’m hoping that my body will pick up where it left off. I’m doing my best to keep my nutrition packed with veggies and lean proteins. My runs have been scaled back to intervals runs. Basically, I plan to build millage but I’m adding walk breaks in. I’ll keep doing this until I feel comfortable taking the walk breaks out.
Training for a race is hard work but to me, it’s truly a pleasure. Seeing my body react to different workouts and training styles is amazing. I’ve noticed my legs are leaner and my upper back muscles are popping! It’s little things like that that keep me going when I want to quit.
Have you trained for a race before?
