Training, Training, Training!

I finished up my Hammer and Chisel challenge just after committing to a half marathon in Colorado in July with some blog friends.  I am really chomping at the bit to ramp up my running since I’m running long distances at 30-45 seconds per mile faster than this time last year.  I started a real training plan, not the type that I usually do to just skate by, and was off and running, literally.

Then, I got a little ambitious and signed up for a half marathon that happens on June 4.  I’ve done it before, it’s rather easy, and some friends are doing it with me so it will be a good old time and will keep me motivated and prepared for the half in July.

And then, I selected a 6 week half marathon training program for shits and giggles and the date set for running the half marathon was April 30, and there just happens to be one in town that weekend so I signed up, despite the notorious hills it’s known for.  I was nervous about it until I ran a 12K last week with little to no effort.  A half in 4 weeks would be not problem.

And then, a friend texted me about a 75 mile relay race on May 7th.  They needed two more runners and my name came up and I, of course, said yes.  I have two legs of that race, a 5.7 mile “hard” hilly segment and a 4.3 mile “easy to moderate” segment.  That first segment of mine is the only one on the entire 75 mile course that is labeled as “hard.”  Awesome!  So I checked out their training plan, just to be sure I’m prepared, and they have you running twice in one day, one day a week.

In a nutshell, the calendar is below.  Funny that the race that started it all is the one that will be run last (unless I do the Minnesota half on 8/6… still undecided there):

April 30 – Half Marathon in DSM (Drake Relay ROADS half)

May 7 – Market to Market 75 mile Relay race

June 4 – Dam to Dam half in DSM

July 23 – Prairie Dog half marathon in Castle Rock, CO

(Maybe August 4) – Minnesota half in St. Paul

That’s a lot of distance running this spring and summer.  I’ve had to really think about how to combine all of my training plans into one, and I’ve come up with a good plan that is broken into two sections – March/April and then May 1 – July 23.

I’ve been doing a good job of getting my training runs in and am averaging 3 strength training and 2-3 PiYo sessions a week when you don’t look at my birthday week and the week that I had to sell a bunch of stuff on FB (that is very time-consuming when you sell as much as quickly as I do – I’m an aggressive seller).  Strength and PiYo always come second to running, but they are still on the middle burner.  I am not slacking with ab work and that’s helping keep my back strong.  I’ve seen a huge benefit from combining strength and PiYo with running, so I will keep doing all of these things.

After the relay, I’ll go back to my 6-week half marathon training schedule until the June 4 half and then I’ll get more aggressive with speed training so that I’m not completely defeated by the elevation in Colorado.

That’s my plan!

I’m not getting bogged down in stats and tracking this time – my main goal is running training.  I’d like to weigh 145.0 pounds or less every Wednesday, and I’d like to end up after the relay with a body fat %-age safely back in the mid 21.x% range.  When I weighed in on 3/24, I weighed 146.4 pounds and my body fat percentage was 23.3%.  Today, on 4/10, I weigh 143.4 pounds with a body fat percentage of 22.1%.  Everything is moving in the right direction!

As of today, my abs are toning up and they look like this – I’m satisfied.  I would like to see more improvement, but I’m satisfied (I think they’re in better shape than they were back on March 10, but that could just be lighting):

I like to end these training/challenge initiation posts with a little, “here I go” pep talk, but I’m already going.  So, “here I keep going!”