Are you one of those people who likes to plan? Do you have vacations planned out years in advance, your grocery list sorted by aisle and order in which you will pick things up? If you are, that’s awesome, I wish I was like you, but unfortunately I’m not. I keep trying, but somehow my plans never seem to get fully developed and get tossed to the wayside.
I did follow a plan… once. It was when I was training for my very first half marathon back in 2010. I was so scared that I wasn’t going to be able to run that distance that I created a plan and stuck with it like peanut butter sticks to the roof of your mouth. Unfortunately, once I ran that distance I got lazy and thought training plans weren’t needed… boy was I wrong. Had I actually made and followed a training plan for the 2 marathons I ran after that first half perhaps I would have done better… but I didn’t.
So, long story kinda short, I created a training plan yesterday not with a specific distance in mind, (although I am doing the Seneca 7 at the end of April with a crazy group of peeps), but for the purpose of being held accountable for actually getting out there and running. The day after the Seneca 7 begins my Half Ironman (1/2 IM) training and I want to go into that having a good base so I’m hoping this plan gets me there.
And speaking of plans, I guess I need to go figure out what that crazy training plan is going to look like!! I’ve completed one 1/2 IM before, back in 2012. I think I had a rough plan for it, but not really. I was “training” for a marathon that was 4 weeks before the 1/2 IM so in my mind I would train for the marathon and then throw in some bike rides and swims after the marathon was over and that would count as my training for the half IM. I completed a 62 mile charity bike ride 2 weeks before the half so I knew I could at least complete the bike portion of the race and I got in maybe 4 open water swims so I felt comfortable with that going into the race as well. I was very active and in pretty good shape at the time so I wasn’t too worried about finishing the half.
This year I’m feeling a little different about it all. I have no base right now because I am still recovering from the birth of my little boy so I know it’s going to be tough both mentally and physically to get into a groove this time with training. I’m hoping to make a plan and stick with it so I can finish the 1/2 IM feeling strong and with a smile on my face. When I get that plan figured out I’ll share it with you all, until then here’s a look at my running plans for the next few weeks. I’m probably being overly optimistic that I will actually complete all of these runs, but at least it’s something to aim for. I might also substitute a few trainer rides for runs but that will be determined by the day.
(Ignore the fact that the training plan calls for a half marathon on “race day”. I needed to insert a distance and that was the closest to what I am aiming for)
Offside Roll 
One thought on “A Plan”