Half Marathon Training

Half Marathon Training Plan

See the plan larger here!  Today marks 84 days until my half marathon.  I get really excited about training because it's incredibly motivating having a race planned in the distant future.

For me, training can be just as fun as the race itself.  It may not have that same fulfilling feeling (especially on days when I've had a rough run), but overall the training for a race is half the battle, actually more than half. 

I have run one marathon, but I've trained for three!  Unfortunately, two of the times in my training I've gotten sick a month before the race and decided to withdraw.  But I can still say that I've had some  glorious 20 mile runs.  In fact, I'm really proud of those 20 mile runs.  My husband and I ran them together and we didn't have any fans cheering, but when we completed them we felt like we were on top of the world.

Training is a victory within itself.  I highly encourage you to find a race near you or far away and make it a vacation (whether it's a 5K, 15K, half, full) and sign up!  That is the first step. 

The first time I signed up for a half marathon I had been running casually for about a year.  I was running about 15 miles a week.  My husband (then boyfriend) told me he was doing a half marathon in a month and I was jealous!  I wanted to do that!  So I signed up.

The longest I had run at that point was about 7 miles.  The longest I had run before doing the half was 9 miles.  Something happened on that race day though.  I felt liberated.  I felt like a conquerer.  I knew this feeling was something I had been searching for. 

In the last year I've run a half marathon and a 15K.  For 2013, I'm hoping for a half marathon (or 2) and a marathon.  It's hard to plan, but I can always plan to train. 

And training is so much fun!

How do you feel about training?