I'm so excited to share this six week series of my half marathon training with you guys! It's my first half marathon so I wanted to document the journey and I figured that this was the best place to do it! I just learned about the half marathon that I'm doing this past week. Since January I have had an alignment issue causing problems with my hips and legs (which I just figured out Thursday, yes I procrastinated going to the doctor for almost 4 months) and I wasn't sure if it would even be possible for me to train for a half at all. I started training this week though just to be safe because it's only 6 weeks away!! And after today I know that it is possible so I am really excited about it!
I figured that a weekly recap of all of my workouts would be the best way to do things. I'm basing my training off of Life In Leggings training plan but I have mixed some things up a bit to fit my own needs!
Monday
I started Monday with a rest day! I want to make Sunday's my long runs so Monday's will always be a rest day!
The best rest days are active ones! I went to the playground with my friend for a while. Yes it's totally acceptable to play on the playground at 22 years old.
Tuesday
Tuesday was my first official training run. I had a pretty tough day on Tuesday but I promised myself that if I only did one productive thing that it would be this run. I did it and it was awesome.
Distance: 3 miles Time: 30 minutes
I am currently using an app on my phone and I don't feel like it's accurate with the distance and timing. I'm working on getting a running watch and after that happens then I'll start to share my pace too!
P.S. Ignore the dirty clothes hanging out in the background. Whoops!
Wednesday
Time to bike! It was such a beautiful day on Wednesday. The best possible day for a bike ride. I got off of work and went straight out the door for a 13.5 mile bike ride! I have a few loops that I like to do so I combined them and got in the best hilly ride. I have a love hate relationship with hills. Mostly love though, which is obviously good.
Distance: 13.5 miles Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Thursday
Tempo run day! I haven't attempted a tempo run since high school. I found it somewhat difficult to keep my pace by using my phone app. This run was ultimately the determining factor that I need to purchase a watch. But given my circumstances I felt like the run went really well! I felt good the whole time and got really excited for the rest of my training. Plus I was trying to beat the rain which motived me to get my run finished asap after work. Thank you PA weather!
Distance: 4 miles Time: 40 minutes
I finished off my workout with a very vanilla protein shake with my favorite Sunwarrior protein. Delicious!
Friday
I thought that this run would be easy and I was excited for it... until it happened. I had plans to make an appointment (and hopefully get in today) at the chiropractors. It was my first time going there so I didn't know what to expect. I decided that I should get my run out of the way in the morning just to be safe.
I ate my breakfast way too close to my run and was feeling it the whole time! It definitely slowed me down and made 3 miles feel like 33 miles. I know that I'm bound to have some not so great runs but I was still frustrated with myself. I finished it though! That's all that matters.
Distance: 3 miles Time: 32 minutes
Saturday
Rest day!!
Each day I finished off my run with some yoga. I do yoga everyday. The amount of time that I practice varies but I still make sure to schedule time in my day to do it. I feel as if it's very important mentally and physically, especially during training time.
Thoughts
I also find it very important to fuel my body with good foods and enough of them. I think that I might share more of my food during training time too! Overall I am happy with how this week went! I officially signed up for the half marathon on Thursday so I am very excited to continue throughout the training knowing that I will be running my first half next month.
I can't wait to share the remaining weeks with you and see how much I improve throughout the month.
Have you done a half marathon before? If so, share some tips with me!