I’ve always said that I like being half marathon ready. Meaning that I’m in good enough shape that I could hop into a half marathon with very little additional preparation. I’ve been in that place in my training for a while now and I’ve finally decided to pull the trigger.
I registered for the Hottest Half!
I officially have three weeks to get myself ready. Last night I crafted a three week training plan and am ready to get started!
Though this plan is only three weeks long it is by far the most technical plan I’ve ever undertaken. I’ve never actually tried to hit paces before during training, I’ve always just winged it based on feel but I’m at a place now where I won’t continue to improve unless I get slightly more serious with my training plans.
Notice there’s no off days? That’s because I’m still streaking, today is day 107! I’m not sure how that’s going to affect my training so I’m giving myself the option of switching the Friday 4-miler to 1-mile if I feel my body needs the break.
The paces here are calculated off a finish time of 1:50 and honestly I think that’s realistic. I’ve been doing 800 meter intervals at a 7:34 pace once a week for the last several weeks so tomorrow’s run actually will be a bit easy (knock on wood) and the weekly mileage is spot on. I ran 40 miles last week so I don’t see the total mileage being a problem. I can easily maintain a 9 minute/mile while pushing the stroller so a race pace of 8:24 might be pushing it a little but not too far off.
I plan on doing the intervals on the treadmill at the gym, the remainder of the weekday runs will be done pushing the double stroller (including the tempo) and Jason can watch the kids on Saturday and Sunday for my long run and race pace run.
Despite the name, I’m not worried about the heat. I lived in Dallas for six years so I’m familiar with the weather. Now I live in Houston and I run outside almost every day, even during the summer. I’m as acclimated to the heat as I can get so it shouldn’t be much of a shock.
I am so excited about this! I’ve wanted to run this race for a long, long time but the timing never worked out for me. I’ve been either pregnant or recovering from having a baby during the training window for the last four years but this is the year! EXCITED!