Now that Disney Princess is over, as well as RnR New Orleans, it’s time to think about my “spring” training plan. I use the term loosely because it has been spring around here for a long time. Our grass is green already, bees are out, flowers have bloomed.
I have a rule that I will not race in the south between the months of June and September. If I race, it will be a destination race. With the heat and humidity, it’s a death wish. This means I have 2.5 months left to do any type of racing locally.
As far as things I have already signed up for, I will be running a 5k on Saturday, and a half marathon in Pensacola on April 15. I have been focusing on that half since RnR NOLA. I really want to PR, but I also have to be realistic because mid April at the beach around here means it’s most likely going to be hot and humid. I am going to pretend like I am training for any other half, and just hope for the best.
This is how I am tackling the next month. (My half is a month from today!)
Sunday: Rest
Monday: Tempo workout 3-6 miles, weights
Tuesday: easy run 2-4 miles, weights
Wednesday: cross training, yoga, weights
Thursday: Run (maybe hills or sprints) 2-4 miles
Friday: cross train and weights
Saturday: Long run 8-12 miles
I plan to LOOSELY follow this pattern up until the week before, where I will back off of everything a bit, and will do more cross training and easy running than anything. Also, I will be out of town for a week, so it will be interesting to see how I can handle working out on my trip. not going to lie, the long run Saturday may not happen, but hopefully everything else will.
Where did I come up with this plan? Wwweelll I just kind of made it up. I used previous knowledge from a hodge-podge of training plans, and came up with a plan that works FOR ME. Guys, this is the key. When you have been running for awhile, you start learning what works best for your own body. Like I know that if I un more than four days a week I will get an overuse injury. I also know if I don’t go to yoga I will stay really tight, potentially causing injury. I also know weight lifting has gotten me stronger and leaner and I need to do it at least four times a week. These are all things that if you would have asked me a year ago to create a training plan, I would have laughed….and never included yoga or weight lifting.
I have come so far and learned so much about myself since I started running, and being more healthy overall. The “old me” would never spend so much time in a gym, or buying things around the outer edges of the grocery store.
I guess my takeaway for all of you from this, is a meal plan, a training plan, any kind of plan, isn’t a one size fits all thing. Just because your favorite blogger or celebrity is doing something “healthy” does not mean it is in your best interest to follow suit. Please don’t think I am saying it is wrong to use a pre-made training plan, I am just saying sometimes they don’t always suit my needs exactly. Find out what works to help you achieve your personal goals. If you have to make your own training plan, or mix a few together, so be it, but BE YOURSELF, and do what is best for you. After all, who knows you better than you?
Do you come up with your own training plans or use pre-made ones?
I started with an online plan then gradually tailored it to my needs. I mix in speed work and love training on hills. Can’t run anywhere around here without running up a hill it seems. It has done wonders for my endurance.
Completely agree! You definitely know your body best. I always download SmartCoach as a guide but tweak the paces, days I workout, etc because after 11 1/2s, I have an idea of what works for me. I hope you PR 🙂
Thats great that you listen to your body to avoid overuse injuries. Its a hard lesson to learn.
I make up my own plans. I am looking around to kind of get the best of various training plans and add them into my own for my next half marathon. And I am also trying to eat better- more protein, more calcium, more vegies etc.
When I need motivation I follow a plan because it gives me structure which gets me moving, but eventually I fall away from the plan and go at it my own way. I laughed at when you wrote about “maybe hills.” Like Kelly, hills are basically all we have where I live. I would give anything for a run without hills!
So true! I always tweak whatever plan I use because my body can’t always handle what the plan calls for. Not to mention – sometimes I just don’t have the time the plan calls for! (A downside to having two jobs…) Now that the weather is nicer – and more daylight – hopefully I can ramp up my training again! Excited for your Pensacola Half!
I tend to take pre-made plans and switch them up to fit my needs, ability, and schedule. Basically it just provides me a rough guideline. Good luck with your training!
I just go with the flow
a lot depends on how bad the ankle is (repeatedly having blown it out, issues with it still…)
I completely agree with you! I always see the premade training plans, but I think *all* of them need a disclaimer that it is just a guide and before anything else, you need to listen to your body. I had a friend who was doing a very tough half marathon plan for her first one, and she was always having knee troubles and stuff. I couldn’t believe her mileage, and she was working out twice a day many days. She’d beat herself up when she didn’t run the full mileage of the plan, too. Everyone is different… some people cannot run more than 3 days straight, others can only run every other day. And it’s great that you figured out how your body likes weight training and yoga, too!
Good luck with your 5K… totally with ya on racing in the South during the summer! June-August are pretty much time to slow down here :). But since you travel… you could always run a half somewhere else… that would be awesome :).
thats what happened when I ran providence beginning of august last year, I was WAY undertrained though b/c I don’t run a lot in the summer, so it was a killer race for me lol!
Lately I’ve been printing up pre-made plans either from Hal Higdon or Shape, but then I modify it based on what my schedule is like. It helped me with my last half marathon!
amen, running in miami over the summer is brutal! i have been in marathon training the last two summers and it was just plain silly
After spending over 15 years in gyms, I do self made plans, similar to what you said about using a “hodge podge” of information i have picked up over the years. However, im always willing to learn new stuff, so hopefully im not limiting myself.
That and join you in some of your runs.
I am SO with you on this! I always tailor make my training plans to suit my needs rather than sticking to a plan that someone else created. I just know that 1 – I never fully stick to a plan anyway and 2 – no two plans are created equal and everyone is different. Plus, I’m big on not getting too tied to a plan or else you’ll wind up annoyed everytime something changes in that plan from week-to-week when “life” happens, you know what I mean? I see so many blogger/runner friends drive themselves bonkers trying to follow a training plan down to the T, freaking out every time a run or something doesn’t “follow” the plan exactly. (this is a long way of saying – I totally agree with your approach, haha)
So true!! You really need to do what works for you. I usually take some sort of plan as a guideline and then modify it based on what I know will work for me.
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