I had a mild panic attack this morning. I texted Felicia to tell her that next Sunday would be the 12 week mark until our half marathon. She, sweetly, texted back, "I thought last Sunday was the 12 week mark". WHAT?! The reason for my freak-out is that marathon and half marathon training schedules are...12 weeks. When training for my first half last September I didn't quite stick with the program, got behind and was not at all prepared for the race (prior to the 13.1 jaunt that included Doomsday Hill in Spokane my longest run was 6 miles. Not even HALF!). I vowed I would be more prepared for my next one and I am already behind. I headed to the gym a little depressed and with a "what's the point" attitude. Until I started running. I got to mile 2 and thought "if I WAS on a training schedule, this would probably be a 3-mile day..." So instead of stopping at two when I got tired (which is another depressing subject--tired at 2 miles???) I pushed through to 3. And when I got home I looked up my training schedule and realized-- I AM NOT BEHIND!!! According to the training program I am using, yesterday should have been 3 miles and today 2. All I did, without knowing it, was swap those two days. I practically jumped for joy when I read that. Now, I am ramped up for training again and excited to stick to it and bump up my mileage again.
The schedule I chose is Hal Higdon's
Novice 1. It is his lowest beginner training program and I chose it because it assumes you have the ability to run 3 miles several times a week. While I can do that uncomfortably now, I am pretty sure muscle memory will kick in soon and it will get easier fairly quick (fingers crossed). Even though it is a blow to my ego to start at the bottom, I know that if I lied to myself and picked a higher training schedule I wouldn't be able to stick to it. I have my (hopefully) final appointment with my physical therapist today after running this last weekend to see if I am given the green light to continue. And speaking of which--I better get ready!
Told you you would be fine! And I love your quote- the half is about doing what YOU can do, not what I can do. And you are going to be so happy just trying to do your best instead of worrying about what I think. PS- did I mention that we totally rock!
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