Thursday, November 17, 2011

I have a new plan!

Ok, I have a ‘in-the-works’ new plan.

Sit back, it’s complicated.

Remember that big announcement I made about wanting to run faster? I’ve already started plotting my course to that goal. Once I set my mind on something, it’s hard for me to think about anything else.

My goals are separated in a two-part process.

Part I: Run a 1:45 half marathon.

That’s a pace of 8:00 min/mi. Crazy? Yes. But, I like crazy. I’ll actually be happy with anything under 1:50, but go big or go home, right?

My current PR was set at the Space Coast Half Marathon in November of 2009 with a finish time of 1:52:51.

That was at the peak of training for the Disney Marathon. Since then I’ve only run a small handful of half marathons (Miami, IronGirl, and Disney), but haven’t taken any seriously. In fact, I’ve never outright trained for a half marathon on its own, I usually just tack it somewhere in marathon training or just bust one out during the off season.

This time I’m doing it differently. I’ve scoured the internet looking for a specific plan that will get me to a 1:45 half marathon. After coming up empty handed on finding any (free) plans that fit my specific needs, I combined a few of my favorites (Hal Higdon, Smart Coach, and McMillan) to create my own.

The race is the Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Petersburg Half Marathon on February 12th.

I picked that race because it’s close to home, flat as a pancake, gives me enough time to train, and was only $60 when I registered today during the 11/11/11 deal (I love a good bargain!).

Plus, the course looks pretty good.

However, that’s not the next race I’m signed up for.

I’ll be running the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vega Half Marathon in December, but will treat it as a casual training run with Anne P. where our only goal will be to run in a straight line, ifyouknowwhatI’msayin. It is Vegas after all.

I’m also registered to run the Miami to Key West Ragnar Relay Race in January.

I’m the 12th runner (gulp) with legs that look like this.

Again, this race is purely for fun and I have already incorporated the ‘long runs’ into my training plan.

Speaking of my training plan..

Here it is:

The plan focuses on 4 days or running, two days of strength training, and a rest/recovery day. This plan was heavily based on Hal Higdon’s advance half marathon training plan where he recommends two days a week of strength training and two days a week of speed training. I love how he incorporated the two and am hoping those elements will help with my PR attempt.

This plan was created specifically with my running abilities in mind. I know what my body can handle and I know what it’s capable of achieving. If at any point I feel this isn’t working, then I have no problem admitting defeat and backing down.

Part 2: Run a 3:55 marathon

Again, go big or go home, right?

My first marathon was a 4:29. I trained my booty off and ran a 4:12 less than a year later. I found a new plan, trained my booty off again, and ran a 3:59 eleven months after that.

I know what it takes to shave time off of a marathon because I’ve done before. Do I have what it takes to do it again? We’ll see.

The goal – gulp – is to kick booty at the St. Pete half marathon, then continue the booty-kicking training for a marathon in May. Kelly and I have been researching May marathons like crazy and concluded that we want to run the Flying Pig Marathon on May 6th in Cincinatti.

There’s only one thing that terrifies me about this marathon: HILLS! This means LOTS of hill training via the treadmill, causeways, Clermont, and even stadiums. It’s going to be a lot of work and i’m hoping i can handle it.

But, even with the hills, Flying PIg has been on my marathon dream list for a while now. Everything I’ve heard about the race has been good (minus the hills). It’s a race full of energy, hometown spirit, and even a little humor. It’s the sort of race I would love to be a part of.

I’m still working on the plan for part 2. I’m hoping to feed off of my training from my half, but I also don’t want to overtrain. I would rather be undertrained than overtrained, but it’s a fine line when you’re trying to reach a time goal.

So there you have it. My still-in-the-works new plan. It feels good to have something to really sink my teeth into again.

Ready or not, let the training begin!

What are you training for in the spring? Any big goals?

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