Half Marathon Training Round 2

It’s that time of year again! The time of year that I’m convinced I’ve lost my mind because I’ve decided to run in the Knoxville Half Marathon again. When I get into the weeks when I’m running 7 miles and more I’m convinced I’ve lost my mind.

Today was my very first training day. The good news is that it was only a 3 mile run. The bad news is that it was 10 degrees when it was time for my run. Luckily just a few weeks ago my husband and I signed up for a gym membership. As much as a hate treadmills, I was happy to have my first 3 mile run on a treadmill in a nice warm gym rather than having to bundle up and run around my neighborhood.

Last year I followed the Hal Higdon Novice training since it was my first time attempting to run 13.1 miles. This year since I have a half marathon under my belt I’ve decided to try out the novice 2 training. I think the novice 2 training will better prepare me for that full 13.1 miles. Each week on Saturday I will add an extra mile to my run with the novice 2 training. So this Saturday I will run 4 mile and by the time I’m done with my training, the Saturday before the big race I will run 12 miles. Oh it hurts me a little just to type that! I can do this!! With the novice training I did last year the last distance run I did leading up to race day was 10 miles. If I can run 10 miles I can run 13 and I did. But during the race I was EXHAUSTED when I finished that 10th mile. I had to really play a lot of tricks in my head to push myself to finish those last 3 miles. But I did it! I think having that 12 mile practice run out of the way will really help prepare me for finishing out the big race this year.

Along with the Hal Higdon training schedule I’m going to do a little PiYo for my stretch and strength and Chalean Extreme on my strength training days. So it’s go time!!

What are your running goals this year? Do you have any big races in your future??