Well, I’m back to about 80% health! The cold is on its last legs and I’m back at work after two days of sleeping, taking more than my fair share of Nyquil, and watching tons of Mad Men on Blu-Ray 
Time for a quick post while I eat lunch!
In case you haven’t noticed, I love, love, LOVE making lists. I’m not an especially organized person by nature, so making lists really helps me keep short-term and long-term tasks and priorities in mind. I can’t tell you the number of times I wrote and re-wrote my pre-wedding to-do list! That list was epic – I should have framed it!
With the holidays fast approaching (Christmas Eve is a week from tomorrow! Eek!), I put together a nice pre-vacation to-do list in my new notebook. Thankfully, it is short enough that it doesn’t need categories: there are a few last-minute Christmas gifts to buy, a few things to return, baked goods to make, blog posts to put in the queue, and some cleaning around the apartment. Not so bad, but I wish I could’ve crossed a few more things off the list this weekend…
While I was updating my to-do list and looking at my calendar this morning, I realized it was time to put together my half-marathon training schedule! I’ve got just 13 short weeks to go before my next 13.1: the NYC Half-Marathon! This race used to be in August for whatever reason – it is WAY too hot in NY in August for a half, in my opinion – but they moved it to March this year, a much nicer season for a long run
Here’s my training schedule. I used the SmartCoach program on RunnersWorld.com to figure out my targeted weekly mileage, but upped one of my long runs from 9 to 10 miles. I want to have at least one double-digit run behind me before the big day! I also added in my planned road races to the training schedule, but didn’t adjust my weekly miles around them. Do you think I should?
I have to confess something slightly embarassing: I’ve never really stuck to a training schedule for my previous half-marathons. I think my longest training run was 8 miles before my first half, and even that was mostly walking. For whatever reason, I feel like I can sort of “wing it” when it comes to half-marathons, even though that’s a pretty stupid strategy. With the MARATHON and its daunting training schedule at the front of my mind, however, I know I need to stick to this training plan for two reasons. One, it will (hopefully!) lead to a better race time (my goal is to finish in under 2:30:00) and help me realize that every mile I run in preparation for the race is important. I also hope it will help me get over my fear of the long training run; yes, a 20-miler sounds terrible and daunting, but when you’ve spent weeks building up to it, it’s not so bad.
Next up? Making a similar plan for my Nutrition and Wellness Consultant certification program. I have plenty of time to get all the reading done – I don’t have to send in my exam until the end of May – but I need a strict schedule to get through the material so I don’t leave everything until the last minute!
Next up, running-wise? A 15K (9.3 miles!) with Nicole on Sunday in Central Park. I’m a little terrified of the distance; I haven’t done anything longer than a 10K in MONTHS! My mini-goal for today is to get in 5 miles on the treadmill tonight and see how I feel. If it’s a struggle, then maybe I’ll re-assess the weekend plan…
Alright, time to get back to work!
Are you a planner or a procrastinator? If you set a schedule for yourself (for weight loss, race training, studying, anything), are you likely to stick to it? If not, why not?
I’m more of a wing it kind of girl. I set goals but don’t necessarily have a list of things to do to get there. Although I do love making lists like you
I am a TOTAL planner. Obsessive planner. But I always end up moving my schedule around a bit to accommodate my schedule.
I think your new training schedule looks very reasonable! Good luck with it!
I’m a huge planner. I’m already planning for my training plans for my 10K in April and half in September.
[...] to get back to work! Half-marathon training starts today — I’ve got a 2-miler scheduled that I’m going to crank out as fast [...]