Griffith Park Half Marathon Training Plan

Aaaaannndddd….I’m type A. I like training plans.

I enjoyed my summer of free-form running, but I was feeling like I tended to slack on runs because I wanted to “save” energy for some undetermined future run. I also have a weird mental block with runs over about 8 miles, and when Leo asks, “So, how far do you want to run today?” I immediately answer, “Ummmm, 3. Or 4. But not more than 4. Unless I feel great. And then maybe 6.”

So I started putting together a training plan. And because I enjoy Excel spreadsheets and running math, it took forever. But it’s done!

Training Plan – Griffith Park Trail Half Marathon (I don’t know why you’d want this, but feel free! However, I am not a doctor, and have gained all my running knowledge from the internet. Don’t be stupid)

Yeah, it’s color coded.

I threw in a day of swimming (or cross-training) because I’ll start having access to a pool when my new job starts in August. I’ll also have access to lots of big heavy weights, and a track, hence the weights-only days and speedwork. I’m going to try to do all of my other runs at least partially on trails, which is pretty easy around here. I kept the long run mileage relatively high, and added some back-to-backs because I may want to run another marathon in December or January (I will actually run a marathon).

I’ve already noticed that I’m putting more effort into my runs, since I know exactly what’s on the schedule for the next day. Yeah, I could have just sucked it up and pushed myself harder, but I like this way better.

Of course, it’s still all subject to change, based on day availability and whether I feel like running more. We’ll see how it goes! Saturday is already looking fun, there’s a training run on the Griffith Park Trail 10K course, and it’s just far enough from my house that if I get a ride there, I can run home and hit my 10 miles. Runmuting!

Summer Training Plans and Realities

I didn’t have any set training plan heading into summer. I knew I was going to lose access to my school gym, so I didn’t want to tie myself to a weights training plan that I couldn’t complete. And I didn’t know how well I’d handle the hot weather of summer (sweating is not exactly by best skill), or how much time I’d have to run with my summer job.

Luckily, not having a plan has worked out pretty well. I have kept my run mileage pretty steady over the past 5 weeks, and have even started to increase it a little bit. I generally pick a rough mileage for the week and keep track of what distances I’m running, but I don’t plan which days I’m doing which runs. I tend to focus more on monthly mileage, which I’ve gotten back up after it dropped in April and May during the end of grad school.

Summer Weekly Mileage

2012 Monthly Mileage

I also participated in the Runner’s World Run Streak from Memorial Day to the 4th of July, and managed to run (or walk) at least a mile every day during those days. But I’ve started to feel the effects of not strength training consistently, mostly in my knees and in my calves. The only strength program I’ve found that really seems to stabilize everything really well for me is The Female Body Breakthrough program, designed by Rachel Cosgrove. It focuses on heavy weights (for you), and low reps, and is pretty brutal. I haven’t made it all the way through the program yet, but her focus on hamstrings, glutes, and functional core training really seems to work for my running.

So my new summer plans are:

Start the Female Body Breakthrough program again, 3 weights workouts per week.

If I decide to run on weight days, stick to short sprints.

Increase run mileage gradually, hopefully peaking at 40-50 miles per week.

Start my 15 week training cycle for the Griffith Park Half Marathon on August 5th (I’ll post a training plan closer to the start date…it will include lots and lots of trail runs!)

Griffith Park Trail Run

It’s been really nice to not stress myself out about a specific summer training plan and just do what feels right in terms of temp and time.

12athon: Month Seven

We’re more than halfway through the 12athon!

Today was the hardest 12athon I’ve run yet. There weren’t any particularly gnarly challenges, but this is what the forecast looked like when we headed out:

The temperature had gone down about 3 degrees by the time we started, and it was very very cloudy. Almost no direct sunlight, which was nice, but we’ve had humidity like this all day:

So the run was very slow. About 3 hours for the full 12 miles, which included running, walking, breaks in air-conditioned stores to buy water, and general whining stops.

I am claiming the Naturalist points (6) for my fabulous shoes.

And many thanks to my ever fabulous running partner and husband for his water carrying, food encouraging, and ability to talk while running up hills skills.

I thought about doing the RUI (Running Under the Influence) challenge, but didn’t want to risk it with the heat. So now I’m going to go enjoy this:

and some salmon, bacon, avocado tacos. Mmmmm.