I’m running a half marathon at the end of August. That’s four months from now.
Yes, I know you all know this. I just need to remind myself. I seem to have forgotten, just a little bit.
I’m a little stressed out. Being a full-time mom and a full-time employee leaves me very little time to do anything that is just for me. That includes, but is not limited to: eating at any speed slower than breakneck; sitting down; laying down; sleeping; and, of course, exercise.
I know I sound totally whiny. I feel whiny. I am whiny. But there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do what I need – and want! – to do.
That said, I spent a lot of money to participate in the Disneyland Half Marathon, so I need to set aside my lack of time and my stress and figure out a game plan. So far, my game plan looks like this:
1. Start running.
Look at me go!
….
Aaaaaaand that’s it. It’s a little overwhelming in its simplicity, I know. In the interest of getting my butt in gear, Mister Jess has offered to create a training calendar for me so that I can see what I need to do each day in order to complete my ultimate goal. Which is, in case you’ve forgotten (because I have!), the half marathon. But that means I need to have a training schedule, and after doing an informal poll on Facebook as well as a Google search, I did gather some great information on what training programs have worked for my half marathon-finishing friends.
But, of course, in true me fashion, I want to throw it out to you Scoot readers, too, because you are a font of information! So here it goes:
What program have you used to train for a half marathon? Loved it? Tell me all about it! And give me a kick in the pants for motivation while you’re at it.
Hal Higdon plans have always worked well for me. Have fun training, don’t let it become another stressful thing in your life.
Thank you! I am definitely hoping it will RELIEVE stress rather than add to it. 🙂 I’m going to approach it that way and see how it goes.
I’ve also used Hal Higdon and had it work well. I use Galloway intervals with Higdon’s mileage schedule – I walk a minute after every mile I run. It got me through my first half marathon! Good luck!
I think the run/walk will be my strategy as well. I love your idea of using intervals with the Higdon schedule! Will definitely look into this. Thanks for the advice!
Another Higdon fan but you should check out Galloway’s plan on the Run Disney site because I think it’s a 3 day training and that might work best for your schedule.
Will do, thanks B!
I love Hal Higdon and Jeff Galloway’s programs. My two favs!
That seems to be the overwhelming favorite! I heard a lot about Higdon when I asked on Facebook. Seems like I can’t lose doing that. 🙂
Higdon is the bomb.com!!
I used the Hal Higdon schedule for my first half, and it worked well. http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51131/Half-Marathon-Novice-1-Training-Program
I echo Brooke on the Galloway as I have used that as well and liked the schedule.
Thanks, Nita! The 3x a week will probably work best with my schedule, so I will look into it.
I used Hal Higdon for my first half marathon too and it worked great for me. Whatever you settle on, stick to it as closely as you can. You’re going to be nervous and unsure leading up to the race, but if you’ve stuck to your plan, you can assure yourself that you’ve done everything you needed to do to prepare.
And on race day, make sure you enjoy yourself and run comfortably. Don’t worry about running the fastest race you possibly can. You can push for a nice PR in your next half, but if you push too hard in your first one you risk a DNF that will upset you a lot.
You always have the best advice, Ben. Thanks! I know I’ll be nervous on the day of. I’ve never run anything even closely approaching 13.1 miles, which is why it’s so important to me to really train so that I’m not pushing myself too hard come race day.
I always use the Galloway training plans and even adopted it for my first full marathon training. It is very easy to fit into a busy schedule (30 minutes on tues and thurs and longer runs on weekends). I would love to try Higdon’s plan but there the running is too long during the week for me as I work 10 hour days.
here is the rundisney plan and it starts next week!
http://as1.wdpromedia.com/media/rundisney/training/running/plans/2014/Disneyland/DLHM14_Beg.pdf
on non-running days, I always do stretch training. it really does make a difference in your running.
Perfect, thanks, Juliana!
I tend to use a combo of Hal Higdon and Galloway’s plans depending on my speed goals and how my perpetual nagging injuries are doing! I also like to calendar out all the scheduled runs so I see them nice and clearly, it helps me not skip them! I’m currently using the book Run Faster, Run Less which has some serious speed training and cross training days as well.
The calendar will be key for me. I can beg off anything if it’s not right in front of my face, but if it’s written down I take it as law! Will look into that book as well – thanks!
Oh yeah, and YAY, congratulations on signing up for your first HALF!!!!
Thank you!!! It’ll either be my last or the first of many. 🙂
I’ve used Galloway from the start and it’s worked well for me partially for the reason Brooke mentioned, with a full time job and full time single motherhood three days are about all the time I can dedicate to training right now.
My only piece of advice is get running for sure. In 2011 the DL half was my first half, I did not train properly (I had only done one 10 mile training run, which I threw up right at mile 10) and I was miserable the whole run. I couldn’t wait to run through the Big A and before I even got there I wanted to die. My worst running experience ever. You can run this half it’s just a matter of if you want to enjoy it or be miserable and for the most part that is determined by your training.
I am so excited you gals are running it, I’m thinking of heading down to cheer you all on!
Thanks, Heather! I want to enjoy the run for sure, so training will be important. It’s my first half, and I’m running it with Meridith, so I want only happy memories!
We would LOVE to see you there! Keep us updated if you end up making it down there. 🙂
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