It has been 3 days since my first half marathon and I'm still sore. Not as sore as I was the first two days… that was pretty killer. My calves were so painful I looked like an old lady walking up and down the stairs. I'm "normal" workout sore as of this morning, so I decided I better get a recovery run in. I did an easy 30 minutes around my neighborhood using my favorite Rock My Run HIIT IT mix and did run/walk intervals. Funny that I still did a 12:30 pace. It's weird that I always seem to go faster when I get out of my head and I don't really try. (I really need to write a blog about cycling vs. running. Someone remind me to do that!)
Here's a couple pics of my half marathon "injuries"…
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| My bra strap was rubbing |
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| Aaand… I have a couple blisters. Ouch. |
And here's my new favorite picture of all!!!! I put my 13.1 and Vanderkitten VIP sticker on the back window of my car. I love it! I'm so excited! :)
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| Woo! |
Here's a brief summary of his plan:
Two 30 minute runs during the week, and then alternating 3 miles, and a progressively longer run, every other weekend. I thought this was totally do-able with my busy schedule… you know, a job, two kids, cycling, etc. And it's been great! Better than great since I got to my goal faster than anticipated! But the maintenance plans I was finding were for crazy hardcore runners and that wasn't going to work for me. I did three things: I emailed a runner friend who always gives me great advice; I started a post on the Vanderkitten VIP group asking advice from fellow kittens; And I emailed Jeff Galloway on his website, not expecting a response.
I DID get a response, from Jeff Galloway's program director, almost instantly. He said to do 30-45 minute runs on the weekdays, and at least 5 miles on the weekends. And then do a half marathon distance at least once every 3 weeks. He said not to go longer than a month because that's how long your body will hold on to your endurance. I asked if doing a 5K twice on the weekdays, and a 10K on the weekends, and do a half marathon once a month would work (along with cycling events) and he said yes, as long as I wasn't trying to race all of those. Sounds good to me! I also got almost the same response from my runner friend which was great validation. The Vanderkittens also agreed with his advice but told me to at least try to do one interval run per week to help with speed. Okay then, I have a new plan!
My posts won't start with Week _ Day _ anymore, which will be weird. It's just me, going with the flow. I'm going to do another half marathon on April 4th, and then the weekend after is the Daffodil 5K Challenge (Four 5K's in four cities in one day.) I'll just sign up for what looks fun, and what my friends are doing. And make sure I get going on my cycling. The STP is going to come up quick and I'm really going to feel it with my lack of training. And THEN after the STP, I'll start Jeff Galloway's Marathon Training plan for my first Marathon in December. Oh wow that's so far away, but I'm really intimidated by it. Wish me luck!
