A good friend of mine on Twitter, Andrew Woods @awoods, asked me to write about my training that I keep babbling on about. I am training for the Austin Marathon’s Half Marathon on February 15, 2009. That’s 13.1 miles in the downtown Austin area. I ran it last year after my friend Hailey Jett asked me to do it with her. I finished in 2:35:51, not a speed demon in any universe, but better than the 3-3.5 hours I was expecting.That was after about a month and a half of training. So I started earlier this year. 🙂
My training program is through Active.com. Less than $30 for a 14 week course. It’s all online and sends you an email daily with what you are to do that day with full instructions. It’s especially nice because I can change out the workouts to match my schedule. I went up to Chicago for SES Chicago and skiing in Whistler without side-lining my training. It has an easy to use drag and drop calendar. Awesome. Okay, gonna stop selling the product now. I’d add an affiliate link, but they don’t have a program, so no payment here. Just love of the program.
So it starts out (I chose the beginner’s program since I have only run once before this time) very easy. Like a 30 minute easy run. Easy means not letting your heart rate get too high. So I was going like 4mph to start with. I have built up to 9 miles now, will most likely get up to 10 but not much more. The key is to prepare, not actually run the race before you get there. THere are three days of runs, and two of cross training (I do weights or yoga) with two days off. Not bad huh?
Now I know what some of you are thinking – “I hate running, why the hell would I do 13 miles?” Well believe it or not I used to not be able to run a tenth of a mile very much a whole mile. I remember a time about 3 years ago when I went home after a workout and squealed “I ran a WHOLE MILE!!!” Yes, that was a milestone for me. A whole mile without stopping. You can do anything you put your mind to.
So for the rest of my training, I refrain from drinking a lot, reduce my intake of sugar and overall eat more veggies. Have I been perfect? Nope. But it’s going well so far. Sadly, no weight loss. I have my own theories for that, but that’s another day. 🙂 If you have questions about running, getting into running, or training for a half-marathon, let me know. Always happy to share!
7 Comments
Add Yours →Kick ass, Kate!
I was training for the LA Marathon a few years back. My roommate got me to agree to run it – then he dropped out about two months before. I ended up not running the race myself, but I was running 10 miles every other day anyway. Between that, eating well and training in ninjitsu I was in the best shape of my life.
I find it hard to run for the sake of running – but I’m getting back into MMA (mixed martial arts). When someone’s trying to punch you in the face it tends to raise your motivation to move.
Psyched to hear you’re working hard – I hope the race goes well!
Oh, and about the weight loss – you’re building a lot of new muscle through your training. Muscle is heavier than fat. Don’t worry about the scale – worry about how you feel.
Way to be, Kate. I’m training for the Austin Half, too. It’s my first.
Ya know – the 3M Half is this weekend. Perfect primer…
Good luck!
🙂 Thanks Mike – I have other things like hormones getting in my way, but you are right, it’s about how I feel, not the tape measure or scale.
Congrats! Yeah I heard 🙂 but I’m good, it’ll be the first weekend after school starts and I will have tons to do. Good luck to you as well!
That’s awesome Kate. There’s nothing like an upcoming race to motivate oneself to train! It takes alot of guts to commit to a half marathon. The most I’ve ran to date is 5 miles. How often did you increase your distance? Do you run the same speed all the time, and just increase distance?, or do you run some parts faster than others?
I increase in small increments every week. Different paces. The major mileage is done at a slow pace (4-5mph) and speed work is done in short bouts (3miles) to help get your body used to running faster. During the race I am all over the place. I generally run about an 11 min mile … hoping to get closer to 10 this time. 🙂
Hey, I see you made the list of nominees for the Texas Social Media Awards
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/standing/awardnominees.html