Sandy's Half Marathon Training Schedule

Hello Fellow Runners!
  Prior to signing up for the PR mid-distance program, Sandy created a Half Marathon Training Schedule for me.  I found it extremely helpful, and now that the class has ended, I will be reverting back to this training schedule in order to accomplish my goal of 13.1 miles.  Even if you are not signed up for a half marathon, but want to continue training for long distances, this training schedule will come in handy.  Sandy created this training schedule with me in mind, so you will see that it is comprised of cross training (swim, spin) and hill workouts.  I had knee surgery 5 years ago and my right knee has been dicey since.  I don't put a lot of stress on my knee during the week and save it all for the long weekend runs to meet my goal.  Even though this training incorporates swimming/spin/run, you all can modify the schedule and insert activities that you normally do.  I also add in weight lifting when I get the chance.  My goal for this week - get back on schedule!  Hope this helps you all as much as it does me.

Lindsey

April 2011
Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
					1	2
					Walk/ Rest day	Swim 1200m or spin
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
8 Miles	Walk/ Rest day	1 hr Spin	Intervals:	45 min run	Walk/ Rest day	Swim 1400m
			Jog 10 min; 3x 800m sprints, 800m jog between, jog 20 min.
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
6 Miles	Walk/ Rest day	1 hr Spin	Intervals:	40 min run	Walk/ Rest day	Swim 1200m
			Jog 10 min; 3x 800m sprints, 800m jog between, jog 20 min.
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
11 Miles	Walk/ Rest day	1 hr Spin	Hill workout - 4 hills		Walk/ Rest day	Swim 1400m
			Jog 10 min, 1 hill 5k pace, jog down, repeat 3x, 20 min jog	40 min run
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
8 Miles	Walk/ Rest day	1 hr Spin	Intervals:	45 min	Walk/ Rest day	Swim 1 Mile (1600m)
			Jog 10 min; 2x 1 Mile sprints, 800m jog between, jog 10 min.
May 2011
Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
13 miles	Walk/ Rest day	1 hr Spin	Intervals:	50 min run	Walk/ Rest day	Swim 1800m
			Jog 10 min; 2x 1 Mile sprints, 800m jog between, jog 20 min.
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
9 Miles	Walk/ Rest day	1 hr Spin	Hill workout - 3 Long hills	50 min run	Walk/ Rest day	Swim 1000m
			Jog 15 min, 1 hill 5k pace, jog down, repeat 2x, 25 min jog
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
14 Miles	Walk/ Rest day	1 hr Spin	5 mile run	35 min run	Walk/ Rest day	Swim 1200m
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
9 Miles	Walk/ Rest day	1 hr Spin	4 mile run	40 min run	Walk/ Rest day	Swim 1000m
29	30	31
6 Miles	Walk/ Rest day	30 min light jog
June 2011
Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
			1	2	3	4
			30 min light jog	Rest	30 min light	RACE DAY!!

Ashburn Area Running Club and Base, Pace, Race Program (April 9th)

Hello Runners!
  I should be working, but I have instead decided to drink coffee and take a mental break.  Has anyone thought about signing up for the "Base, Pace, Race Program" through PR starting April 9th?  I am seriously thinking about it and wanted to see if anyone else was.  Our mid-distance coaches Sandy Brown and Tracy Reed Endo are going to be coaching the class and it sounded like fun.  I am still planning on long runs on the weekends (have to build to 13.1 and beyond), but I really do need to work on my technique.

  Also, I am signing up for the Ashburn Area Running Club ($30/year) for an individual and this includes Saturday Morning Runs/Walks, Tuesday Evening Runs/Walks, Track workouts on Thursdays, a fall distance training program ($50 additional cost), and an early risers run on Tuesday/Thursday mornings.  This will be a great way to continue group runs.

  In addition, I will be running throughout the week at odd times in order to fit it in my schedule.  So if anyone is looking to get out there, let me know.  Those with a gmail account will be considered a "contributor" and can post on the blog (I think that is how this works).  Otherwise, just email me directly if all else fails. 

Okay, back to work.  And to all those brave souls running in the rain today...I salute you!  I am hitting the gym instead…yeah…weak I know.

Lindsey 

Good Luck Cherry Blossom Runners!

Just wanted to send a shout out to all the Cherry Blossom Runners!  I foresee a great run this weekend for everyone (Go Team!).  I attended a meeting in DC yesterday and was able to see some of the cherry trees in full bloom.  Needless to say they were beautiful!  Should be a wonderful backdrop for the run.  Even though I am not running in the race, I'll still cheer from Leesburg and send good thoughts everyone's way.

Also, I look forward to seeing everyone at the social event this Friday.  I don't know about all of you, but I could sure use a beer...or three.  Clyde's in Ashburn has always impressed me.  What could be better than sitting back, drinking a beer, and enjoying good company!

Opening Up

Lindsey's goal behind this blog was to get a group of runners posting. We all have different experiences, techniques, and goals, so she figured (and I agree) that it would be interesting to get some different perspectives. Plus, the unified place makes it a lot easier to plan for meet-ups, group runs and races.

Basically, I'm babbling on because this is a test post to see how we can allow multiple people to post to this blog. Hopefully it looks okay, but it's still a work in progress (I've been working with WordPress almost exclusively for the past few years, so it's been a while since I've worked with the Blogger CMS).

- Kona

Hill and Fartlek Training This Week

Hi Fellow Runners!

Hope everyone was able to get out and enjoy the nice weather yesterday (after the storms passed through that is).  The hill workout last week was a challenge!  What did I learn...well, that my technique needs to improve and that running up hills is hard.  These revelations have only made me strive to perfect my technique and to one day consider hill workouts great fun! (positive thinking my fellow runners).  I have a perpetual feeling that collapsing in a heap is inevitable and will one day occur due to said hills.  So it goes.

This week is hectic for me, so I will not be able to add in a hill or fartlek workout this Thursday.  I will be traveling for work in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains and will be packing my running shoes.  Sandy might be able to squeeze in a workout on Thursday, so if interested just post on the wall and we can figure out the details.  I am still trying to figure out if the blog is the best way to keep the group in contact…stay tuned.  This is my first experiment.

Happy Running!
Lindsey

NASA Super Full Moon - March 19th

Hi Mid-Distance Runners,
  Not running related, but I thought interesting enough to post.  On March 19th, a full Moon of rare size and beauty will rise in the east at sunset. It's a super "perigee moon"--the biggest in almost 20 years.

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/16mar_supermoon/

I plan to science geek it out on Saturday and take the time to enjoy the "perigee moon".  Maybe some of you motivated runners will run just as the sun is setting.  It would be a great view!

Happy Friday!
Lindsey

Thursday Hill Workout, March 16th (Round 1)

Hey Everyone! 

If the weather (and my legs) hold up, I will be happily running around downtown Philly tomorrow evening.  I am concerned about the cracked sidewalks and the many stoplights, but I figure I could at least get some additional mileage on my shoes.  I often wonder if I could vault myself over curbs and the occasional pedestrian, but alas, I am not super girl (bummer!).  I had a brief (slightly insane) moment where I thought to myself that I could actually take this time to run up the famous Rocky stairs (how cool would that be!).  Then I had a beer, figured out how far it actually was away, and decided that I would save that for another time.  It was great running on Sunday with the group!  The fact we were going for coffee after the run was the only thing that kept me going those last two miles.  Looking forward to this upcoming Sunday (and my weekly celebratory coffee afterwards)!

This Thursday, I am planning on doing either a hill workout or a track practice somewhere in Ashburn from 6:30 to 7:15 pm.  Sandy said she knew of a good hill, but if others have location ideas please toss them out.  I’ll update the blog with the information when I solidify the location.  My schedule might have me in Philly until Thursday, and if that is the case, I would need to skip the Thursday workout.  Stay tuned for more updates.  Let me know if others are interested in meeting up.