Train for a Half Marathon in Half the Time?

Just last week, I shared my advice for balancing CrossFit and running because, like a lot of you, I have a half marathon on my calendar later this fall.

Last week, I actually registered for the South Shore Half Marathon. And, of course, once I received my email confirmation, I immediately started to put together my training schedule. But when I started planning out my runs, I realized I wasn’t able to easily fit them all in. I rely heavily on gym childcare and occasionally our jogging stroller when it comes to exercise, so fitting in longer training runs each week just wasn’t happening.

Pictured above: Brooks Adrenaline Nantucket GTS 16 16 aka “the most adorable sneakers ever created”

I figured if there’s a will, there’s a way, so I started to bounce around some ideas with Mal about how we could make things work. (He’s registered to run the same half marathon, so getting on the same page, schedule-wise, was important.) We eventually came up with the idea of running two times per week with other kinds of (childcare provided) exercise mixed in. Hmm… that might work? The more we talked about it, the more it seemed to make sense for our situation.

Thinking back to my training for the Boston Marathon, I consistently ran three times per week with the occasional KFIT or CrossFit workout thrown in. My training was a combination of long runs, medium-length tempo runs/Yassos/hill workouts, and shorter runs, and I felt completely prepared for race day (nervous, but prepared).

The 3-times-per-week schedule allowed me to train without injury, and it didn’t stress me out one bit. It felt like the appropriate amount of running without being overwhelming. Basically, the whole thing just seemed manageable, so I stuck with it and enjoyed my training. So, maybe training for HALF the (marathon) distance could be done with fewer days of running? 

Obviously, I have no idea, but I’m going to give it a try this fall and document my training on CNC for extra accountability. And because my half marathon training will likely only include two days of running per week with cross-training mixed in, I plan to make the most of my runs by really pushing myself both distance- and pace-wise. (I’m leaning toward a combination of long and tempo runs and hill workouts because the South Shore Half Marathon is NOT flat.)

So, that’s the plan, and I guess we’ll see how it goes.

Wish me luck! 🙂

Question of the Day

Has anyone ever trained for a half marathon running just two days per week (with cross-training mixed in)? If so, how’d it go? 

 

 

from Carrots 'N' Cake http://ift.tt/2bKDed1