How I Train For A Half-Marathon

Day 3 of six weeks

Weight today: lost 2 pounds

Total lost: one pound (because of that pound I gained last week)

1/2 cup of oatmeal: 150
1 tsp of sugar:15
1 tbl of powder creamer with coffee:30
with sweet-n-low:0
total:195

2 oz banana:50
vanilla protein shake:110
1 tsp of flax seed oil:40
total:200
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running total:395

2 large eggs:140
1 lefse:30
1/2 cup of fat free cottage cheese:80
4 oz of sliced strawberries:36
1 tsp of sugar:15
1 tbl of powder creamer with coffee:30
with sweet-n-low:0
total:331
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running total:726

3 1/2 oz banana:87
vanilla protein powder:110
1 tsp of flax seed oil:40
1 Ritz cracker:16
1 Laughing Cow cheese bite:5
total:237

3 1/2 oz boiled, mashed potato:77
3 1/2 oz boiled broccoli:35
1/2 tsp of Smart Balance light butter:7
6 oz of sliced tomato:24
1 tsp of sugar:15
1 tbl of powder creamer with coffee:30
with sweet-n-low:0
1 Blue Bunny Bomb Pop:40
total:363
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running total:1347

four bites of Hanover Snyder Garlic bread pretzel pieces:50
total: 1397

Today's challenge: feeling like I may be feeling better today...just sticking to calories.

Actual fitness: 2-mile run, 60 minute back and tricep work-out.

Note on picture: Ok... it looks like my six-shooter isn't so shiny any more at ten years old, but it still gets the job done. And when you're aiming to lose weight isn't that what really matters? Count those calories, people, it really does work.

Note on weight loss: It actually looked to me like a third pound was wavering. For those who don't know, I don't have a digital scale. So, things waver around here. Funny thing is I'd just told my husband that I was feeling kind of fat today.

How I Train For A Half Marathon

I'm not sure where I came up with this little formula to prepare for completing a half marathon. I think I looked over a few training programs and just put something together that made sense to me and that would work in my schedule.

Actually, now that I think of it, I remember that I had just talked my husband into completing one and I had to figure out something that he could do that wasn't intimidating, not too time consuming, and something that would build his confidence in his abilities along with building his stamina.

This is the same program that I had my sister-in-law and brother do. They have made their own improvisations, as have I, but it's pretty basic.

The running begins 12 weeks out from the date of the half-marathon.

On week 1, you run one mile, three times a week. So, you could run Monday, Wednesday and Friday or Saturday.

You have a day off between runs to allow your legs to rest. I figure that when you first begin running, your are needing the rest because your body isn't used to the physical activity. Also, running just three days a week with a day break inbetween the runs is not as emotionally intimidating as running everyday. And finally, three days a week is easier to schedule in.

week 2.) run two miles, three days a week
week 3.) run three miles, three days a week
week 4.) run four miles, three days a week
week 5.) run five miles, three days a week
week 6.) run five miles on Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday, then run six miles on Saturday
week 7.) run five miles two days a week and on Saturday, run seven miles
week 8.) run five miles two days a week, and on Saturday run eight miles
week 9.) run five miles two days a week, and on Saturday run nine miles
week 10.) run five miles two days a week, and on Saturday run eleven miles
week 11.) run five miles two days a week, and on Saturday run six to seven miles
week 12.) run four miles on Monday, three miles on Wednesday...rest the next two days and then the marathon.

When you first begin this running program, you may need to stop and rest or you may need to walk for three or four minutes. If you haven't run before this is normal. My husband and I did almost all of our running on the local college track. We brought water and Gatorade along and had access to fluids as we needed them. He also wanted to train on the track because he felt it was easier on his knees.

I will also use energy gels on my long runs when I start running longer than five miles. I have written an article on how I use energy gels here if you're interested.

One of the reasons I keep the mileage at five miles during the week, is because I feel like five miles is a manageable time commitment, it is mileage that you could get used to doing, and after awhile it will seem like not very much in comparison to the higher mileage on Saturdays.

The reason I upped the miles by one every weekend was that your mind would feel like it could do it because you did it the weekend before. This whole training program really uses simple reasonable steps that builds your confidence and, I believe, builds your endurance at a moderate pace.

This program is also easy to change. For example, because I'm in better shape, I'm adding a few more days of running. My brother felt he needed more endurance running during the week, so he worked up to running eight miles for Monday and Wednesday and then kept his two days during the week at eight instead of five, while continuing to increase his weekend long runs.
You could also up your weekend long runs by more than just one mile (like I did for week 10). Also, if you're already in shape enough to run five miles, you could begin cranking out long runs earlier in the twelve week schedule.

The weekend before the half-marathon, I usually run about half of what the half marathon is...so about six or seven miles. The whole idea here is to make your legs completely rested so that on the day of the race, your legs feel fresh and springy.

This program worked for my husband, for me and for my brother and sister-in-law...we all successfully completed this training program when before we began it we had not done any running for several months.

This was the case for me in the last half-marathon that I trained for. I was out of shape before I began running. In fact, I began a walking program for a month, before I actually started running.

One last note. Of course you want to consult your doctor before embarking on training for a half-marathon. Also, if you get injured in the course of training, obviously, don't run it. This last spring I had been training for a half marathon in May, but hurt my back two weeks before the race. I literally could not walk for ten days. So, I decided not to run it because my back was still healing and 13.1 miles would put stress on my back.

I think tomorrow I'd like to share a little bit more about my half-marathon experiences and some goals I have and then I'll give this topic a rest...of course until I run it.

Hope this was helpful to you all.