Loaded Up and Truckin’

I’m gonna do what I said couldn’t be done (by me anyway). I just smoked past the halfway mark on my Half Marathon training program without even realizing it! The mileage will start to jump faster from this point forward, so I will have to try to get out of work at a more reasonable time in the coming weeks. It has been six weeks already and I just entered week seven without even realizing that the race was this close already! The training must be having an effect if I can steadily increase miles to this point without noticing it. Let’s take a look at what I have to look forward to this week, shall we?

Monday (today):

Stretch & strengthen

I got home from work later than I would like again, but I managed to get in 30 squats and 20 (per leg) lunges.

Tuesday:

4.5 Mile run

I love my Tuesday runs. It is the return to running after resting up from my Sunday (usually) long runs. Should be fantastic, albeit really warm, weather for it!

Wednesday:

3 mile run or cross training

Normally I would just do some lunges and crunches with a long walk or something for this. Starting this week however, I think I may actually try to get a short run in here, in order to help increase my mileage without making my Tuesday/Thursday runs too close to my long run distance.

Thursday:

4.5 Mile Run + Strength

Thursdays are wonderful because they are almost Fridays and because I get to run! Add 10 (per leg) lunges and 15 squats to this for good measure.

Friday:

Rest. Yup.

Saturday:

50 min cross training

Here I actually usually end up resting to recover more fully from the rest of the week before engaging in my long run the next day. I generally try to get in a few squats/lunges just to keep the muscles confused and alert.

Sunday:

7 Mile Run

Date night for me and Lake Shore Trail.

Up until now, training has been pretty reasonable to keep up with. Even now, I am only increasing mileage by about three miles. This is still a larger jump than I have been making from week to week for the first half of training. I just need to continue what I have been telling myself so far: just keep getting out there to run. Mileage is just a number, definitely important to increase steadily for my end goal, but just making sure I get out there with frequency is half the battle. Once I am out there, my body remembers how much I love being on the trails, even after a long day at the office. The mileage just adds up as I get out there, day after day. I hardly even realize how far I’ve come. It will be a rewarding week seven if I can win the mental battle that keeps intimidating me, as I look at the miles in the weeks ahead adding up to equal a half marathon.