Half Marathon Training Plan

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but I’m registered for the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon on July 15th.  The farthest I’ve ever run is 6.2 miles during the Bay Breeze 10K, so I know I need a serious training plan to get up to 13.1!  Yesterday started the “base building” portion of my training plan, which will last four weeks and get me used to running four times a week.  I’ll work up to 11 miles total in the fourth week, and then keep increasing from there as I begin the actual half marathon training plan.

I’m not going to post the exact training plan, because I lifted it from No Meat Athlete’s Half Marathon Roadmap, which I would encourage you to purchase if you’re interested!  I’ve read through it multiple times now, and plan to continue consulting it throughout my training.  Here is the basic weekly pattern:

Monday – cross training (kickboxing, elliptical, yoga, or whatever else I feel like)
Tuesday – easy run
Wednesday – easy run
Thursday – BodyPump (strength)
Friday – easy run
Saturday – rest
Sunday – long run

I stretch after every exercise session, and plan to foam roll my muscles once or twice a week.  I’ve also been icing my left hip after running, as it’s still giving me a bit of trouble.

So, this is what I’ll be up to for the next 16 weeks.  It sounds crazy to say that!  It’s going to be quite a time commitment, so I’ll be trying even harder than normal to stay organized and balance work/sleep/exercise/life.  I have a new eating plan to complement my training, which I’ll post about soon.

Now, to catch up a bit.  I’m not going to post my daily eats for the last two weeks because it would take forever, but here are the results.

Totals for 3/14/12 – 3/20/12

Daily points used:  196/196
Weekly points used:  114/49
Activity points earned:  12
Activity points used:  12
Points left on the table:  -65

I went waaaaay over my points this week, mostly due to St. Patrick’s Day.  We had a few friends over for a small gathering and planned to keep the menu simple, but of course that is not within my power, so I made a big meal including corned beef seitan and cabbage, colcannon potato puffs, soda bread, lots of beer, Jameison AND homemade vegan Bailey’s.  It was a super fun day, but I did not feel so well the day after.  I also didn’t exercise very much that week.

I weighed in that Wednesday at 151.2, up .9 pounds from the week before.  I honestly wasn’t upset about it, as I was hoping to keep any weight gain to under one pound for the week.  However…I think this week is going to result in another small gain, because we spent the weekend in Reno.  I didn’t do that horribly (less horribly that the previous week), but I went way over the points limit again.  I had packed up my running gear with the intent to run along the river on Saturday, but we were up really late on Friday and so the run didn’t happen.  After the drive home Sunday I was so tired that it was all I could do to get to the grocery store and make sure I had some fresh food in the fridge!  As I mentioned above though, my training plan started yesterday and I returned to clean eating and exercise, so I’m hoping any gain I see tomorrow will be very small.

Totals for 3/21/12 – 3/27/12

Daily points used:  196/196
Weekly points used:  108/49
Activity points earned:  24
Activity points used:  24
Points left on the table:  -59

Monday, 3/26/12

breakfast – smoothie (banana, frozen cherries, 2 Tbs cocoa powder, 1 Tbs chia seeds, 2 Tbs hemp protein powder, soy milk, 1 date, turnip greens)
AM snack – strawberries, 12 almonds, coffee with hazelnut coconut creamer
lunch – tofu & broccoli in black bean sauce
PM snack – carrot & celery sticks with 3 Tbs spinach artichoke hummus
dinner – massaged kale salad with avocado, blood orange & chipotle-ginger tempeh, one slice 21 grains bread

exercise – 45 minutes elliptical

daily points used:  28
activity points earned:  6
non-existent points used:  2

massaged kale salad with avocado, blood orange & chipotle-ginger tempeh

Tuesday, 3/27/12

breakfast – smoothie (banana, frozen raspberries, Vega One, 1/2 cup pomegranate juice)
AM snack – strawberries, 12 almonds, coffee with hazelnut coconut creamer
lunch – massaged kale salad with avocado, blood orange & chipotle-ginger tempeh, one slice 21 grains bread
PM snack – salad (romaine, shredded red cabbage, orange bell pepper, 2 Tbs creamy hemp dressing)
pre-run snack – 2 dates
dinner – slow cooker minestrone

exercise – ran 2 miles (25 minutes), walked 10 minutes

daily points used:  28
activity points earned:  5
non-existent points used:  1

Slow Cooker Minestrone, based on this recipe with leeks, yellow and green squash, lima beans, green beans, swiss chard and quinoa pasta.

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