By I’m three “long” runs into my training cycle and have about four solid weeks of training left before the Seawheeze Half Marathon, Lululemon’s annual race in Vancouver. Since I’m about halfway through, I figured it’s about time for an update!
I typically run full marathons, but after knocking a huge PR out of the park in December at CIM (registration still open, btw!), I started wondering if I could do it on a half, too. The only half marathons I’ve done since moving to Texas four years ago, haven’t exactly been PR friendly (Austin and “The hottest half” in Dallas). So when I got into Seawheeze I figured why not? Let’s give the PR a real shot here and actually train for a half.
The summer heat is definitely a huge obstacle when it comes to training for a race in August, but the good news is, Vancouver weather will probably be perfect. The start of my training also happened to correspond with the opening of Houston’s first treadmill studio, RacePace. I got together with Jeff, the co-owner and coach extraordinaire to craft an 8-week training plan for the race. I’ve been training and will run the race with Kelly, a super strong mom and IronWoman…check out her story and her goals here.
There’s something so vulnerable about putting your goals out there. Actually saying I wanted to run a 1:33 out loud kind of scared the crap out of me. But now, after putting in the work and seeing progress already, it’s starting to feel more and more like a real tangible goal! Jeff created a simple training plan that left plenty of room for all of my cross-training and yoga. Essentially, I head to the studio for two quality workouts — one speed class and one endurance class — both include a mixture of speed intervals and hills. I have one long run scheduled per week, peaking at 12, and the remainder of the week are easy runs. I love coming into the RacePace studio for my speed work. While every class kicks my butt, it’s so much easier to get motivated when I’m not running circles around the track alone or suffering from dehydration from the heat. Plus, I’ve been able to watch my RP (race paces) slowly ramp up to faster than what I’ve actually run in races previously.
I’ve been uncomfortable more during this training cycle than ever before. And that discomfort is translating into speed. I’ve noticed the ability to hit faster speeds during workouts and have started integrating more half marathon RP (race pace) speeds into my long runs — it’s hard, but not impossible. The more I get used to the discomfort in training (plus the fact that I’m doing some of my training in the heat and humidity), the easier it will be for me to push through those tough spots on race day.
So that’s where I’m at! I’m running a 5K on the 4th of July in Naples, FL and can’t wait to see how my training pays off.
Happy Running!
Loving life on the run. 