I started running at the very end of July. I shared more about my process of getting here on this post, you can read it by clicking right here.
I have gotten a few requests to share my training plan. My training plan is just doing exactly what my husband Justin has told me to do from day 1. He has accomplished many athletic feats and has certainly done his share of long distance running, but more than ANY of that he knows me very well, knows what I’m capable of, and knew how to direct me on this path to success.
I ran my first half marathon on Nov 2, I will say I felt completely ready for it thanks to the confidence I felt from my training plan.
If you’re interested in running, I strongly encourage you to explore the many intro to running training options you can find on google, perhaps couch to 5k? You can also consult running coaches, talk to friends to run, or type a little bit of your background and goals into ChatGPT to get a starting off point.
I’ll share my training schedule below, but keep in mind this is absolutely catered to my personal fitness level, ability, and was arranged in order to set me up to achieve my goal of a sub 2:30 Half Marathon.
This is what I did for the 3 months leading to the race!
July 28: Walk/Run 1.9 miles on the treadmill
July 30: Intervals 2.1 miles on the tread
August 2: Run 2.3 miles on the tread
August 4: Run 2.9 miles around Mirror Lake in Lake Placid
August 5: Run 3.23 miles outdoor (13:15/mi pace)
August 7: Run 3.12 miles outside
August 9: Run 3.1 miles outside (11:55/mi pace)
Aug 11: Run 4.12 miles outside
August 13: Run 3.21 miles outside (last Lake Placid run before we went home for summer)
Aug 16: Run 4.8 miles outside
Aug 18: Intervals outside for 4.08 miles
Aug 20: Run 5 miles outside (11:57/mi pace) “best I’ve felt yet” from Strava post
Aug 21: Run 4 miles w/ friends outside
Aug 23: Run 6.26 miles outside
Aug 25: Intervals for 4.14 miles
Aug 27: Run 5 miles outside (set a PR for 58 min 13s)
Aug 28: Run 4 miles w/ friend
Aug 30: Run 7 miles outside
Sep 1: Intervals with my friend for 6 miles
Sep 3: Run 5 miles at 11:20/mi pace (PR my 5k)
Sep 5: Run 5 miles with friends
Sep 6: Run 8 miles with friend (longest run ever!)
Sep 8: Intervals 4.26 miles
Sep 10: Run on work trip in Dallas (flat course was awesome) 5 miles
Sep 12: Run 5 miles (11:13/mi pace)
Sep 15: Run 5 miles (10:57/mi pace) Set my 5k PR, first time in the 10’s!
Sep 17: Run 5 miles
Sep 18: Run 4.19 miles
Sep 20: Run 9 miles, first time taking gels on a run
Sep 22: Run 3 miles as fast as I could 10:01/mi pace
Sep 23: Run 3.14
Sep 24: Run 6 miles (11.21/mi pace)
Sep 26: Run 9 miles with friends (it was so hot this day)
Sep 27: Run 4 miles
Sep 29: Run 4 miles
Oct 1: Run 7 miles (11:00/mi pace)
Oct 3: Run 4 miles (10:38/mi pace)
Oct 4: Run 10 miles (longest run ever)
Oct 5: Run 6 miles with friends on big hills
Oct 7: Run 5.4 miles with friend
Oct 10: Run 8 miles with friend
Oct 12: Treadmill intervals for 4 miles
Oct 13: Run 6 miles outside (10:29/mi pace)
Oct: 15: Run 5.75 miles with friend
Oct 16: Run 6.26 miles
Oct 18: Run 12 miles with friends (longest run before the half marathon!)
Oct 20: Treadmill run for 3.1 miles
Oct 22: Run 5 miles outside
Oct 24: Run 5 miles (10:37/mi pace)
Oct 25: Run 8 miles (last long run before the half)
Oct 27: Run 4 miles (11:08/mi pace)
Oct 29: Run 3.14 miles “felt like garbage” was what I wrote on my Strava post
Oct 30: Run 4 miles with friend
Nov 1: .5 mile jaunt down my street to get my total milage to 270 miles!
Nov 2: Half Marathon Day!
If it’s helpful in any way, here is the link to a spreadsheet version.
I use an apple watch to track my runs because it works so seamlessly with all my devices. I post all of my runs on Strava, which is a top fitness tracking app primarily catered to running and cycling. Having the data from my start date to now is fascinating! It’s so encouraging to see how far I’ve come!
I have another race in mind for January, which is another half marathon at a little bit of a quicker pace. I’m really excited to start training for it!
I hope this birds eye view of my 3 months of training is helpful. I would be remiss if I didn’t end this blog post by saying: I’m determined as hell and also absolutely love running. I look forward to getting outside and listening to music and going it on my own as much as I look forward to running with friends. It has been a wonderful stress reliever for me and I feel the best I’ve felt in years. Running may not be for you, and that is okay, but I will say that I would have said “oh I hate running it hurts I don’t run it hurts and I hate it” up until July 27th but something clicked in me that day and I was ready to put my head down and work hard.
And I have a feeling this is just the beginning.
