Ladies and Gentlemen....We have a plan!

Flying Pig 2013

I've spent a few crazed days of strateg-erizing (that's a word, right?) but I've finally selected a 10 week training plan and plunked that sucker down in my calendar so now it's official!

Although I'm not technically a "beginner" when it comes to running this kind of distance I always gravitate toward these kinds of plans for three reasons:

1. I am a (proud!) slow runner. With some of the intermediate or advanced plans I'd be running two hours or more during my mid-week runs. Ain't nobody got time for that.
2.  I have a life outside of running....the job, the dog and the Buttface aren't going to get put on the back burner....maybe the middle burner if they make me angry. :)
3. I don't care about what my time is in a race....I care about how my time is. I want to be able to stop mid-race and dance with people on the street or take a selfie with Elvis....or stop for a hot dog (I swear I am not making that up!) if it feels right. The goal is to finish with a few great stories and a smile on my face.

The plan I have posted below is from a gym website. It's not novel or revolutionary but I like that mid week runs happen on different days....hopefully that will encourage me to re-schedule runs when life happens instead of skipping the run because "You can't do your Tuesday run on Wednesday," or some such nonsense that gets in my head.

Off to the right side of the page is my plan for the week. Buttface and I are mid-T25 so I plan to continue that along with my running.  The T25 program has double workouts scheduled for Fridays. I may change that up a bit and do just one workout instead.....I'm not (totally) nuts! Bonus! This will force me into cross training which I'm terrible at.

Ruh-roh, Reorge!

Time to run.

A few weeks ago I clicked on a link to make a donation to my local Girls on the Run chapter here in Northeast Ohio. I've coached 13 consecutive seasons now so it's safe to say that I believe in the cause wholeheartedly....and then some.

I got an email today with a complementary registration code for one of the Akron Marathon races on September 26. It seems that the donation I made was tied to a drawing for a race entry! I usually run one or two half marathons a year along with a smattering of 5 and 10ks, nothing too formal. If I take things too seriously I worry that my running will go from a stress reliever to a stress creator...so I'm pretty careful about not letting myself get carried away.

My Buttface (read: husband) and I have been really hammered in the last seven months and my running has been spotty at best. You know that your stress (and depression) levels have gotten out of control when they keep you from doing the things that keep your mind in check and preserve your sanity.

So. By my count I have 10 weeks and five days to race day.

That gives me five days to sort out a 10 week training plan. Easy peasy, right? The last race I actually TRAINED for was last September. It's probably past the acceptable amount of time to wing it when it comes to running workouts.

Sometimes the world smacks you down (hard!) and sometimes it gives you a nudge in the right direction.