Registered. Registered.

It's not a typo.  I registered for not one but two events.  I have been going back and forth about what I should take on.  Should I train for 5ks to allow for effective workouts in less time because of the time crunch I'm feeling?  Should I take the plunge and go longer?

Drum roll....

I registered for two half-marathons.  I couldn't help myself.  There is nothing better than the feeling after a long run.  There is no such thing as a bad day at work when you can say to yourself all day long "I ran 10 miles this morning."  I know that 5K training would be better for my schedule and I could definitely use speed work and strength work, which I am much more likely to fit in while training for 5Ks, but I just love that long run....I'm not looking for a marathon long run right now, but hitting double digits might be just what I need.

The first race is the Half at the Hamptons in February 2014.  This race is 17 weeks away and I have decided that my race approach for this event is all about building mileage.  No time goal.  Get back to longer runs, rebuild my fitness and have some fun.  I am going to follow a 16 week beginner half marathon plan that has four training runs per week with a long run each week building up to 12 miles.

My second event is Boston's Run To Remember.  This race happens to be in my favorite city and on the lovely Memorial Day weekend.  I have watched my better half run this race the last two years and I have had my eye on it....it's time!  I understand it's a pretty flat course, highly motivating...and in Boston so sign me up.  My approach for this event is going to be different.  There are 13 weeks between the two races and I have a time goal in mind.  Four years ago, I ran the Providence Half-Marathon when my first bundle was just over ten months old.  For that race, I followed the FIRST Training Plan from "Run Less Run Faster" based on my finishing time for a 5K I did right before I started training.  I crossed the finish line in 2:06.  I want to break 2:00.  I know 6 minutes is a lot to take off a half-marathon, but I think it's doable.  The 5K time that my training was based on was significantly slower than what I was running right before my pregnancy, the Providence Half Marathon was really my first event post-pregnancy that I fully trained for and bundle #2 will be almost 11 months old when this race rolls around.  I don't have a specific training plan in mind yet for this race- I can't think that far ahead!  I will see how training goes for event #1 and then go from there, but I do welcome any suggestions!

There you have it.  I'm excited to have some events and goals on the calendar.  I'm a little nervous with the winter training and not having treadmill access at the gym on the weekends with work schedules, but I will figure it out.  It will be done!

Any races coming up?  Have a great week.

Training Tales

Without a doubt, last week's training highlight was my first outing of the season on the tri bike.  After a couple of years on a borrowed bike full of good karma, I was fortunate to invest in an entry level tri bike of my own last year.  You will quickly learn that biking is my weakness if you check out a post on my tri training blog .  It isn't that I have physical limitations to it- it's that I'm a chicken.  I have a lot of technical cycling skills to develop and I need more confidence to stop doing things like feather the brakes the entire way down hills etc.  All in time!

Last Saturday, the weather was beautiful and I got to head out on a training ride with a training buddy.  I am always amazed at the different demands on the body between actual road cycling and spinning class.  Despite regular spinning classes and/or use of my spinning bike all winter long, the first road ride of the season brings out aches and pains in muscles that I forgot were part of cycling.  My neck ached from using the aero bars and those pesky hip flexors started to yell a little bit towards the end of the ride. 

We rode just under 22 miles on the Olympic distance course of the upcoming MA State Triathlon. For me, that's a darn good first ride of the season!

In other training, I only headed out for 2 runs this week; one not so good and the other felt awesome and finished up just under 5 miles.  Swimming has been neglected like my house plants this week (it's a work in progress) and I squeezed in couple of yoga workouts to round out with some strength and flexibility training.  All in all, not a bad week!  I hope you were able to get some healthy time for yourself this week too!