After getting back from Atlanta, I started putting a bit more effort into my workouts. As I’ve mentioned several times, I kind of fell off the wagon for a bit…BUT I’m back! And this is where my type A personality and love for structure come in handy!

When I got home from work last Monday, I printed out monthly calendars for October 2014-January 2015. I also printed out Hal Higdon’s intermediate half marathon training plan. And then I got to work.

After double and triple checking my ability to count back 12 weeks from January 25, I put a star next to October 27. Eek – the day my training begins! That brings me to my current workouts.

Current workouts

In my mind, October 6-27 equals a pre-half-marathon warm up period. This is my time to prep my body for what’s to come. I honestly hadn’t been running as much as I wanted over the past month, so during these three weeks, my plan is to ease my way back into regular runs and strength training workouts. So far so good.

Here’s what last week looked like:
Monday – 3.25 mile run
Tuesday – Full-body strength workout + 20 minute incline walk
Wednesday – REST!
Thursday – 3.25 mile run
Friday – Full-body strength workout + elliptical/rowing machine
Saturday – 4.5 mile run

And here’s what I have planned for this week:
Sunday – 3.25 mile walk
Monday – Full-body strength workout + 20 minute incline walk
Tuesday – 3.25 mile run
Wednesday – Full-body strength workout + elliptical
Thursday – REST
Friday – Fitness Blender Barre workout
Saturday – 4.5 mile run

And I’m hoping week three looks similar.

I’ve been logging all my runs in the Map My Run app. When I first decided to run this half, I didn’t really care about my time. I just wanted to run the whole thing. But now a part of me wants to get a little faster. I’m averaging 10 minute miles right now. My goal is to bring that down to 9:30. We’ll see how that goes!

And as far as strength training is concerned, I’ve been searching the web to find new, fun, and short workouts (YouTube, DVDs, blogs, etc.). This one is my current favorite!

Half marathon training

As I mentioned, I’ll be following Hal Higdon’s training plan. I was really happy with how it prepared me for my previous two runs so why mess with a good thing!

I will, however, be making small tweaks this time around. The weekend long runs will stay as is, but how I structure the week will change. I definitely want to continue with my strength workouts and some form of cross-training. As of right now, I’m thinking no more than 2-3 runs during the week.

Say Your Name

And finally, my mom shared an NPR article with me last week titled “Why Saying is Believing – The Science of Self-Talk.” The article addresses some really interesting research on how self-talk and the words we use impact how we see ourselves.

Towards the end of the article, the researchers talk about how referring to yourself in the third person has a powerful effect on performance. It turns out that we’re a lot more supportive and kinder to ourselves when we say our name versus “I.”

I decided to put this finding into practice during my next run, which just so happened to be the 4.5 miler on Saturday. Around the two mile mark, I felt the urge to walk. So I said to myself, “Come on, Parita, you made the decision to run the entire time today. You can do it!” And then again, at the 3.5 mile mark I really felt like walking, but I didn’t. Instead, I said to myself, “Parita you are stronger than you believe. You can do this. Only one more mile to go!”

And guess what. I didn’t walk at all. I ran the entire 4.5 miles at a pretty decent pace. As crazy as it seems to refer to yourself in the third person, I see why it’s so powerful. When I did it during my run, it felt like someone else was cheering me on – a much nicer person who really believed in my capabilities.

I know it sounds a little kooky, but try it…perhaps during your next workout or before an important presentation/test/interview/meeting.

Do you have any races coming up?
Do you plan out your weekly workouts or do you prefer to go with the flow?