Amanda’s Spring 2012 Training I

If you’ve read my “About” page, you already know that I LOVE to make training plans. Whenever I find a race that I want to sign up for (now generally half marathons), my first step is to print out a calendar for the couple of months leading up to the race, and then work backwards from race day to figure out how to prepare for it.

Depending on what fitness level I’m at, I like to start working on my training schedule way ahead of time so I have some wiggle room. I keep my training flexible, so I never feel like I’m forced to do exactly what’s on my training docket 100% of the time, but can somewhat revise it due to weather, plans that come up, weekend trips, etc. I have several main components the comprise my typical training schedule each week: a long run; speed work; strength training paired with an easy run; cross-training; and a rest day. As long as I get those all in during a week, I call it a win.

So, what race have I been gearing up for next? The South Shore Half Marathon in Milwaukee, WI on April 7^th. (The registration fee is only $12—how can I pass that up?!) Because I plan to run the Wisconsin Half Marathon on May 5^th, I thought this race would be a good way to keep running higher mileage, as well as gauge if my speed is increasing from when I ran the Austin Half Marathon, which is my main goal for this year…to keep getting faster.

So far this year, I haven’t really done any speed work (I was more focused on getting my long runs up in mileage than anything), so I am adding that back in to get my pace time down. Also, new to my training regimen is YOGA. With the tight hip issues I have been having, plus the myriad benefits of yoga, I thought it would be a welcome addition that will hopefully help keep me injury-free.

I thought it’d be fun to share my training plan for the next month, so you can see just how I structure everything and try to keep my workouts balanced without burning myself out. Of course, I take a day off/easy if I am feeling extra sore and fatigued, but I like that I generally can follow the plan for 90% of the time and still get the benefits I want.

March – early April Training:

Now…off to run!

P.S. My 3/13 boot camp is replaced by a 6 mile run due to a Running Club fun run – woohoo! Like I said – I think it’s best to keep training plans flexible.

Tags: Amanda, South Shore Half Marathon, training plan