Half-marathon training

As I mentioned in my previous post I’m planning on running a half-marathon in Vancouver on May 7. Originally I thought I might train for the full marathon but I’ve decided to just do the half. I figure if I enjoy it then I’ll be in a good position to train for the Seattle marathon next November.

My training began on January 2. I’ve worked out an 18 week program for myself based on Hal Higdon’s Novice training program (which is only 12 weeks). I added a few lighter weeks at the start and a few step back weeks later on. I’m also planning on running two 5-Km races during training just to keep things interesting. As it stands now I run Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday and either run or cross-train on Wednesday and Saturdays. I’m having a hard time fitting any weight training into my schedule though.

The first two weeks of training have gone very well. I missed one run in each of the weeks though. The first was due to horrible rain I couldn’t run in (and I couldn’t make it to the gym to run inside) and the second was due to the fact that it took me 11 hours to get to Victoria last Saturday instead of the expected 2.75. I knew that there would be things that would throw me off my training schedule but I didn’t expect two in the first two weeks! I’m on track for this week though!

19/01/2006 Update: I’ve posted my actual training schedule here in case anyone wants to check it out.