Why do I need a half marathon training plan? Well, I’m a girl who likes to plan, that’s probably why I’m good at my job. I like to plan and organise stuff so it makes sense that I like to have a training plan otherwise I’ll just bimble along without really noticing what I’m doing.
In order to have a plan though I need to have something to plan for. I don’t want to run another marathon this year so I’m going to aim to smash my half marathon finish time by 30 minutes. This PB (personal best) smashing attempt will take place at the Cardiff Half in October 2016 and means I need to complete it in under 2 hours and 13 minutes.
Now I have no idea whether this is possible but I’m going to give it a good shot anyway and see what happens.
My first half marathon
So far I have run just one half marathon, it was the Cardiff Half in October 2015 (my write-up is here). My plan for that half marathon was to finish it in under 2 hours and 30 mins but that plan was scuppered when I was in a car accident in September and ended up with whiplash and going to physio.
I managed to get back to training after a couple of weeks but the week before the half marathon I caught a cold and could barely breathe.
My half marathon training plan for the whole of September barely existed, I went into the race excited but knowing that I had to take it easy to avoid injury and actually finish it, which I did in 2 hours 43 minutes and 13 seconds.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved the half marathon. I ran with Katie from Pegasus whose training was also scuppered due to injury so we agreed to stick together and have as much fun as possible during the 13.1 miles. We successfully nailed that plan!
My new half marathon training plan
I have drawn up a plan and incorporated things that I don’t like doing e.g. hill repeats and running fast. It also includes yoga, spin and strength training as I did none of that during my marathon training and somehow still managed to survive. The plan is on my fridge so is a constant reminder that I have a goal to aim for.
Knocking 30 minutes off a PB sounds like a big goal to me but in reality it’s probably not as scary as I think it is. During my full marathon training long runs I always kept an eye on my half marathon distance time and managed to get it down to approximately 2 hours and 28 minutes so I just need to get it down by another 15 minutes. Easy! Maybe!
