I did my three miles tonight on the gerbil mill. 9:00 pace. Not much to say about it. I wore my Nike’s and put the old Superfeet inserts in them. I really don’t like those inserts and I want to get the other brand but I can’t think of the name. Their blue and had smaller size ranges. Maybe Prosteps? Not sure.
And running on the mill is still boring. Fortunately, the Vampires in Love show was on. The hero vampire got his butt kicked seven ways from Sunday. I’m sure it all worked out in the end though.
I’m deciding on a plan for training for the Trail 1/2 Marathon. I think, I am going to try Higdon’s intermediate 1/2 Marathon plan. I’m thinking that I might be ready for this and it may just be the extra training I’ll need to make it on a trail race. And speaking of which, this is from the race page:
“We don’t tolerate quitters, so forget about it. If you’re entered in the marathon and chicken-out, just run the half and then blame the stats crew. Or, run really slow and when the leader laps you follow him in — at about 100 yards from the finish line taunt him with “Is that all you’ve got? My mama has a better kick than that.” If you must drop out, you must drop at an aid station. No sag-wagon will follow up on the course. Crawl if necessary!”
I think I need to have some serious training for this one. And I want real trail shoes too. And a shrubbery.
So, training for the 1/2 begins 1/31/05, which gives me 9 weeks to build up to where the plan begins. The first week of 1/2 training is 12 miles (total). If everything falls apart (e.g. shins) I can always switch to the Novice plan, which has a lower weekly mileage.
And I do recognize that I often come up with these great plans and then they just fall apart because I got too ambitious. But a good plan is nice to have, even if you don’t make it work in the end.
Here’s my plan for the buildup:
I don’t think it violates the 10% rule overall, except maybe the first week. SS means Higdon’s stretch and strength routine, but I’ll do my own on those days. The “low” and “up” means lower body and upper body, respectively. We’ll see how it all goes. If I end up just being sorry for ramping up so quickly, then I’ll switch whole thing over to the Novice plan.
So that’s the plan. Any thoughts? Suggestions? Comments? Rotten fruit you’d like to throw?
Hey Jon -
That sounds like a fun race. Pinckney! Damn! You go!
And, btw, the worst chocolate I’ve ever tasted was in the Soviet Union. I tried a number of soviet chocolate bars–some had gorgeous foil–and they were all but inedible, even after quantities of also horrific vodka. Ah youth!
Sounds like a good plan. I’ll be doing the novice plan for my first half the day before this one so it looks like we’ll be on similar training schedules (by date anyway). Good luck with it and there’s nothing wrong with ambition.
Looks great to me – the race and the plan. Serious trail shoes sound like a must-get item. And your rampup seems fine to me. Do you keep an online log of actual runs – something like the coolrunning ones – where you can easily track your actual weekly mileage?
The organizer have a great sense of humor, it should be a fun race.
I agree about trail shoes. Having just run 1/2 in my trail shoes and the other 1/2 in my street shoes, I have “on course” experience with what street shoes do poorly on trails. Um, everything. A decent trail shoe will give you loads of yummy goodness. I’ve got scads of trail shoe reviews to share with you (they’re in print, but I’d type up the good stuff), if you’re interested.
A shrubbery? What, no herring?
And maybe Chris should write up a post on trail shoes for all of us to enjoy?
that’s hilarious!!!!
Come and run The Bay with me!
That write-up kills me.
Jon, you are a man with a (good) plan!
I agree–there’s nothing wrong with being ambitious. It sounds like a great plan! And you’ve got a back up. Good luck Jon
Wow, I think my step-father wrote that. He was a mean dude.
However, you are just the man to stand up to that bastard. Go for it!!
The plan looks good; best of luck on the trail run! I’m planning on running the Las Vegas 1/2 marathon in late January. It’s mostly flat, which is good for me, as it’ll be the first 1/2 marathon I’ll do.
I highly suggest Vasque Velocity for trail shoes. I know, I know…shoes are *so* subjective. But check ‘em out.
I’m not sure how this race has escaped my notice, but I may just add it to my schedule for the year! Thanks for the heads up!