Bring on the Half Marathon

What am I waiting for? The Akron Half Marathon 6.5 weeks away, so I started my half-marathon training plan this afternoon with a 6-mile workout that included

On the track:

• 2 miles warm-up
• 2 x (1:00, 1:30, 2:00) high intensity, :30 jog in between + end recovery lap

Outside/semi-hilly terrain:

• 2 miles 9:00/mile pace

It was the first time I have ever done interval training and the first time my workout ever included anything other than the instruction “just run.” I’ve been itching to get some speed back (I was running too fast at the beginning; now I can’t get my pace back up!), and the interval training integrated into the half marathon plan I’ve borrowed from Runner’s World might be the key to getting my groove back.

And boy did I fly! The middle segment covered 2 miles, which I finished in a little under 13:00 (even with the resting jogs and recovery laps). Running at that speed, I could actually feel my stride coming back and my knees lifting—I wasn’t running flat-fronted anymore!

I must admit, however, that I wouldn’t have been able to push through the speed set without the two-mile warm-up. Duh, you say. Aside from my two weeks of sciatica recovery, I have never been hip to the warm-up—in running, swimming, cycling, anything. And it wasn’t that I thought it was a bad idea. I guess I just didn’t appreciate the warm-up for what it was supposed to be (a.k.a. I was lazy). So, I’ve long skipped the warm-up and just launched into whatever it is that I was doing. Silly me!

What surprised me most was that I actually got myself to run today. I wasn’t tired on Sunday after the race, but Monday and Tuesday were a little rough. Maybe it was all the excitement of reliving my first triathlon over and over again. That must have been it. But I think the allure of my first half marathon got me to the track today and then out on the street. And so it begins…