Saturday, September 24, 2011

Saturday Run Channelling the Road Runner

Today started out like most other Saturdays... pancakes and eggs for breakast at the hands of The Captain.  Today I cut up a peach to go with them... and they were delicious.  I don't think that I have ever been disappointed in a pancake breakfast cooked by The Captain.


We left for our run just before 11 a.m.  It was a lovely sunny morning, no wind at all and my goal for today was to run a bit quick and take 1-minute walk breaks after running for 14 minutes.  I don't want to get too reliant on the 9/1 intervals 'cause I don't want my body to expect that break after every 9 minutes of running... don't want it to become a habit. I am not sure if that might really happen, but I am not taking any chances.

I carried a bottle of water for us to share, and off we went.

Lots of people were out walking the waterfront today.  It is still tourist season here and it is fun to see all the kids and dogs out enjoying the lovely parks and public gardens.  We also have lots of seniors in the area and so on a nice day there are walkers, and wheelchairs and scooters in abundance!

The route I mapped is 9.75 km, from the marina to the end of the walk, and back.  We did the first half in 37 minutes and I thought we might be able to match it on the way back but it was not to be.  I started to slow down considerably during that last couple of kilometers but that did help me to find the energy to sprint the last couple of blocks, so we finished in 75 minutes total.

A pretty good outing actually...  I was envisioning my legs moving in that rotary fashion like the Road Runner... no reaching out forward, just picking my legs up and feeling them behind me.

Beep Beep

I thoroughly enjoyed my stretch afterwards, and then did some standing leg lifts, too.  I think they are helping my hips to become stronger.  I am really noticing new bulk in my quads and thighs the past couple of weeks.  Love that.

W2 R 75 @14/1 W3
stretch 6
standing abductors, 10 per leg

And the big glass of chocolate milk before I showered was very nice, too.

I wonder what kind of mileage I need to be running in order to get me to the point where I can start training for my Spring half? 

Do I need to have my runs to a certain mileage length?

When I do start training, I only want to run 3 X per week and I think that is doable, but I am not sure how much I need to be doing to GET to that START point.

Any thoughts or advice? 

8 comments:

  1. I have read that if you run 3-4 miles, 3 times per week, you can begin training for a half marathon. Great job with your run today!

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  2. I looove having milk after running, great protein source!

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  3. yeah! i always love seeing your pics of pancakes...i used to eat pancakes all the time and have not made them for myself in forever...yours always look delicious!

    sounds like another great run for you and love following great runs with choc milk!

    i would think your mileage is like "high enough" to start training if you would like. and i definitely think 3 days per week of training is plenty. most important is just slowly increasing one of your runs as a LR every week! good luck!

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  4. I agree with Vanessa! I know the RLRF plan is only 3 times a week so when you're ready, maybe look into that? I haven't read it yet but I heard it's really effective and you only have to commit to 3 days a week, which is great!

    I love that picture of you on your sidebar, by the way!

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  5. I for one, have never been disappointed in The Captain's pancakes either! :)

    There are a lot of good training plans online. Check out Runner's World to get you started.

    Running 3 (or 4) times a week is doable when training for the half. You would want to run between 2-4 miles each run during the week and have one of them be a long run, increasing every week. I would not recommend running more than 10 or 11 miles as your longest run.

    How many weeks until the half?

    I enjoy having a training plan more than anything - it keeps me accountable and helps me feel empowered when I am following it.

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  6. great run, and I love pancakes breakfasts, but unfortunately I rarely get them (had a nice treat yesterday when my friend cooked them up for me for bfast!)

    I think you are ready to start a half training plan, and I would say 3 days running a week is good, just make sure you are careful to only increase weekly mileage by 10% or so....don't want to push the legs too far too fast and ruin chances of the race!

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  7. I've always heard 3-4 times a week...so you seem to be doing great! I'm training too...and oh so terrified but excited too!

    GREAT JOB ON THE RUN!

    and those pancakes topped with peaches look YUMMY!

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