MyASICS Half Marathon Training

So far, I’ve completed four weeks of half marathon training. Unbelievably I’ve actually did all but two training runs, but I did a couple additional runs on other days. I’ve done six tempo runs (pace was on the slow side), two long runs, one easy run, one additional speed work, and two make up runs (one of which was a trail run).

MyASICS training plan revolves around tempo runs and some long runs. The paces for the tempo runs are on the slow side of what I can theoretically accomplish. I say theoretically because even though I’m perfectly capable of churning out an 8:00 pace for a 5 mile run, I rarely do so unless it’s a very cool day or if I’m racing. The tempo runs last week were done in Fort Lauderdale and Maui where the warmer temperatures (#humblebrag) make it harder for me to maintain a fast pace, so the slower paces that MyASICS asked worked out for me. The paces will slowly pick up as the weeks go by.

The long runs so far I’ve done on treadmills. I’m not a fan of treadmills for running unless I’m doing speed work, so it was new for me to do this. The first long run, I was in NJ and it was freakin’ cold. The second long run, I was at a resort where the only place for a long run was out on the highway. Doing the long run at the fitness center wasn’t so bad because I had a beautiful view of the ocean and the treadmill was a Life Fitness T5. The T5 has a console with cool features. I had a choice of different places where I could “run.” A short film of the trail that I was “running” played and I could adjust the terrain as well, to be as steep as I desired. I ran in southern New Zealand, Northern California, and in Bryce Canyon & Zion National Park in the Southwest. It made running on a treadmill more interesting. The only thing I didn’t like about the treadmill is that it was pre-programmed to stop in one hour, so the treadmill began slowing down for the cool down at the 52 min mark. The long run was going to take me longer than an hour, so I can to stop the treadmill and reset a new run.

I did an additional speed work just to see how things were going. And to no one’s surprise, you lose speed when you stop doing speed work. This just reinforces the idea that I need to either throw in additional speed sessions, or incorporate them into one of the tempo runs each week.

But basically I’m pretty happy with how the training is going. I’m going to try to do a weekly post on training details so I can give more granular details.