Training for Mayors Half Marathon

I have planned on doing a couple of races as preparation for my NYC Marathon training. One of those is the Mayor’s Half Marathon here in Anchorage, Ak. This week starts the training for this half. I was undecided about which training program to use. There are so many and all of them have good and not so good features. I chose the NYRR Virtual Trainer (get more info here) because it is individualized to my specific goals. I input the necessary information and then it tells me the work-outs I need to do each week including the pace I should be running. It can be adjusted as the training progresses, and I do have access to a coach for questions and concerns.

Monday was an off day. Tuesday I ran three miles  AYF (as you feel) after a grueling 12 hour shift in the NICU. I wasn’t sure that I was going to be able to do it, but I want to try to stick to this program as much as possible. I went out for an easy 3 and it was a beautiful night out.

So glad I went out!! It was just what I needed.

Today (Wednesday) I was suppose to run:

1 mile warm-up at 10:20-10:52 pace.

Fartleks 5X2 minutes at 9:44-10:02 pace with 1 minute recovery @ 10:20-10:52 pace between each hard run.

Warmdown 2 miles @10:20-10:52 pace.

What I actually ran was:

So, I was a little faster than what I should have been running. I didn’t feel like I was going all out and my virtual trainer states to run at about a 7 on a scale of 1-10 difficulty. I did feel like I was doing that. So I may have to have my “coach” make some adjustments. I am doing the Anchorage Heart Run on the 23rd so I will wait to have any adjustments made until I see how I do in that race.

I definitely noticed signs of Spring while I was out today. It is still in the 40s to low 50s as far as temperatures go. But the ice is melting on the lagoon and the ducks are showing up.

And a kind of  interesting thing that happened out on my run….as a guy passed me on his bike riding in the same direction as I was running, he said “nice grey hair”.  Weird! Some women like my hair, but I have not heard that from a guy.  As he passed by I noticed he had long braided grey hair sticking out from under his helmet. 🙂

Tomorrow is an off day with an easy run on Friday. I am a excited about my first long run on Saturday. I am suppose to run 6 miles!  Hope all goes well and everyone has a great week of running!