How Do You Know What Training Plan To Use?



2018 is going to be a banner year for me.  So far, I've kicked ass on Breast Cancer with my final chemotherapy and surgeries ending in April.  With that task completed, I've thrown myself into recovery and rehabilitation mode.  I signed up for a bunch of races while I was sitting through my chemotherapy infusion in March.  Dirty Secret Trail Race was my first run, at 5.8 miles I thought the short distance race would be an excellent motivator (and it was!).  A sweet deal came across my Facebook page for Gold Country Half Marathon in early June, so I grabbed it.  An Independence Day local tradition in my running group is the Firecracker Trail Run on the 4th of July.  It's an 8 mile out and back race with elevation that kicks my butt every year, but I did it anyway.  At the end of July I survived the short distance Blood Sweat and Beers Race, which also kicked my butt, but I did it anyway.  In August, my husband and I celebrated 27 years of marriage with an outstanding weekend in Sonoma and a great race at the Santa Rosa Half Marathon.  As of the middle of September, I've logged 293.5 miles and I've got a few races to go.

Up ahead, I've got Granite Head Trails and Ales 11 miles at Folsom Lake in just a few weeks.  Following that, a sweet spot on an all-ladies Ragnar Napa race just opened up.  That one will be my longest mileage in a short period every (20 miles in a weekend, spanning 3 runs).  And I'll cap this year off with a 2 person relay at the California International Marathon.

So it's going well!  But HOW to train for these things, THAT is the question!  I've smashed together a Half Marathon training program from Hal Higdon's Novice 2 series with the "Hero to God" version of Ragnar Training to carve out an ambitious program that will hopefully get me ready for everything without wearing me out.  

The trick to Ragnar training is shorter distances, but several runs in a row.  I haven't been awesome in the past with these "run streaks" but it's going to be essential to learn to recover quickly, discover the challenges and how to over come them, and learn to run on tired legs.  At the same time, the trick to a half marathon is to learn to go long, building up endurance to go the distance.  I'm not entirely sure how these two strategies are going to meld together, but I intend to try.  And I'll chart my progress here!



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