Half Marathon

Today I started officially training for the half marathon that our community is hosting at the end of September.  Who would have ever thought?!?! After years of power walking, last summer I decided to give running a try once again when I wanted to do some competing but all the races around here focused on running as far as times, places, etc were concerned.  Our church was sponsoring a 5k to help raise funds for orphans which I thought would be a good cause for my first race.  I still wasn't sure, but when I saw someone on Facebook had posted a workout running time not too much faster than my walking time, I thought maybe I could do this.  Then a friend suggested trying the run/walk method.  I found Jeff Galloway's website on run/walking and became hooked.  Jeff Galloway is a former Olympian who promotes injury free running.  I have been doing a 5:1 minute run:walk ratio the past year.  However, based upon the training program for the half marathon and my average  speed, it's suggested to do a 3:1 minute ratio.  I wasn't quite sure about dropping down to that this morning when I started out this morning, but I felt great!  Still felt like I got a good run in and wasn't huffing and puffing at the end of my 3.5 mile run (huffing and puffing at the end of a run is a no-no).  The hardest part for me will be not running everyday.  My mind says that in order to be able to do this, I need to run every day and take a day off once a week.  However, Jeff's program, and many others, strongly suggest alternating days between running and cross training and even taking a day off so that your muscles can recover properly.  So well see how that goes! Check back - I'll keep you posted on how the training is going.