Half Marathon Training: Week 1

Well, I did it.

I started outdoor training for the Half Marathon goal. Well, Dobby and I started training for this goal. Dobby is my dog- an overweight Australian Shepherd mix. (The one in the photo with the adorable eyebrows)

My intention for week 1 was really to get outside and run, more than once. (Which I have not done in more than 10 years) Here's how it went:

(First Outdoor Run) Friday, April 24:

Before the run: very nervous, but determined to train and work towards this goal.

Thoughts before and during the run: What in the world was I thinking? This is going to be HARD. I should have eaten more for lunch. Hopefully I don't pass out. Dobby is doing surprisingly well. Only running small circuits is still hella hard. Why does my throat burn so much? This is going to be really difficult. At least the weather is nice...

Time of run: Around 5:30pm, after a full day of work

Type of run: Just running in short bursts. Maybe 4 short bursts in total. A lot more walking. No structure really.

Saturday, April 25:

Just took the dogs on a long walk

Sunday, April 26:

Before the run: I was sleeping. I made myself get laced up and ready to go before I could come up with excuses as to why I shouldn't.

Time of run: Around 6am

This time, I decided on a structure. Dobby and I walked over to a long stretch of concrete trail that is pretty light on visitors most of the time. I put a rock on either end of the long path and decided to use this for interval training.

Run from rock 1 to rock 2.

Walk back from rock 2 to rock 1.

Repeat.

We did this 6 times in total. Once as a warm-up followed by stretching, and then five more times. I kept track by using blades of grass on the sidewalk. It wasn't easy, but it went a lot better than the previous run. I think the time of day helped a lot too.

Monday, April 27:

Time of run: Around 5pm

I meant to do a morning run this day, but woke up with a migraine. Instead, we went after work. It was pretty hot, but we finished the same routine. Dobby was struggling in the heat, but he did the whole thing too. There's a huge difference between morning runs, and afternoon runs.

Tuesday April 28:

Time of run: 5:45am

We did the rock-to-rock routine again. Dobby was dragging quite a bit on this run, despite less heat and less people. Might be time for a rest day...

Overall of week 1:

I'm super happy that I accomplished the goal of running outdoors more than once. For the rest of the week, we did longer walks, or I did treadmill cardio.

Going forward, I've learned that I need some structure for training- using the rocks helped A LOT to have a distance and set number that I was pushing myself towards. I need to get better about making it a routine first thing in the morning. This means being more disciplined with my sleep schedule, and eating things that help my energy levels.

I won't always put the run times in, but I wanted to for the first couple of weeks to keep track of what times of days work best for me. So far, I'd say, the earlier the better. If I can get in 3 outdoor runs a week for the month of May, I will be very happy.