Training For The Rock’n’Roll USA Half Marathon

Over the Christmas break I started to see some posts laying out training plans for the Rock’n’Roll USA Marathon and Half Marathon that are being held in Washington, D.C. on March 17, 2012.

I wasn’t quite ready to start training, but I reviewed some different half marathon training plans and decided that I would officially start my training January 9. I liked the long run distances of one of the “intermediate” training plans on the Runner’s World website, but they had too many runs per week and the speed work was just too complicated (“1 mile, 1×1200 PI(400), 2×800 CI (200), 4×200 SI(200), 1 mile” –> huh?).

I decided to follow their suggested long run schedule and make up my own mid-week runs. Even though I’ve been doing pretty well running three days a week, I thought I would try running a total of four days a week, and really focus on making that fourth day an “easy” day. My basic plan was to run Monday (hard), Wednesday (moderate), Friday (easy), and Saturday (long), do my Bob Harper Pure Burn Super Strength DVD Tuesday and Thursday, and do one of the programs on my Rodney Yee A.M. Yoga For Your Week DVD on Sunday. I even marked down the long runs on my calendar.

That was before my ITB flared up in a big way during my 9 mile run this weekend. It was really bad yesterday, and still is nagging quite a bit. Because March 17 is a long way off and 13.1 miles is a long way to run, I decided to put my training plan aside for now and focus on my ITB. I will stick to my current schedule of running Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and will avoid hard workouts (speed or hill intervals) for at least one more week. I will put aside my Bob Harper DVD and focus on some strength exercises recommended for ITB rehab: single-leg deadlifts and squats, step-downs, clam shells, and leg lifts. (I will intersperse these leg exercises with upper body and core work so my arms and abs won’t turn totally to mush!).

Another wrench in my training plan is that it looks like we are finally going to take the plunge and adopt a dog. It’s been over 15 months since our beloved beagle passed away

and we have found another girl (a boxer mix) who I think will capture our hearts.

(Knock-on-wood, if all goes well we will be bringing Tiger Lilly home on Monday night!)

I think she eventually will make a good running partner, but I know it will take some time for us to get used to each other, and for her to learn to run with me. That means I need to lower my expectations for my weekday runs for the time being.

While it’s frustrating to be revising my training program before I even start following it, I am optimistic that I can rehab my ITB and bond with my new running partner long before it’s time to pick up my race packet.

Have you started training for any spring races yet?

Do you follow a set training plan or devise your own?