22 September 2006

Fall Break at LAST!

This is the first day of my fall break. Yesterday, I took my last final exam . . . EVER! I'm so glad to be done. Yesterday, I watched to movies on DVD, and I enjoyed a trip to Barnes & Noble with my favorite person. I had to bribe him to come with me by offering to buy him cheesecake. Whatever works, I suppose. Then, we ran last night. Steve didn't get any studying done once he came home from school . . . he spent the entire evening with me. It was awesome. But, I won't be around to distract him next week, since I'll be spending it in St Cloud, MN training at CLEAR Institute with 5 other students from Palmer FL. We're looking forward to learnings lots and having fun on our downtime: running, rock wall, Mall of America. All of that, plus I'll get to see my friends Jimmy & Sharise and their newborn James. Can't wait!

Today, I slept in late and enjoyed it. Now, I'm spending the afternoon baking a couple of apple pies for Steve to enjoy while I'm out of town. It's a late anniversary present, but it's just in time. The flour threw me into a sneezing fit. So, Steve helped out with the dough just a little.

As far as a half-marathon training plan. I'm considering 4 of them, and I'll use what I like from each of them to create my own: Hal Higdon's intermediate plan, Jeff Galloway's plan, Cool Running's Beginner program, and the Runner's World personalized Smart Coach plan based on my most recent 5k race time. I'll modify my training pace as I race in a 5k or 10k and a 20k throughout the fall. Ideally, I want to do my long runs on Saturdays, and I want to do plenty of cross-training in the pool for all-around fitness and strength. But, I still plan to do 2-a-days twice a week for 3 weeks, and I'll see where I'm at with endurance and speed at that point. I also want a plan where I run the complete race distance BEFORE I taper. I don't want to max out on 13.1 on race day, when I have never run that distance cumulatively. If any of you half-marathon veterans can lend some training or plan advice to a first-timer at that distance, I'd really appreciate the feedback!

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