Showing posts with label Jeff Galloway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeff Galloway. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Tower of Terror Training

Can you believe it's June already!? When did that happen?! I am excited that it's finally starting to feel like summer here in New Jersey. Thanks warm weather for finally deciding to show up!

Now that June's here it also means that training for the Tower of Terror 10 Miler starts today. I have to admit that I haven't really done much running since the Nike Women's Half Marathon. During training and the half I developed a HUGE blister on my left foot from my orthotics. So I had to send my orthotics out to be adjusted which gave my blister some time to heal and not look so scary. My orthotics came back at the end of last week, just in time to start up this next round of training-yay!

My goal for this training cycle is to complete the whole thing! In my 2 prior training cycles I haven't stuck to the schedule as well as I should have for various reasons. I know I'm capable of running a better race but I just need to stick to the plan! Since I have been running for more than a year but not so consistently I've decided to follow Jeff Galloway's finish in the upright position plan. Originally I was going to select the time improvement plan, but right now I need to focus on completing a training schedule and feeling strong at the end of a race. My past 2 races I've always lost steam towards the end and want to avoid that this time around. 

The other areas I want to focus on are weight lifting and nutrition. I'd like to work in Body Pump classes as cross training twice a week. I also really need to start eating better to keep my body fueled properly. I'm starting off slowly by tracking meals into MyFitnessPal again but would like to slowly transition over to clean eating. I've been browsing blogs for recipes and meal plans to get some ideas. If anyone has any resources that helped them transition to clean eating, please, let me know! 

QOTD: Are you starting training for Tower of Terror or another fall race? 

Don't forget DVC and Passholder signups for the Star Wars Half-Marathon weekend are tomorrow at noon!

Monday, February 3, 2014

Picking the Right Training Plan

The next big race on my horizon is the Nike Women's Half Marathon DC. I was so excited to be one of the luck ones chosen for the second installment of this race. As of this past Monday I am officially 3 months out from race day which means I need to get my butt back into a training schedule. After Wine and Dine I took it easy; first my orthotics had to be sent out to be refit (there goes 2 weeks) then Christmas, New Years, and my birthday all came in quick succession. Oops, maybe I haven't kept the post-half momentum going quite as strong as I would've hoped. Oh well, you live and learn.

Nike offers a training app exclusive to the DC half marathoners featuring that beautiful Tiffany blue. I'm already a Nike+ user so I was excited to see what their training plan held. Once, I had the chance to check it out I was honestly disappointed in their developed plans. You can choose from Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced. All 3 version have you running 5-6 days a week. Personally, I felt like that was too much running and not enough cross-training/rest days. 

                   
I had encountered a few injuries during Wine and Dine training and didn't want the same thing to happen again. For my first race my main concern was to cross that finish line in one piece and not feel too much like death. This time around I know I can finish all 13.1 miles, so I'd like to add in strength training and maybe some speed work. 

I looked into Hal Higdon's plans as well as the Runner's World Smart Coach. Hal Higdon's plans again were like the Nike's plan with too many days in a row of running.


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For the Runner's World plan I loved that you could customize the length of your plan. It really broke down what you should be doing during each training day, what your pace should be while running, etc.


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I've decided to give the Runner's World plan a shot. I liked that it's structure is similar to Galloway's but I can adjust the length & intensity to fit my needs. Looking back at the Galloway plans I feel like I'm somewhere in between a "beginner" and "time improvement" plan and this new plan appears to fall into that area. I'll keep everyone updated on how this new plan works for me!

Lauren

QOTD: What do you look for in a training plan?