Well, I did it!  I finally signed up for my first race of 2014.  After taking over 4 months off of doing any running outside (all runs have been on my treadmill) and focusing on building strength and muscle, I’ve finally decided to hit the pavement on a regular basis again.

The Dam to Dam Race in Des Moines, IA, has been on my bucket list of road races for about as long as I can remember. It seems that there has always been something going on the weekend it takes place or our golfing schedule has gotten in the way of training.  It typically takes place the last weekend of May or the first weekend of June and since we often golf on Saturday and Sunday mornings during the spring, it has usually prevented me from feeling as though I can get my training in and be ready for the run.  I never seem to feel like going for a long run after walking 18 holes of golf.  In the past, this race has always been a 20k, but this year I was thrilled to find out they changed it to a full half marathon (13.1 miles).  I knew this was a sign that this was my year.  I decided I would get my training in on the weekends no matter what, and knew it would be great motivation to get outside and start running now that I had a goal in mind again.

Over the past several months I have been following a Hybrid Schedule that includes a mix of running, Focus T25, and Insanity workouts.  So I haven’t been entirely out of running.  I just haven’t been doing it outside in whatever the conditions hold and my focus has been on gaining muscle and becoming stronger.  I’ll now be shifting my focus to endurance, speed, stretching, and core.

Today begins 9 weeks of training.  I like to put together my own training plans so the following is the plan I will be following over the next two months.  My goal time will be to run the race somewhere between the 1:49’s to the 1:51’s. I would be thrilled if I ran the race sub 1:50 but that might be a little fast for me over that distance.  I’d be happy with an 8:30 pace per mile which would put me in the 1:51’s.

Throughout this plan you will see that I alternate between doing a hill workout one week and a speed workout the next.  For these runs, I’m going to follow something similar to the workouts  I did during my marathon training last year: See  Hill Workout and Speed Workout.  I’m going to scale them back to 30 minutes and try to do them outside instead of on the treadmill whenever I can.

Along with running, I will be doing a few T25 workouts, which you will see in the chart below.  I love these workouts because they are short and intense and will help improve my core strength and speed.  If you are interested in T25 workouts for yourself, you can visit my website at www.beachbodycoach.com/fitnfabfoody and click on ‘Shop’.  I will also be doing three days of strength training with free weights and machines (Day 1 – Chest & Back, Day 2 – Biceps & Triceps, Day 3 – Shoulders) whenever I can fit them in over the course of the week.  I do three exercises for each muscle that includes 3 sets of 10-15 reps.  I take very short breaks between sets so am usually able to get these lifting workouts done in 20-25 minutes.

As for my diet, my goal is to drink Shakeology for one of my meals (breakfast or lunch) at least 5 days a week and to drink my P90X Results and Recovery Formula after my runs and T25 workouts. I will take in 1800 calories on Sundays, 1500 calories Monday-Thursday and 2000 on Friday and Saturdays.  With all the muscle I’ve put on throughout the winter, I’m excited to shed some extra fat to expose more muscle and hopefully improve my speed throughout my runs.

So here’s to great runs, staying injury free, fast legs, and hitting my goal time!  Let the training begin!

Dam to Dam Half Marathon Training Plan

Is anyone else running Dam to Dam or training for another race?  I’d love to hear how your training is going in the comments section below!