HARSH REALITY? 8 WEEKS TRAINING FOR THE HALF MARATHON

Plans are only predictions.

But a plan helps for 8 weeks training for the half marathon.

It’s been such a long time since my last race. In fact my last race was back in May 2019.

And that didn’t got all that well.

After a multitude of difficulties I finally reached a fitness level where I could start training for that first race.

Restrictions for most of 2020 meant we didn’t have any race options. Moving into 2021 races have finally become available. First on my list is the Kilcunda Half Marathon.

Motivation

Motivation was a strange balance. Trying to use the motivation to get the habits going without going over board was harder than it sounds.

When starting a new half marathon training plan the motivation is high.

Here the challenge is not to over do the training. Give the body a chance to absorb and adapt to the training. Keeping something in reserve to keep pushing through those times when motivation is low.

Motivation is over rated.

Changing The Plan

Deeper into the half marathon training I had my doubts the plan was working.

I applied my 3 categories for assessing if a running plan is working:

  1. Can you follow the training plan?
  2. Is the plan breaking you down?
  3. Will the plan lead to injury?

I failed category 3.

Therefore some changes had to be made.

Changes were needed. Paradoxically it meant training harder to help avoid injury.

Halfway Training

Assessing the plan along the way is a necessity.

At 4 weeks I looked back at what I had achieved. That took in the Christmas period. Always a difficult time to get in consistent training.

For the most part I was fairly happy my running results. But there were problems.

Injury & Stupidity

Despite eliminating the training I thought was aggravating my Achilles’ tendon it still flared up. (it’s an old injury) I had to take a few days easy to let it settle down.

But I felt I wasn’t going to be ready for race day.

So I made a decision that looks stupid at 1st glance.

This decision was to increase my training volume by a lot!

There was method in this stupidity. 3 categories helped guide my approach:

  1. Aggravation
  2. Increases
  3. Targeted

The weeks unfolded unlike the original plan. Despite the mistakes in predicting how my body would respond, I was able to get in a good dose of training.

Towards the end of 8 weeks training for the half marathon. Leads me into the taper. A topic for the next post.

Details, details, details…

To get into the juicy details of all the training make sure you watch linked videos above in the post. To make it even easier they are all queued up and ready for you in this playlist…

Kilcunda Half Marathon Playlist

All The Gear

Throughout the training this is some of the gear I used and loved:

As an Amazon Associate and other affiliate I may earn from qualifying purchases. No additional fee for you, but Amazon will share a % of the sale with me.

Regular day to day RUNNER: https://amzn.to/39Sgrs9
SOCKS to go in those runners: https://amzn.to/39aS6yR
GPS WATCH: I love a Forerunner: https://amzn.to/362jLQo
HEADPHONES for music on the run: https://amzn.to/3983ZFm
HYDRATION VEST my favourite: https://amzn.to/2Y0sPkb

CAMERA for running video: https://amzn.to/3iBlDVt
Flexible TRIPOD for GoPro: https://amzn.to/3o6t0W2

The best resistance bands for strength training anywhere: https://amzn.to/3a13UCW

As an Amazon Associate and affiliate in other programs I may earn from qualifying purchases. No additional fee for you, but I may earn % of the sale.

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