State 15 Selected!

Hello y’all!  It’s a rainy evening in Tulsa so Miley and I are just hanging out in bed planning our summer adventures.  I’d like to get a new state in so have been scouring the half marathon calendar and I think I’ve found one!  I’ve mentioned the possibility of this state to a few of you so please don’t spoil the fun if you know 😉

I want to play a guessing game – I’ll give a clue each week about the state and you continue to guess.  Again, if I’ve mentioned it to you in my excitement – keep your mouths shut!

Hint #1: I will likely drive there for a long weekend.  

Lacing up for speedwork

I’m looking forward to starting official training again.  With all of the rain in Tulsa I need a target goal and a structured training plan.  I’m going to follow a 3 runs per week plan with a track run, a tempo run and a long run scattered throughout my classes at the YMCA and Live Streaming Fitness.

Run #1 will be tomorrow – a timed 2 miler to help me figure out my paces for the tempo, track and long runs of my training.

Follow my progress on the blog as I build speed again to chase down a half marathon PR in 2015!  Follow #8weeksto15 on Insta and Twitter for State 15 training progress, and #131PR2015 for progress to that fastest half mary time!

State # 12

Well, nearly a week later and I’m feeling fully back in the swing.  One of the few excuses I truly believe in giving into is illness.  I came down with an upper respiratory infection last week and the consistent coughing and drainage headache made running too painful.

But today I was back to the track.  I met some classmates this afternoon for a Fartlek run in the sun.

Laps on the Track

photo cred: reidjsphoto

Workout Template

• 3 lap warmup
• 1 minute steady:1 minute easy (20 minutes total)
• 3 lap cooldown

We managed to average about one lap per two minutes and so in total my distance was 4 miles today.  I was surprised that my average pace was close to 8:00.  I certainly don’t feel like I can keep that pace steadily right now but by allowing myself the one minute rest breaks, I was able to go a bit faster on the hard intervals.

Felt good, but I bet I’ll be sore tomorrow!  In fact, I feel so good, I’ve picked out my next state: Arkansas!

State 12. March 2, 2014

Bring it on Little Rock Half – March 2, 2014.