Time to Train

Over the last six months, I have been aggressively training for my first half marathon which will be later this month in Denver.  As with most people that start training for something, human nature kicked in and I have become a creature of habit when it comes to my training schedule.  Sunday is a rest day, Monday is an easy mid/long run (8-10 miles) at a slightly slower pace, Thursdays are for speed drills, Saturday s are the for the long distances (13+ miles) and the days in between are for strength training.

So what happens when the schedule gets interrupted?  Let’s face it, life happens right?  This last weekend, I surprised myself by taking the Labor Day weekend off from training.  For three days straight, my exercise consisted of walking from my hotel room, 100 feet through the sandy beach on the Oregon Coast, to my spot under the shady umbrella.  My normal hydration replaced by frosty ales as well.  No running, no weights, no huffing and puffing.  Needless to say that when I came back to reality on Tuesday, I knew I had some ground to make up and today it clicked.

I have made speed drills as part of my training for the last three months.  They help me with my endurance so that I can finish my runs stronger and also help me with my form.  This morning while I was in my resting jog between the first and second set, I realized that these are a great way to help either make up for lost time, or if you are in a pinch for time.

My sets consist of running ½ mile at a 5k pace 5 times with a 1 minute walk/jog in between each set (each ½ mile being 1 set).  By the time it’s all said and done, I’ve just run 2 ½ miles in less than 30 minutes and at a more exhausting energy rate than I get out of my Monday runs.  In the case of this morning’s workout, I still had time to run to the gym for a quick strength training session.  Essentially, I just made up for two lost days!

If you’ve been using the lack of time as an excuse to forego your training for the day, now there is no excuse.  Just go run!