Top

Floradise

Lifestyle Content and Personalized Gift Shop

in fitness, goals, half marathon, marathon training, Orangetheory Fitness, outdoors, Ragnar training, running, workouts, yoga ·

Half-Marathon Training, Week 1



It’s satisfying to finally get started on half-marathon training. I felt productive and energized. My plan for training is to participate in group training through Lifetime Fitness two days a week, yoga at least twice a week (once at home and once in the studio), Orangetheory twice a week and running on my own (or with my running group) once a week. Let’s see how it goes!

Monday: 3.2 miles with my running group in Uptown Chicago. I picked up my group T-shirt and caught up with running friends. We don’t really run for time — it’s kind of impossible given all the traffic lights we hit on our route. It was 30-something degrees, but it felt good to run. I love cool-weather runs!

Tuesday: Rest day.
Wednesday: Orangetheory. My all-out pace was 8.2 mph, which is about 7:24 per mile. While that is my fastest pace yet, I can’t maintain it for long. I hope to improve my speed throughout half-marathon training.
Thursday: Rest day.
Friday: Basics yoga at studio. I like to take basics every once in a while to get reacquainted with the poses and the cues the teachers use.
Saturday: A short, windy group run. We did a 2-mile timed run and my time was 20:15. Not bad, but I’m hoping for lots of improvement. 
Sunday: Orangetheory session. It was a power and switch day, which meant we switched stations after every block. I was sore from training the previous day and probably should have taken a rest day. I ran 2.25 miles and my all-out pace was 7:00 minute/mile for 30 seconds or a minute. My base pace was much slower than usual because of my soreness. I tried out the C9 at Target Power Shape sports bra after receiving a coupon from Influenster and Target. I loved the look and feel of the bra, though I realized I need a bigger size when I put on my heart-rate monitor chest strap. It made the bra even tighter on me. I would size up for my next purchase.

Tips and reflections:

  • Making plans to run has worked so far to keep me on track. It feels awful to let people down by canceling; avoiding that feeling is a good incentive to sign up for group runs. 
  • I should have listened to my body. It clearly needed a break Sunday. Take your rest days!
  • New gear is a great motivator as well. The cute new C9 sports bra made me feel strong and fit, even though I have a long way to go. The fact that it was a tiny bit snug was inspiration to get in shape.
  • Switch up the routine. I like to do different workouts, which is why I love Orangetheory. Keep it interesting; keep it fun! If it’s not fun, why do it?
  • Participate in the social media conversation. Use hashtags that connect you to people interested in working out or training for a goal. I have found so much encouragement and inspiration by connecting with runners and yogis online.

Tweet: Tip for fitness enthusiasts: Use hashtags that can connect you to people interested in working out or training for a goal. via @maretteflora Use hashtags that connect you to people interested in working out or training for a goal. 

How’s your training going? How do you stay motivated?

); ga('require', 'displayfeatures'); ga('require', 'linkid'); ga('set', 'anonymizeIp', true); ga('send', 'pageview');