Half-marathon training: Week 1

Sunday: Target (Easy 5 miles) – 4.1 miles. Due to a late night commando visit by my nephew, didn’t get out until 10am. Already toasty in Houston, so didn’t push through to the 5 miles. Easy pace targets at 9:30.

Monday: Target (Easy 3 miles + hill sprints) – 3.1 miles + hill sprints. Ran up the gully four times. The incline is slightly more than recommended, but should have the same result.

Tuesday: Target (Easy 5 miles) – 5 miles. In Dallas at the Omni. Ran around the lake by the Doubletree and over the bridge on Royal to the Campion Trail (that’s what Google Maps calls it, signposts say Kennan Park or something similar) all the way to underneath I-635 and back. Very warm in the morning, and kept my pace more in the moderate range (8:45-9:15) vs easy.

Note: it appears that Easy should be 9:15 – 9:45 , Moderate 8:45 – 9:15, Hard 8:15 – 8:45, and Race pace toward 8:20 for the goal to break 1:50:00 in the half (race pace chart at the bottom). The Houston summer heat will make these paces “fun and challenging!”

Wednesday: Target (Easy 6 miles) – 4.75 miles. First week running four times in a row, my legs were after four miles. This time I went the opposite way from the Omni in Dallas, through a rougher but more interesting trail to I-635 on this side of the water, then back around to Royal to get the distance in.

Thursday: Rest day. Back in Houston. Temps supposed to hit 100 this weekend! Did P90X2 Arms until AT&T showed up to try to repair a blown router. But that’s a story for another article.

Friday: Target (6 miles + hill sprints): 5.75 miles. Hills are hard to find in Houston, but there are slopes under the roads on the trail I run on cypress creek, and that and the paved gullies will suffice for now.

Saturday: Rest, and drink Firestone Parabola Sout

Totals this week: Target: 25 miles + hills; Actual: 22.75 miles + hills. Most miles I’ve run in one week since January and February’s training for the 2012 New Orleans half. Last week: 15 miles.

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