half ramblings

[breezy8407]

I know I am not as active here as I used to be. I found that not running races gave me little to talk about here. I love following along with all of you though!

Most of 2015 I have been doing a bootcamp small group class 4x a week (think sprints, full body lifts, heavy lifts, kettlebells, sled pushes, etc) and running 2x a week. Lately a few of us feel like our trainer is phoning it in and just prescribing straight lifting sets and none of the challenging high intensity interval things that I grew to love with the class. I love lifting, but I feel like I'm not getting enough bang for my buck in the 45 minutes I have to work out over lunch/weekdays.  And I think the scale shows it. I am about 5 pounds over my happy weight. 

Last week, my brother threw out the idea of a few of us running a 1/2 in May. It's the same 1/2 I PR'd at in 2014, so I love the race and would love to try to beat it. But...I am so not in running shape. I know I have time to train for a May 1/2 at this point, but the reason I didn't do distance stuff this past year was because the time it was taking from family and home, plus traveling for work and generally working a crap ton more hours. I'm not ready to give up on bootcamp totally yet. 

Can I train for a 1/2 with only 4 running days a week? I am thinking it would look like this:

Sunday: easy 3-5
Monday: bootcamp
Tuesday: interval or tempo work
Wednedsay: bootcamp
Thursday: medium distance 4-6 miles
Friday: off
Saturday: long run

If you made it through all this, you get a cookie. 

[enfuego23]

Yes, you can absolutely train for a half marathon with running 4 days a week. I ran a half in October and trained with 3 days of running and 3 days of CrossFit.

[wambam]

I am currently training for a half by running 4 days per week. I feel like I'm running all the time

[arch01]

You can definitely do a half by training 4x/wk!

[bostonmichelle]

Absolutely!!

[itsme]

Yes you can. I CrossFit 3x/wk and I train for halfs by running 1 day a week. In other words I don't train but run halfs. My non-plan means that I can't expect to run really fast.

[Deleted]

Yes, totally. I only run four times a week. Do it!!

[skwcm80]

I only run 4x a week, I think you'll be fine.

It's good to see you back over here.

[thom]

I would say most of my race training is done on running an average of 4 times/week. I know you are a strong runner with an aggressive time goal if you want to PR. I still think you can run a solid race on 3-4 runs per week plus a few bootcamp sessions. That's aggressive cross training, and a pretty full workout schedule.

Does this schedule look & feel realistic and somewhat fun to you? If so I absolutely say go for it. I do love a spring race in MN so I'm biased.

[breezy8407]

Nov 24, 2015 11:22:29 GMT -5 thom said:

I would say most of my race training is done on running an average of 4 times/week. I know you are a strong runner with an aggressive time goal if you want to PR. I still think you can run a solid race on 3-4 runs per week plus a few bootcamp sessions. That's aggressive cross training, and a pretty full workout schedule.

Does this schedule look & feel realistic and somewhat fun to you? If so I absolutely say go for it. I do love a spring race in MN so I'm biased.

I'm not sure yet. I would keep up my lunchtime workouts that I am already doing 4x a week. The long run on the weekend is the hardest part to wrap my head around right now. 

I've been traveling for 2-3 days once a month since April, and I will have a break from that until at least next summer. It's impossible to run when I am away at work. The hotel treadmill just doesn't happen! 

[wambam]

Nov 24, 2015 11:59:32 GMT -5 breezy8407 said:

Nov 24, 2015 11:22:29 GMT -5 thom said:

I would say most of my race training is done on running an average of 4 times/week. I know you are a strong runner with an aggressive time goal if you want to PR. I still think you can run a solid race on 3-4 runs per week plus a few bootcamp sessions. That's aggressive cross training, and a pretty full workout schedule.

Does this schedule look & feel realistic and somewhat fun to you? If so I absolutely say go for it. I do love a spring race in MN so I'm biased.

I'm not sure yet. I would keep up my lunchtime workouts that I am already doing 4x a week. The long run on the weekend is the hardest part to wrap my head around right now. 

I've been traveling for 2-3 days once a month since April, and I will have a break from that until at least next summer. It's impossible to run when I am away at work. The hotel treadmill just doesn't happen! 

FWIW, the long run is my favorite run of the week. YMMV, obviously, but I look forward to it every week.

[mrshandy]

I think you can definitely do this.

Long runs happen early mornings on the weekends so that it can have minimal impact on my family. I come home around 8-9 and find that my kids and H have only been up for an hour or so.

Do you have any running buddies? Is there an Moms Run This Town chapter in your town? In our chapter you can find people to run with all hours of the day and all paces.

[jene]

This is totally doable. I typically run 4x week when training.

[cinco]

I think it sounds like a good schedule. You'll be absolutely fine with 4 days a week, especially since you are cross training.

[osulori]

4 days a week is absolutely doable for a half!

[thom]

breannie - I'm sure it is even harder w/ work travel thrown in the mix. Sounds like this is as good a time as any to give training a try. Don't beat yourself up over a few missed runs either. I honestly think you will be in shape sooner than you expect with all that cross training. Every race doesn't have to be a PR, but I know you set ambitious goals and that's great too. We are cheering you on no matter what you decide.

[breezy8407]

Nov 24, 2015 13:00:20 GMT -5 wambam said:

Nov 24, 2015 11:59:32 GMT -5 breezy8407 said:

I'm not sure yet. I would keep up my lunchtime workouts that I am already doing 4x a week. The long run on the weekend is the hardest part to wrap my head around right now. 

I've been traveling for 2-3 days once a month since April, and I will have a break from that until at least next summer. It's impossible to run when I am away at work. The hotel treadmill just doesn't happen! 

FWIW, the long run is my favorite run of the week. YMMV, obviously, but I look forward to it every week.

Mine, too. That's one part I miss about training. 

Knock on wood, but as my kids get closer to 4, they are getting easier and more independent. So I'm hoping me being gone for 2 hours one morning isn't as stressful on me or H anymore as it was 2 years ago. 

[breezy8407]

Nov 24, 2015 14:53:42 GMT -5 thom said:

breannie - I'm sure it is even harder w/ work travel thrown in the mix. Sounds like this is as good a time as any to give training a try. Don't beat yourself up over a few missed runs either. I honestly think you will be in shape sooner than you expect with all that cross training. Every race doesn't have to be a PR, but I know you set ambitious goals and that's great too. We are cheering you on no matter what you decide.

Aww thank you!

I went running over lunch and started thinking about getting the Garmin back out. I've been running without it for months now. I might not be as bad off as I think in terms of pace per mile. 

[wanderlustmom]

My last half (and my PR) included running three days a week. I also did strength training 3/4 days a week.

[Stingyshark]

I'm training for a half right now, and I'm running about 3-4 days a week + cross training. It's working really well so far.