National Running Day

Last week we took part in National Running Day. Oh, you didn't hear about it? Magically it didn't get as much coverage as national doughnut day did... According to the National Day Calendar it was designated as a day for runners and beginners to either reaffirm or begin a passion or commitment to running. It was a beautiful morning so I got up early and went for a run in the crisp cool morning air. It was a great start to the day. (Typically I do not get up before I absolutely have to, I am NOT a morning person!)

Later in the day hubby and I were invited to join our friends for a half marathon in late September. The half marathon also has a 5k course, which is more my speed. If you are up to date on the PHabulouslife vlogs then you know my fastest mile time is just under 12 minutes. Anything more than a mile, I typically complete with average speeds of 14-16 minutes a mile. My ultimate goal with running is to get down to a 10 minute mile. This invite had me strumming on a possible new goal. Could I finish a half marathon?

Well shoot! I don't see why not. I did some light research on training plans and talked to the Hubby. Hubby says that if you can run 6 miles you can run 13. He also said that sometimes people training for distance runs will gain weight, because the running takes so much out of a person, and they need to refuel. Well I'm working on loosing all the weight that I gained last year!

However, I still feel drawn towards a desire to accomplish this new milestone. An article on Runners World claims that in order to work up to 13 miles the runner should run 3 days a week for 30 minutes, and one long run each week. Every other week the long run needs to increase by 1 - 1.5 miles. This sounds like a doable schedule to me. Now I'm not convinced that I would be ready in time for the specific run that I was invited to, but it is definitely in my future.

Long distance runs should help with hiking and overall stamina - yay! So far, on long runs my performance has been inconsistent. My goal during training will be to keep the average mile time of each run to under 15 minutes. Yesterday I did my first long run for training, 3 miles. Check out the results to the left! I'm not sure which race I will do, or how long training will actually take. My
current plan is to work up to the hubby recommended six miles and then take it from there. Stay tuned for progress updates!