Well, I've done it. I've committed to training for a Half Marathon. Not the one I was going to do in March, which was the NYC Half Marathon sponsored by the NYRR Club, but the More and Fitness Magazine Half Marathon, which will be held in Central Park on Sunday, April 25, and into which only women can enter. The time cap to finish is 3h 30m, versus just 3h for the co-ed Half in March... and the later race date also gives me extra time to train - 18 weeks versus 12.
I kind of like the idea of running with the girls. Fewer distractions! Who needs all those long men's legs passing me on the left and right. I know I'd never be able to catch them so what kind of carrots would they be? Much more fun to focus on overtaking one of my own, "I'll get you with your shiny pony tail!" "Nice shorts, bubble butt!" I know, I know. I'm supposed to be competing with myself but I can't help it. Name-calling motivates me! It's harmless... I'm not going to say anything out loud!
So, now that I have 18 weeks to train, I decided to reevaluate my training schedule. Hal Higdon's program was only for 12 weeks, and I never felt comfortable with his nonchalance. He didn't have me running anything near 13.1 miles before the day of the race... He kept saying the adrenaline on the day would carry me through... I'm the type who likes to over-prepare, so when I saw a different schedule posted on the NYRR site, and it just happened to be designed by a woman (Gordon Backulis) especially for this Half Marathon, well, I decided to switch coaches. Sorry, Hal!
I took the schedule Gordon provided and recreated it in an Excel grid of my own, starting each week on Monday, like normal people do. (Gordon had the weeks starting on Tuesday; I wrote to her about this asking why, but haven't heard back.) Then I added in information I have about my own travel schedule for the next four months, to make sure I could handle the plan; I mapped out where I might be in the world when I needed to complete my longest training runs - Mexico, Sweden, South Beach... they've got treadmills in all those places. No excuses!
Gordon's schedule will have me running up to 30 miles a week before the Marathon, and demands a 13-15 mile run on three occasions before the actual race; so that, by the time the actual race day comes along, 13.1 miles will seem like no big deal. *yeah right* The training schedule instructs one to also complete two proper (shorter) races before the Half, but pretty far along in the training; a 5M and a 10M. I don't know exactly where I'll do those yet.
I feel at peace with my decision to commit to the Women's Half. I still have a tiny kernel of interest in (also) running the NYC Half Marathon in March, but I'm not sure I'll be ready. There's a lottery for that so even if I sign up, I may not get in. Probably better for me to just put my head down and focus on April. I bet the goodie bag at the Women's Half will be lot better, too! And at the Women's Half, I certainly won't be the only one on the course who is running like a girl.
Oh, and I almost forgot to add, I didn't run today! There are a lot of days off on Gordon's schedule and today was one of them. Feels strange not to have run. Putting all my faith in Gordon now... don't fail me, good lady!
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