Stick to the Plan!

2 days down, 54 more to go! (kidding...kinda)

This week marks the first official week of my 8 week training program for the See Chicks Run 10K on June 1st. This also marks the first time in nearly 2 years that I am following a training program. Last time, when I was training for the 2012 half marathon, I didn't stick to my schedule that well, and what do you know, I didn't do that well! Do you think it's related??

One of the ways I am trying to set myself up for success this time is by tailoring the training plan to fit my needs. I used Hal Higdon's 10K Training Program (a combo of the novice and the intermediate programs) as a starting point to gauge mileage progression and on/off days, but I mixed the days around to best fit my schedule. Since I created the plan, and didn't just get it from a book, I had a lot more buy-in to the program, as well as a lot more time to sit down and think about if it was a plan that was actually do-able for me.

I also tried to plan ahead as much as possible to figure out when I might need to switch my schedule around. As you can see, last weekend I was in Brooklyn, so I knew I wasn't going to go out for a run when I was staying over my friend's house, so instead I moved my "long run" to Wednesday.

I also integrated the schedule into my other workout schedule. I do a studio class about 4-6 times a week that I love and pay a lot for. These 60 minute studio classes help keep me strong, happy, and motivated. Since you probably don't know what all those crazy italicized class names mean (those are different classes at my studio) just know that my schedule is set up like this:

Monday-  Stretch and Strengthen

Tuesday-  Run + High Cardio (morning/afternoon)

Wednes-  Rest/Yoga

Thursday- High Cardio 

Friday-     Run + Strengthen (morning/afternoon)

Saturday- High Cardio

Sunday-   Long run

The last thing that I feel is setting me up for success is having smaller short term goals. You can see that in two weeks I'm running a 5K. Having that race in the beginning of my training gives me something immediate to start training for. It will also be a great way to set-up a baseline race pace that I can expect to beat  to follow during my 10K.

And don't forget this 10K training program is really just the beginning of my Half Marathon training program! Training for these smaller, more immediate races will help me build my base mileage for the half marathon. Since I am an "instant gratification" type of person, the idea of training for these smaller races is making the bigger half marathon goal seem much more realistic!

What are some ways that help you stick to your training plan?