SGLRG Seattle Half Marathon 12 Week Build Up

SGLRG Seattle Half Marathon 12 Week Build Up

Week / Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday / Saturday / Sunday
#1 9/5-9/11 / 2-3 / CT / 3 / 2 / CT / 3 / Active Recovery
#2 9/12-9/18 / 3 / CT / 3 / 3 / CT / 4 / Active Recovery
#3 9/19-9/25 / 3 / CT / 4 / 3 / CT / 5 / Active Recovery
#4 9/26-10-2 / 3 / CT / 4 / 3 / CT / 6 / Active Recovery
#5 10/3-10/9 / 4 / CT / 5 / 4 / CT / 7 / Active Recovery
#6 10/10-10-16 / 4 / CT / 5 / 4 / CT / 8 / Active Recovery
#7 10/17-10-23 / 4 / CT / 6 / 4 / CT / 9 / Active Recovery
#8 10/24-1030 / 4 / CT / 6 / 4 / CT / 10 / Active Recovery
#9 10/31-11/6 / 4 / CT / 6 / 4 / CT / 11 / Active Recovery
#10 10/11/7-11/13 / 4 / CT / 5 / 4 / CT / 12 / Active Recovery
#11 11- 11/14-11/20 / 4 / CT / 5 / 4 / CT / 6 / Active Recovery
#12 12- 11/21-11/27 / 3 / CT / 5 / 3 / CT / Rest / RACE!

CT= cross train and should try and include other kinds of exercise that you enjoy (walking, biking, swimming, exercise classes, yoga, weight training, core exercise, etc… or if your body needs a break it can be a day off and should include some additional sleep for recovery.

Active Recovery- a rest day that includes some sort of activity (walking, stretching, foam rolling, massage, easy pedaling on a bike, chores…)

Running speed- If you are new to running or haven’t done it for a while then gaging your running pace or speed can be challenging. Feel free to get feedback from a GPS watch if you like, but if you listen to your body you can learn what pace is best for you. It is easy to run too fast and then you end up having a bad run because it felt more difficult than the last time. Doing your best to remain under control and focus on your breathing, form, posture and remaining positive are all things that will payoff over the next 12 weeks. Allow your body the opportunity to adjust to your increased activity and your tissues to reinforce themselves appropriately. Running does create some additional forces on the body and by gradually building into it your tissues will have time to make the necessary changes.

-Conversational Pace- We are all at different places in our running and fitness so let’s do our best to not compare ourselves to others. You only have control over yourselves at this point so let’s celebrate the fact that you making strides toward being the best version of you. Over the next 12 weeks you will have the opportunity to work on your running speed and control. Going too fast might leave you out of breath, with a side ache and needing to walk. Ideally for each of your runs you will settle into a conversational pace, which is that running speed that allows you to carry on a conversation and not find yourself gasping for breath in between sentences. If you can carry on a conversation is means you are able to take in plenty of oxygen for your actively working tissues while training your body to remain relaxed during exercise. A half marathon is a long ways and if you are fighting with your body for the whole distance it will be a long day. Instead let’s focus on finding that conversational pace on our weekly runs. Start out slow and as you warm up can increase your pace to something that is comfortable and will allow you to carry on a conversation. We are all competitive in our own ways, but if we sacrifice speed in our training we will run much faster for our race!

Tips- Investing in some good running shoes will help you avoid an injury before the race. Running shoes last 3-4 months before the materials start to breakdown and lose their purpose. SLEEP! Not only is sleep important for everything we do throughout the day, but it is also when our bodies repair and recover. Getting enough sleep will help us fight off colds, recover from a hard workout and hopefully prevent overuse injuries that can come along from running. Not to mention increase our energy levels and keep us from being less cranky about having to get outside for a run. Hydration, we are water based systems and getting enough water will allow our bodies to carry out their daily tasks with minimal resistance. Our cardiovascular systems which include our heart and blood vessels play the important role of circulating around oxygen, nutrients and removing wastes from our tissues. The more available water in our blood the easier it is for our hearts to efficiently pump those essential ingredients throughout the body. Good shoes, sleep, hydration and make sure you are listening to your bodies.

Training Schedule- The training schedule above is a guide, but please be sure to modify it so it works for you. The goal is for you to keep moving forward each week and getting in your runs. If certain days work better for your schedule than others then switch things around. If you can target 2 days a week of running along with the weekend long run then you are in great shape!

SGLRG Weekly runs- check out rungreenlake.com

Happy Training and please be sure to post any questions on the event page as we have some experienced runners that are happy to share what they have learned. https://www.facebook.com/events/1612077252418395/