Training Update: December 2013
I’ve been freaking out over my (lack of) training for December, seeing as I have a half marathon coming up on January 18. But then I looked at last year’s December training log and I relaxed a bit. Compared to December 2012, I’ve only got a 3 mile deficit for December 2013. Not that my goal was to run less this year than last year, but hey, last year I wasn’t pregnant and dealing with first trimester fun. So yeah. The good news is, my mileage for November was higher this year than last year because I didn’t spend the last two weeks of November this year recovering from a marathon.
While my mileage is still embarrassingly low, I feel much better now about heading into January and the last bit of my half marathon training. Last year I also missed my long run twice (in the same weeks I missed my long run this year - the first and the last week of December). Eerily similar pattern there. So I think as long as I pick up my mileage over the next few weeks, which is what I did last year, I should be just fine. Especially because last year, despite my low mileage leading up to the Charleston Half, I was still able to PR by 11 minutes from my previous half in October when my weekly mileage was much higher and I was in the midst of marathon training.
I’m not saying I recommend this training method (I don’t), but I am saying that I'll still have the fitness and training to pull off a half marathon at the end of January. I’ve been cross training this year as well, so running hasn’t been my only workout. If I were trying for a PR this year, I’m sure I’d be in trouble, but my goal this year is just to keep the race on the calendar as motivation to keep training through the winter (and pregnancy). Really, that was also my goal last year (minus pregnancy), and yet I ended up with a PR, so who knows what will happen this year.
Incidentally, I spent the last week of December 2012, including New Year's Eve, with a nasty case of the flu (I'm talking feeling-like-my-bones-were-going-to-shatter excruciating pain here) and this year, I had a horrible stomach virus that I'm still recovering from. This pattern, along with my super low December mileage needs to stop!
And that, my friends, is one of the many reasons why I’m glad I keep a training log: it keeps me sane and stops me from freaking out unnecessarily.
And just for fun, here’s a snapshot of my training miles for 2012 and 2013 (warning: embarrassingly low mileage ahead):
Last Year:
December 2012
Week 1: 7.78
Week 2: 15.40
Week 3: 14.26
Week 4: 5.22
Subtotal: 42.86
January 2013
Week 1 18.99
Week 2 17.53
Week 3 22.55 (HM)
Subtotal: 59.07
Total: 101.93
This Year:
December 2013
Week 1: 6.36
Week 2: 11.08
Week 3: 14.05
Week 4: 8.00
Subtotal: 39.49
January 2014
TBD
While my mileage is still embarrassingly low, I feel much better now about heading into January and the last bit of my half marathon training. Last year I also missed my long run twice (in the same weeks I missed my long run this year - the first and the last week of December). Eerily similar pattern there. So I think as long as I pick up my mileage over the next few weeks, which is what I did last year, I should be just fine. Especially because last year, despite my low mileage leading up to the Charleston Half, I was still able to PR by 11 minutes from my previous half in October when my weekly mileage was much higher and I was in the midst of marathon training.
I’m not saying I recommend this training method (I don’t), but I am saying that I'll still have the fitness and training to pull off a half marathon at the end of January. I’ve been cross training this year as well, so running hasn’t been my only workout. If I were trying for a PR this year, I’m sure I’d be in trouble, but my goal this year is just to keep the race on the calendar as motivation to keep training through the winter (and pregnancy). Really, that was also my goal last year (minus pregnancy), and yet I ended up with a PR, so who knows what will happen this year.
Incidentally, I spent the last week of December 2012, including New Year's Eve, with a nasty case of the flu (I'm talking feeling-like-my-bones-were-going-to-shatter excruciating pain here) and this year, I had a horrible stomach virus that I'm still recovering from. This pattern, along with my super low December mileage needs to stop!
And that, my friends, is one of the many reasons why I’m glad I keep a training log: it keeps me sane and stops me from freaking out unnecessarily.
And just for fun, here’s a snapshot of my training miles for 2012 and 2013 (warning: embarrassingly low mileage ahead):
Last Year:
December 2012
Week 1: 7.78
Week 2: 15.40
Week 3: 14.26
Week 4: 5.22
Subtotal: 42.86
January 2013
Week 1 18.99
Week 2 17.53
Week 3 22.55 (HM)
Subtotal: 59.07
Total: 101.93
This Year:
December 2013
Week 1: 6.36
Week 2: 11.08
Week 3: 14.05
Week 4: 8.00
Subtotal: 39.49
January 2014
TBD