Am I crazy? You tell me...

I was curious to see what an 8K was like since, you know, I have like 10 weeks until my first race! That’s not a lot of time. I was pushing a stroller and it was a little akward so I did very little jogging. Sorry - newby doesn't have a jogging stroller. It took me an hour and 1/2 to walk it. A long time but the thing I discovered was that I could do it. Just 4 months ago I would have hobbled back in the house and collapsed after a walk like that. Plus my shins would have been killing me. But nope. Not this time. I know I can do this race. My concern now is doing it in a respectable time. I looked at the times of competetors from last year’s race. The last person to complete it had a 15 minute/mile pace. That’s about where I am given the 5K I did earlier this week. I don’t want to finish last! My goal is to get to 12 min/mi pace. Is this realistic? I was doing some research online and found a few pointers. Runners need 3 basics: strength, endurance, and speed. You get your strength by doing repeats on hills; endurance by doing long runs; and speed by doing fast intervals on a track. Alan and I have decided to try this approach. One morning will be spent on the track. Another doing repeats on various hills near us (and there are a plethera to choose from). And two doing long runs for endurance. One run a little shorter and slower than the other so that we can save our energy for the longer (and eventually faster) one on Saturday - end of the week and equal in distance to the race in June. We might either do a short fast one or a long brisk walk to add a 5th day. Then one day off completely - no other exercise. And one day where I don’t run but I attend my 90 minute intense boxing/strength class at the gym (where we actually do a bit of running in addition to many many squats and lunges). I will also do a couple 50 minute pilates classes in addition to all this. Sounds intense and I’ll be beat but I think I can do this. I’ll try to anyway and I may be doing more walking than running at first. The other thing we’ll do is every 3rd or 4th week take an easy week where we won’t run as far or as hard so that we can recover and prep for more intensity the following week.

So this is how it will look: (subject to more realistic revisions)
week M T W R F Sa Su
1 12*400 4 mi 2 mi hill 3 mi walk long fast run off
on track run run reps or1 mi run 5 mi
+ pilates (17-19 mpw)

replacing Wed gym class with 2 mi run because of field trip that day.

2 4.5 mi 12*400 gym hill 3 mi walk long fast run off
run on track reps or 1 mi run 5 mi
+ pilates + pilates (15.5-17.5 mpw)

3 hill 4.5 mi gym 12*400 3.5 mi walk long fast run off
reps run on track or 1.5 mi run 5 mi
+ pilates + pilates (16-18 mpw)

4* either hill 4 mi gym 3 mi 2 mi run 3 mi easy run off
or track run run (14-15 mpw)
+ pilates

5 12*400 5 mi gym hill 1 mi fast run long fast run off
on track run reps + 3 mi walk 5.5 mi
+ pilates (19.5 mpw)

6 5 mi 12*400 gym hill 1.5 mi fast run long fast run off
run on track reps + 3 mi walk 5.5 mi
+ pilates + pilates (20 mpw)

7* either hill 4 mi gym 3 mi 2 mi run 4 mi easy run off
or track run run (15-16 mpw)
+ pilates

8 12*400 5 mi gym 12*400 2 mi fast run long fast run off
on track run track + 2 mi walk 6 mi
+ pilates + pilates (21 mpw)

9 5 mi 12*400 gym 12* 400 2 mi fast run long fast run off
run on track track + 3 mi walk 6 mi
+ pilates + pilates (22 mpw)

10 12*400 5.5 mi off 2 mi 1 mi run race day! off
on track run run + 2 mi walk

I’m not sure how realistic this is for us. Perhaps a running coach would tell me I’m crazy (Simon?). (My brain is.)

I need to also think about my diet. I’m going to need to fuel this activity while still losing weight. I wonder what it would cost to see a nutritionist at my gym? I also need to get some supplements to help my knees because they don't like all this activity I'm doing (no matter how much I try to convince them it's for the greater good).

Fingers are crossed! I can't wait until June!