Pardon me?
I learned a new word today. Fartlek. I seriously had to look at it twice. Apparently it's a Swedish word for "Speed Play". And it's used in training for runners. This wildly amusing word refers to bursts of speed in the middle of a training run, that you vary in time and intensity.
I learned this while I was looking up training schedules for the 1/2 marathon. It was recommended to me that I should start training now. Initially I figured I would train for the 5k first and then pick up the pace after that. But I really should just train for the longer run, and the 5k will seem like a cake walk after a while.
Seventeen weeks until the race.
I found a training plan on CoolRunning.com which I found to be reasonable. It's for twelve weeks of training and a pre-training (which will essentially prepare me for the 5k). The time-frame works out perfectly for it. I'm sure there are other training plans, but this is free, and it's by the hosts of the Couch to 5k program which I had done back in March.
Right now I'm running only about 2 miles in 20 minutes. But that was based on the 20 minute time limit I was scheduling myself for cardio. I've slowly been increasing my speed in that 20 minutes to help improve my endurance. I'm debating whether to continue to do that 20 minute segment at higher speeds, or to start working towards completing the mileage for the pre-training and the 5k (which varies between 3 and 5 miles). Suggestions?
This weekend, I told my mom I had signed up for the 1/2 marathon. Her reaction? "YOU CAN'T DO THAT!!!" Where's my supportive "you can do anything you set your mind to" mother??? What the hell?? Her rationalization was that it takes people so long to train for these races & I'll never be able to do it. Well, it really only made me more determined. I was disappointed that she didn't have faith that I could train for it, you know what I say to that??
Fartlek you.
Until next time
2 comments:
I am so excited for you! Yay Julia!
When I did the c25k, some weeks I worked on speed and others I worked on distance/endurance. I'm not sure what's better...I guess it depends on your goal for the runs. Do you want to finish running or do you want to finish under a certain time?
Good luck lady!
I hate to say it, but don't listen to your mom! I've heard time and time again that once you can run about 5 miles, you can run a marathon! So a half will be no problem, right?! :-)
The training program that I'm doing for my half I just got off the website that is hosting the marathon. Looks like you found a training plan though, so that's good. As long as you keep increasing your distance and don't just run 3 miles for the next 3 months, your endurance will build. I've also heard that you're not supposed to worry about speed or distance, but concentrate on how long (time) you're actually running.
And love the new word, ha!
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