Still giving my left hamstring a rest this week. Which is good timing because my son and I are going to Space Camp for the weekend, and other than doing a lot of walking, I am not doing any training during that time. There are times when you have to just listen to your body, and my body is saying 'take a break before the next push'.
So on Wednesday, I did my cardio program. The hammy was still complaining a bit but I was able to complete the full program without backing off of the incline work on the treadmill. Progress is good!
On Thursday, I spent an hour with my coach to discuss my half marathon training plan. I am using the Jeff Galloway plan published on the runDisney web site for the Disney Marathon in 2012. We went over the training plan in detail, making changes to accommodate the races I have scheduled, my schedule over the next four months, and merging this plan along with my Cross Training goals so that I do not overtrain. Avoiding injury is as important as developing the endurance and 'foot time' necessary to successfully running the Half.
So here is what I am going to be doing, starting next week:
As my mileage increases, I will be making my maintenance runs more productive by using those runs for hill work, tempo runs, etc. to focus on increasing speed and stamina for dealing with inclines. And having Friday be a swimming day, will give my running muscles a rest the day before my Long Run which ought to be good for my body. I am 51 years old so I gotta listen to my body and not pretend to be some 30-something. I also plan on using the Jacuzzi on Fridays after the swimming workout.
One other idea I had was doing some water-based workouts in the evenings on Tuesday and Thursday just to make things a little dynamic. Probably won't do that every week but perhaps every other week right after work. It is like doing circuit training but it is all done in the pool so it is less stressful on the body and joints. We'll see.
Now it is off to Space Camp! I am SO looking forward to this event, and sharing it with my son. I am sure to post my reflections about it on my other blog sometime next week. I will continue to rest up and be ready for next Monday when my new training plan will begin!