Really.. a half marathon?
Okay so I think I may have had a little crazy moment a couple of months back when I decided to run a half marathon for charity. A friend at work mentioned she was going to enter the Chester half marathon on the 21st May 2017 and me being the impulsive person I am decided to join her.
The first thing I had to tackle was what charity I should run for. This was a simple decision for me as I have always wanted to raise money for a charity that helps individuals with eating disorders. Eating disorder are something that I have been affected by so I know how challenging they can be to overcome. I decided to run for B-eat who offer advice and help to those suffering but also to their friends and family. If you want to check out their website click here and take a look at what they can offer.
So the next phase of my half marathon training was the actual training and if I am honest I had no idea where to start. I took to the App store to find an app that could help me figure out how to plan my running schedule and I found a free app called Run Trainer. I already ran around 3 times a week for about 3 miles so I had a good amount of fitness running wise to start with.
The app asks you to choose between three options:
Walk-Run to Half Marathon Plan
Couch to Half Marathon Plan
Current Runner to Half Marathon Plan
Once you have done this you then get to choose either beginner, intermediate or experienced; I went with intermediate. It then asks you to choose one day a week that you will do your longest run and this is based on personal preference. You then choose how many times a week you would like to run; I went for 4 as I enjoy going to the gym to vary my workouts but also like 1 or 2 days off per week. Lastly, you need to input the date of the event and voila! It works out an entire running schedule for you. It gives you a plan for each day and tells you the length of time you should run for and also gives you instructions if you need to change your pace throughout the run.
The only downside to the app is that it is not the type that gives you instructions as you run or record your run details. This is fine with me as I have a separate tracking device - I use the Fitbit Surge to track my runs and as it has GPS it shows you your route on a map but it also gives your real time pace to enable you to to slow down or speed up according to your desired pace.
With a couple of months until race day I have kept to the schedule but have found over the last few weeks that I prefer to go to the gym rather than run. Now with just over three weeks to go I have found that sticking to the schedule doesn't work for me so I have changed my routine and now run three miles as many times as I can during the week to try to increase my pace. I will also be doing one more long run this weekend that will be my final before race day. I will attempt 11 miles but I will see how it goes!
Thank you so much for reading and if you would like to sponsor me you can follow this link to my just giving page.
If you have completed a half marathon or any other sporting event for charity then let me know as I would love to hear about it!
So the next phase of my half marathon training was the actual training and if I am honest I had no idea where to start. I took to the App store to find an app that could help me figure out how to plan my running schedule and I found a free app called Run Trainer. I already ran around 3 times a week for about 3 miles so I had a good amount of fitness running wise to start with.
The app asks you to choose between three options:
Walk-Run to Half Marathon Plan
Couch to Half Marathon Plan
Current Runner to Half Marathon Plan
Once you have done this you then get to choose either beginner, intermediate or experienced; I went with intermediate. It then asks you to choose one day a week that you will do your longest run and this is based on personal preference. You then choose how many times a week you would like to run; I went for 4 as I enjoy going to the gym to vary my workouts but also like 1 or 2 days off per week. Lastly, you need to input the date of the event and voila! It works out an entire running schedule for you. It gives you a plan for each day and tells you the length of time you should run for and also gives you instructions if you need to change your pace throughout the run.
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With a couple of months until race day I have kept to the schedule but have found over the last few weeks that I prefer to go to the gym rather than run. Now with just over three weeks to go I have found that sticking to the schedule doesn't work for me so I have changed my routine and now run three miles as many times as I can during the week to try to increase my pace. I will also be doing one more long run this weekend that will be my final before race day. I will attempt 11 miles but I will see how it goes!
Thank you so much for reading and if you would like to sponsor me you can follow this link to my just giving page.
If you have completed a half marathon or any other sporting event for charity then let me know as I would love to hear about it!
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