Now -- I'm a different runner than I was when I started. I am not afraid to admit that I am using this blog to some extent for my own motivation and to keep myself involved in this big idea I have now: To run the Capital City Half Marathon on May 5th.
I have a plan. A plan to run a lot of miles between now and May 5th. A plan to eat better food and train more efficiently. I've modified Hal Higdon's Half Marathon training schedule for the novice runner. My primary goal is to complete the half marathon to begin with, and my secondary goal is to finish it with roughly a 15 minute mile pace.
I am going to be keeping detailed training logs via Google Docs, so visit the spreadsheet if you want to keep an eye on my progress.
In short, I will be adding about a mile per week to my weekly mileage total until the half marathon. In the meantime, my hope is to lose weight (which increases your maximum sustainable pace inherently) and spend some time on speed training to increase my pace that way.
I continue to harp on About.com (I have learned a lot from them) but they have taught me something interesting: Ten pounds equates to about 20 seconds per mile off of your pace. They list it as 60 seconds off of a 5K time, but figuring that a 5K is 3.1 miles you could roughly equate that to 20 seconds per mile. Yet another helpful article from them: Run Faster
If you are just starting out, I can't say this enough: DON'T WORRY ABOUT YOUR PACE. Wait until you know you can run a distance before you try to run it fast.
