I distinctly remember, after finishing the Pittsburgh Half in May, that I wanted to do a fall half, but that this time I wanted to make sure to get back to goal weight before starting my next training cycle, and that I wanted something fast and flat.
So of course I did neither!
To give credit where it's due, if the next sixteen fifteen weeks go really well for me, I'll have a good chance of being at or very close to goal weight, but I definitely ended up going off the rails when it came to race choice... so what happened?
I was originally targeting races in October or maybe early November, but nothing that was reasonably close looked appealing. I don't mind paying a decent amount for a race, but I want to feel like I'm getting a unique experience for the cost, at least, and lots of my options looked pretty generic. Or the race websites had basically no info. We were also working around some non-negotiable blackout dates in October, and since Mike and I have both been working through some injuries that basically just need time, somehow we ended up looking at late-November races.
Enter the Amish Country Half Marathon.
It's the Saturday after Thanksgiving and will take the place of the Turkey Trot we've done the past couple of years (which was such a mess last year - way too crowded - that we were thinking about branching out anyway). Berlin, OH is a reasonable drive, considering that our offices are both closed on Black Friday, so we can leave that morning. We'll be staying at the hotel where the packet pickup is held that just so happens to have jacuzzi suites and awesome-looking food.
The biggest "downside" is that it definitely doesn't fit my plan for that flat, fast half I was looking for...
But hey, you take what you can get, and the perks for this race are kind of hilariously awesome:
- Amish Beard & Straw Hat
- Unisex Long Sleeve Dri-Wick T-Shirt
- Deliciously Prepared Amish Country Hot Buttered Noodles & Much More when You Finish the Race
- A Wendell August Forge Created Finisher’s Medal
- Top 3 Finishers in Every Age Group Receive a Medal
- Top 3 Finishers in the both the Men’s & Women’s Divisions in the Half Marathon Win Prize Money
I mean, a beard, hat, and buttered noodles?! I was perusing previous years' race reports and there also appears to normally be a block of cheese in that haul (the "much more," I suppose), and I'm a sucker for weird races with fun food, so that pretty much sealed the deal! I'll just have to take those pesky hills as they come - I know that when I'm in good shape I can handle them, and that was pretty much the one thing we got warned about when consulting with SCRR - quite a few other people from the group have run this one before, which is definitely a benefit of membership when you can ask for honest opinions about the race.
There's also a reasonable chance of terrible weather - November can be pretty unpredictable - and not a lot of course support. I may actually bring headphones and run with them, but we'll see. I'm pretty good at hanging out in my own head, though admittedly I did really enjoy the course support in Pittsburgh.
So I had a race picked out, which leaves just one thing - a training plan!
I've done Higdon's Novice 1&2 Half Marathon plans before (for the EQT Ten Miler and Pittsburgh this spring) and was thinking about trying something different just to see what else is out there. Especially if there was something that could help me focus on running SLOW when I need to and not making every run a tempo run. I noticed when I got my Garmin FR 230 this spring that there was a training plan option, which I'd glanced at and then noted to come back to at some point later. Now, with a reason to revisit it, I pulled up my options.
There are a decent variety of plans available, from 3 to 8 workouts a week, and with and without heart rate monitoring. I decided to take the Level 2 HM plan option with 5 workouts a week, subbing time in the gym lifting for cross-training or whatever else it might throw at me (sometimes it's got stuff like bodyweight fitness, Pilates, etc.). While I haven't been so good at losing weight since May, I have been doing reasonably well at hitting the gym and building at least a little bit more muscle (my shoulder definition is back - huzzah!). I don't want to lose all that while I step back and focus on running for a bit, so I'm hoping to at least maintain in the meantime. My gym is actually currently going through a major renovation so it's kind of a good time to not go there with a specific plan as you never know what's getting replaced from week to week.
One of the reasons I favored this plan is that it takes HR into account, and includes things I haven't done before, like intervals, fartleks, and instructions on exactly how hard you should be running each workout. I used my max HR from the Turtle Trot to set my zones and I think they're pretty good.
The plan doesn't have mileage goals, which is, after Higdon, definitely an adjustment. And after doing my first workout, an easy run, (a day late, because rain), running slow enough to actually stay in Z2 is tough! But I reminded myself that it was supposed to be easy, and the other workouts this week have been a little more like what I'm used to. This program is 16 weeks, instead of the 12 on Higdon, so theoretically it's a good opportunity to reacclimate to the mileage and if I really hate it, I can bail after week 4 and switch if I feel like it.
I don't think I will, though! Doing something different each day helps keep my interest and I think in the long run the mileage will be sufficient. One concern I do have is that the longest long run is a month out from race day, so I suspect I will tweak things a little bit there depending on how I feel when I get there (and what the weather is like, honestly).
So what are my goals this cycle?
- Weight loss - I'm going to allow myself my normal deficit for the first 6ish weeks of the plan and then up my calories to something that will hopefully both support the demands of training but also maybe allow me to knock off a few more pounds in the remaining weeks.
- Not get injured partway through training - I'm hoping that using the HR focus to keep easy runs easy will help with this, but I know I'm going to be fighting getting all neurotic about my weekly mileage the entire time. Eating right is going to help with this as well, since last time I got hurt because I wasn't fueling enough, I'm pretty sure.
- Get enough sleep - I'm usually pretty good at this, and I can't remember sleeping any better than I have since May (after having a lot of training-related sleep problems), so hopefully keeping the training at a good level and fueling properly will help keep symptoms of overtraining away!
- Listen to my body - I have a tendency to automatically swat away that mental voice that says "just stay in bed this morning" because I've convinced myself that I'm just trying to talk myself out of doing things that are hard, which is a bad habit to indulge in. But I've also learned that at least sometimes I need to listen to that voice. Last time I got hurt it was because I ignored it and pushed myself out the door anyway. So it's a delicate balance.
- Not beat myself up when I don't flawlessly execute my plan - I have almost two full weeks of vacation during this cycle! One of those is with Mike and we're going to do our best, and the other is a beach vacation, so ideally I'll be on-point as far as finding time for getting runs in, but anything can happen and opportunities to eat ALL THE FOOD are going to be abundant to say the least.
- Time goals? I'm really not sure what to say here. I'm pretty sure that this course is objectively more difficult than Pittsburgh between the hills and lack of crowd support. Weather could be a positive or negative factor. I think I'd say that my A goal is 2:10 or better, B goal is 2:19 or better (my Pittsburgh time), and C goal is to finish. Subject to revision as training progresses.
So - Berlin, OH - Amish Country Half - bring it on! Gonna get me some noodles, some silly selfies, and hopefully a new PR!
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