Catch Up With Me- I’m Halfway Through Half Marathon Training Plan for State Number 45

Suddenly it’s April and my next half marathon is next month. My current training plan is 12 weeks long so I’m about half way through it. This training cycle has been a bit different than previous ones for various reasons, which I’ll get into later.

First I should back up a bit. I currently have the goal of running a half marathon in all 50 states. The last race I ran was White River Half Marathon, Cotter, Arkansas-44th state which seems like an eternity ago even though it was about four months ago. After the race, I was all set to take my usual mandatory two weeks off from running but then I decided I wanted to run while on vacation in Grand Cayman Island.

My vacation in the Caribbean was one week after the race in Arkansas so I suppose I did have a week off from running even though I was still hiking in Hot Springs after the race. Running in Grand Cayman Island was purely for fun, though. Especially lately I’ve been having so much fun running on vacation so I didn’t want to miss the chance to explore the island by running. Here’s one of my favorite photos taken while running in Grand Cayman Island (it was in front of someone’s house by their mailbox):

After I got home from Grand Cayman Island, I got to take some time off the more focused, intense running I do when training for a race and just ran for fun when I felt like it and the weather was amenable. It was nice not having to run through the holidays or the unpredictable weather we had in January. Finally in February, I started my current training plan. Everything seemed to be falling into place. I felt good and wasn’t having any nagging pains or other issues. My iron levels seemed to be OK, but honestly that’s a complicated story I won’t get into here. Long story short, my anemia from last fall was under control.

In late February I went on vacation to Kauai and Oahu and ran on both Hawaiian islands, Running in Kauai and Oahu Hawaii, basically having a ton of fun and enjoying the gorgeous ocean views on my runs. Then I got sick about a week into my vacation and developed a cough that was relentless. Nonetheless, I didn’t let it stop me from enjoying my vacation or from running, though I did take one day off from a scheduled run because I just felt too wiped out from the lack of sleep.

Enjoying the scenery while running in Kauai

When I got home from Hawaii, I still had the cough. For weeks. On end. It seemed although the cold went away, it was swiftly replaced with terrible allergies, causing yes you guessed it, a cough. Finally around the end of March I began to feel better. This was one of the worst coughs I’ve had other than my many bouts with bronchitis because it just wouldn’t stop. Many times in the past when I’ve had a cold with cough I’ve been able to run without coughing then as soon as I stopped, I’d be hit with a coughing fit. This time, I was still coughing when I was (attempting) to run, pretty much the entire time. I’d even have to stop running because I’d just start coughing so hard and uncontrollably.

As I said, though, the coughing finally ceased and around the end of March I could run without coughing for the first time in months. Somehow I managed to mostly still hit my time and distance goals through all of this. According to Strava, my runs were “trending faster.” I was getting multiple PR’s on runs (again, according to Strava). I have no idea how, but I’ll take it.

Now I finally feel like I have April to reach my plateau before the race. I’ve put it out there that I’d like to finish in the top three for my age group in a race this year. I feel like if it’s going to happen, it’s going to be at my race in May but that was based on previous year’s finishes at this race, not based on how my training has been going. Admittedly, my training hasn’t been as great as it could have given how long I had the cough from hell. I guess only time will tell how all of that effected my training. I also know that there are many other factors effecting my age group standing, like who else decides to run that day, the weather and other race-day conditions, and my health that day. For now, I’m optimistic!

Are you training for a race now and if so how has it been going? If not, do you plan on running a race later this year? How do you decide which training plan to follow for a race or do you just wing it and not really follow a plan?

Finally, I have a couple of one-time use codes good for 40% off Honey Stinger products online plus free shipping. Use by April 12. If you’d like one, send me an email (runningtotravel AT gmail).

Happy running!

Donna