The first day of December is on Tuesday (is that crazy or what?) which means time is flying and before I know it, it will be time to run my next half marathon, the Fred Lebow Half Marathon on January 24, 2016.
While the half marathon distance isn’t something I need to train for, I do want to focus on a few things in order to give my best possible effort come race day.
Hills.
Central Park is tough. It’s loaded with rolling hills and I do not train on hills at all! When I ran my first Fitness Magazine half in April 2013 (with an injured shoulder, I still don’t understand how I ran the race!) which also runs the Central Park course, I ran the hills very well with a finish time of 1:49:01.
What sticks out in my mind from that time period is that my weekly mileage was much lower and my cross training (spin and elliptical) were much higher in priority.
While I do not plan on joining Lifetime again right now for spin, I do plan to force myself inside to the gym more often (at least once a week) for the elliptical machine. I have always felt that the random ramp setting combined with high resistance has helped my legs train for hilly races.
If I am not feeling too stubborn, I may also skip outdoor running of my usual loop for the treadmill so that I can run with an incline.
Speed.
I have been doing well when it comes to incorporating speed work into my runs lately so I will continue with my usual workout routine.
Pure Barre & Yoga.
I have no intentions of changing how often I do either Pure Barre or Yoga for the time being. As the race approaches, I will adjust the frequency, lightening up on Pure Barre probably during the week before the race.
Even with training and preparation, the January weather may impact the race. I am praying that the weather stays mild, or, at the very least, let it be frigid without snow falling or ice on the ground. Cold I can handle, winter precipitation is a whole other story!
For now let’s take a look at my workouts from the past Thanksgiving week:
Monday – Pure Barre Mile High 2 DVD & 5 Miles
I like starting off the week with an unstructured easy run. This felt nice.
Tuesday – 8 Miles
Totally awesome run today! It was fairly cold outside (29 degrees) which helps me to run faster without really feeling it.
Wednesday – Pure Barre Mile High 1 DVD & 35 Minutes Elliptical
Early morning elliptical time focusing on resistance and hills. I like watching the news for a change rather than listening to music.
Thursday – 10 Miles
An uneventful and quiet Thanksgiving morning run.
Friday- Pure Barre Studio Series 3 DVD
I did not feel like running this morning so I didn’t.
Saturday- 13 Miles
An average pace of 9:10 does not even come close to telling the whole story for this long run. Post to come about it tomorrow.
That sunrise though…
Sunday – Pure Barre or Yoga
[bctt tweet=”Half Marathon training & workout recap #running #halfmarathon #FLMH #workoutrecap #fitlfuential @pure_barre”]
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Are you training for a winter race?
How often do you run hills?
Best thing you have eaten since Thanksgiving?
The Cookie ChRUNicles 
I used to never run hills and now I can’t get away from them! I thought by now that they would feel easier but I think they will always be challenging for me. Or maybe I need to learn how to run them better. I do love the downhills though!
I can’t say I’m feeling happy to be reminded of this race! Clearly I will not be running it for time, and I know this bug can’t possibly last forever…
The first time I ran it I was really prepared for the hills – it’s something to consider but not focus on too much. I just like that it’s guaranteed cold weather 🙂
I need to add hills back into my routine. I trained on hills frequently during marathon training and it does make a big difference for me. I start training for a half soon; I know that I can finish, but I really want to run a faster time.
I train on hills during the warm weather months because you kind of have to if you run outside. Now and when it’s cold and snowy I run on the treadmill. This AM I watched Week In A Day with Rachel Ray ❤ She still has my heart. The best thing I've eaten since Thanksgiving is this chocolate peppermint milk my roommate bought. I came home from work last night and chugged half the carton. It definitely feels like Christmas now!
I can't wait to read about your long run 🙂
I am “training” for the Disney World 10K and Half on January 8/9 as well as the Lebow – I’m lucky in that Central Park is where I train, but also unlucky in that I have a feeling running the Lebow is going to feel like a regular run for me except with way too many people around 🙂 At least they reversed to counter-clockwise loops so you’re going the opposite way up Harlem Hill – marginally better in my personal opinion!
I always wanted to run that Disney World half! One day I will, so exciting that you are running it so soon!
I plan to run my 4th Hangover Half Marathon on Jan 1 in Albany, NY. It’s the only Half I’ve ever done. I’ve never trained for it, though I’m hoping to up my long run a bit, to 2 hours this winter.
I run some hills weekly and have started to use the treadmill incline more.
fMy meals habe been lackluster since Tday.
Some of my running routes have some big hills in them and I’d run these 3-4 times a week so I get a good amount of hill training in but I haven’t done hill sprints in a long while. I really should as I think they do help build power in your legs. Not training for a winter race as such but I’m planning on doing my own “race” on Christmas weekend to give me some focus…and also to get me out of the house! 🙂
I was considering running the Phoenix Marathon in February but now I’m thinking about the Disney World Marathon in January! I don’t start my new job till January 25th which means I have time to train and race 🙂
Best thing I ate after Thanksgiving were the donuts from Sweetwater’s Donut Mill in Kalamazoo, MI! We were driving back to Chicago on Sunday and stumbled upon this place when we were looking to fill up gas. Delicious find!!