GOOD MORNING! I’m happy to report no leg pain this morning, besides the usual runner’s soreness. 🙂 It’s looking good for the half marathon on Saturday!

I have this theory that if you wake up hungry, you didn’t overeat the night before (within reason).  Now, I’ve been woken up in the middle of the night due to hunger, and you can bet I wandering into the kitchen at 4 AM and slammed a glass of milk.  But, in general, I believe if I feel hungry while brushing my teeth and getting dressed, I didn’t overdo it the night before.

For the record, I became very hungry around 9:30 PM last night and had a small bowl of Kashi Heart to Heart, almonds, and raisins in skim milk.  Since I woke up hungry, I guess my body needed that extra fuel!

Breakfast – Sweet Potato Casserole Oatmeal

For breakie, I made Sweet Potato Casserole Oatmeal.  Yet another fun way to sneak veggies into my first meal of the day!

I’m kind of glad I accidentally bought two containers of full fat Fage the other week, because inside of eating a container in a single sitting, I’ve been able to stretcccch out the single Fage for a week. It’s so rich and creamy that you can only eat a little bit at a time!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 small banana, sliced
• 1/3 small sweet potato, baked and chilled overnight
• Topping: sprinkle of brown sugar and a dollop of Fage mixed with cinnamon

Musings on Training Plans

I’ve had a lot of questions recently about training plans.  I don’t follow a specific training plan now, but I used one for my first 10K. I went from the couch to a 10K in about 8 weeks, and the only way I could’ve managed this was through a structured plan.

An important rule of running (which I just learned recently) is that it’s very important to slowly increase your total weekly mileage. Even if your heart rate/lungs can handle it, the bones in your legs might not be able to.  So, if you’re currently running 6 miles a week, don’t try to do 15 miles next week.  I definitely blew this rule a few weeks ago (jumped from 25 miles to over 30), and I’m afraid that’s why I’ve been having leg issues.  Be wise, and go slow! 

This is the 10K program I used: Hal Higdon 10K Novice Plan. I kept a copy of the plan at my desk and would check off each day as I went.  I signed up for a 10K around Week 3 so I was committed.  I like Hal’s programs the best because each distance can be tailored to Novice, Intermediate, or Advanced.

Here are some other great training programs (I’m not going to recommend any marathon training schedules because I’ve never done one!):

5K Training Programs

• Hal Higdon (an 8-week program)
• Couch to 5K (a 9-week program)
• Runner’s World (a 6-week program)
• Jeff Galloway (a 15-week program)

10K Training Program

• Hal Higdon (an 8-week program)
• Runner’s World (a 6-week program)
• Jeff Galloway (a 13-week program)
• Marathon Rookie (a 7-week program)
• Running Times (a 15-week program)

15K Training Programs

• Hal Higdon (a 10-week program)

Half Marathon Training Programs

• Hal Higdon (a 12-week program)
• Runner’s World (an 8-week program)

Happy running! 🙂