I got back to Washington on Monday afternoon and promptly got a fever. That was nice. I was kind of out of commission for two days, but I got to read John Green's new novel,
The Fault in Our Stars , while blubbering in public (because it's a beautiful book, not because I was sick). It comes highly recommended.
Yesterday, instead of just loafing around,
I got down to business and got organized.
I cleaned off my desk
It will surely be very cluttered once the semester kicks in!
I have a bit of a post-it note fetish. And a shiny sharpie fetish.
And a general office supply fetish. Also, it's a great idea to post
your goals on your wall, ya dummy.
And, I went berserk on my new planner. Wooooo!
Moleskine (and different color pens) FTW!
The biggest accomplishment of this organization was that I hammered out my spring workout schedule, which I intend to follow to the fullest extent of my being.
You see, after I got some awesome new gear over the holidays, I started up my running routine again, and there is only one word that can describe it: OUCH. When discussing this with a fitness-savvy friend today, she told me that
it only takes four days for your body to fall out of shape from a cardio routine. All that work from the summer onward, training for the MMRF 5K... out the window!
I took a measly three weeks off from running altogether, instead choosing yoga or more plyometric cardio, and I couldn't make it two miles without stopping to walk. I realized that if I was going to finish the St. Patty's Day 8K (exactly 8 weeks from today),
I needed to get on a training plan, and fast.
I checked out some different plans and a lot of them seemed like they were for way more advanced runners than me. Since 8K is a new distance for me, I have one goal:
to finish the race without walking. I don't need to be fast or conquer hills like a Spartan. Plodding along is just fine.
So, I made what I thought would be an ideal workout schedule for me, then looked at
Hal Higdon's plan . The two are shockingly similar,
the largest differences being thatI allow myself one "flex day" where I get to choose my poison, because I get bored pretty quickly, andI made sure that yoga is part of my schedule, because I believe it provides great strength training for my whole body, because it quiets my mind and gets me in the right positive mood for running, and because one of my 2012 goals is to practice yoga once a week!So here it is! My Spring 2012 Workout/8K Training Schedule.
Monday: 2.5 mile run
Tuesday: Strength Training
Wednesday: 3.5 mile run
Thursday: Active Rest Day- go for a walk, do core work, stretch while watching TV, bike.
Friday: Flex Day- Yoga, Strength training, Spinning, Low-Key Jog.
Saturday: 8K Training Run
Sunday: Yoga
For the first week or two I'm going to cut myself some slack on my short runs, and just like I did for my 5K training, I'm going to allow myself less and less walk breaks as I do my 8K runs. Some people like to work on a taper plan training for races (in fact, it's also what Higdon recommends), but I think that would make me nervous. I only started seriously training for my 5K about two months before the race by run-walking the entire distance once a week, and it worked out really well.
BAM!
I'll let you know how my new training plan goes! :)
Have you adapted your workout schedule for the new year? Have you run an 8K before? 
Yesterday, instead of just loafing around, I got down to business and got organized.
I cleaned off my desk
And a general office supply fetish. Also, it's a great idea to post
your goals on your wall, ya dummy.
You see, after I got some awesome new gear over the holidays, I started up my running routine again, and there is only one word that can describe it: OUCH. When discussing this with a fitness-savvy friend today, she told me that it only takes four days for your body to fall out of shape from a cardio routine. All that work from the summer onward, training for the MMRF 5K... out the window!
I took a measly three weeks off from running altogether, instead choosing yoga or more plyometric cardio, and I couldn't make it two miles without stopping to walk. I realized that if I was going to finish the St. Patty's Day 8K (exactly 8 weeks from today), I needed to get on a training plan, and fast.
I checked out some different plans and a lot of them seemed like they were for way more advanced runners than me. Since 8K is a new distance for me, I have one goal: to finish the race without walking. I don't need to be fast or conquer hills like a Spartan. Plodding along is just fine.
So, I made what I thought would be an ideal workout schedule for me, then looked at Hal Higdon's plan . The two are shockingly similar, the largest differences being that
I'll let you know how my new training plan goes! :)
Have you adapted your workout schedule for the new year? Have you run an 8K before?