20 Day Half Marathon Training…
I am running the Bupa Great Birmingham Run on the 19th of October, but I recently recovered from an ankle injury and now have 20 days to train for the Half- Marathon.
I first ran a half-marathon on my birthday last year. I ran the Bupa great Birmingham run just to prove my cousin Mahad wrong. Prove that I can run the half-marathon with very little training; I not only proved him wrong but I finished the race 13 minutes faster than him.
Prior to the half marathon I had only ran 9 times from September till the marathon and my longest run was 5.79km in 28Minutes. That put me very far of the minimum requirement of 18 runs to train of a half marathon, as many website stated one needs to run at least 3 times a week for 8–13 weeks to be ready for a half marathon.
I made it across the finishing line… ☺
After the crossing the finish line with my heart beating out of chest and my lungs screaming for air, there was a smile on my face for both the satisfaction of knowing that the agony was over and the realisation that I actually finished the race. I received a medal which I believe I have earned and T-Shirt which was awesome.
It was there that I pledged to come back in 2014 and beat my current record of 2hours 12minutes 30seconds; fast forward to 2014….
2014
In 2014 I ran 24 times averaging 6.8km; I was doing great until august 29th when I sprained my ankle badly and DR told me to not run for 4 weeks. At the time I assumed I would not be able to beat my current record, it would be impossible.
On Friday 26th September I was cleared to run again and I did exactly that, well at the very least I tried to run; running 5.62kms in 37Minutes with my heart beating out of my chest, heavily gasping for air and sweating buckets. I was disappointed with myself and decided that I had to try again the following day. I ran 5.64kms in 33Minutes cutting 4 minutes off yesterday’s time. That was when I decided to do script my crazy half marathon training schedule and set my crazy target of cutting 30Minutes of my previous half marathon time.
Thus I pledged on my Facebook that I would run the half marathon in 1Hour 45Minutes; yes it sounds crazy but no goal is worth setting unless it is CRAZY HARD TO ACHIEVE.
Crazy training schedule
My crazy training schedule is 20 days long which consists of about 20 runs and 4 rest days. At this point you might be thinking is he trying to kill himself?. Okay maybe I am being a little extreme but in my defence it was the only possible way I could knock 30Minuts of my previous time.
Mental prep
I printed the time sheet of my previous half marathon and sellotaped it next to my bed; so each morning I remember the time I have to beat. The time sheet has a picture of marathon runners and one odd guy comes on to focus when I look at the picture; his number is 6212 also known as James, yes I Googled him but not sure if it is him and no I am not a stalker; I just would like to who I wake up next to. But on a serious note having the time sheet helps me focus on beating my previous time
Having informed all my friends on my crazy target and they did what all morally supportive friends would and started to laugh and made bets on me (how supportive hey). I believe in the power of others, telling others about your goals and targets helps you as you try you best no to disappoint them or in my case prove them wrong.
Training plan
As mentioned in the title this training plan is 20 days long, it will be high intensity and quick recovery as there are only 4 rest days. The training plan is about 3 weeks long which helps divide the intensity of the training; start slow, explosive medium and slow end.
Week one (training wheels week)
This week is where the foundations is tested and avoid going back to injury. I plan to run 5 times during this week as it is the beginning. I expect my muscles will cry for help and I will ignore them as any good runner would until they cannot move any more. During this week I will run once a day starting with small runs of 5K then increase to longer runs of 10K.
Week two (peak week)
If training wheels week goes as planned (and it will) the high intensity of peak week will commence! This week will be very difficult as I am aiming to run 65kms in 5 day than end the week with a 21.1km practice run on Saturdays giving me Sunday off.
Week three (Home run)
Home run week will be the rebirth of my legs as they must have died during peak week. During this week I will focus on finding my pace for the half marathon. Attempting to keep a steady pace during all runs this week will reflect my pace in the race.
Race day (Judgment Day)
Well at this point I hope the plan for the three weeks above went well and I did not procrastinate nor feel too lazy to run and that I stayed motivated with clear target insight.
Judgment day is not fair nor nice to any soul thus must I not walk but run through the valley of death passing runners which lay waste to the side to reach the light at end of the tunnel.
Charity
I am running the half marathon for MacMillan, which is a charity that helps cancer patient in the UK. I am trying to raise £100 for the charity; I would be grateful if you contributed no matter how small.
No one should face cancer alone.
