This isn’t the first time I’ve started running from scratch - I’ve had a few ons and offs over the years. Unfortunately, this time I restarted at my heaviest weight ever (hello early COVID Pizza Hut $10 medium pizza special), but I’m back! I’ve been consistently getting out the door for several weeks now and am down about 25lbs of pizza with another 15(ish) to go.
The good thing about not having any races to look toward is that it’s a great time to really focus on building aerobic volume, keeping those easy runs EASY and doing a bit of polarized training to keep some memory of speed in my legs. Although I’m not certain what my running future looks like (a BQ sounds nice, but so does running a sub-20 minute 5k again), the half marathon distance has always been a very manageable distance for me in training so I’ve decided to focus on that. For now. The hard part is finding the motivation to get out the door, especially going into the dark, cold, wet months.
About a month ago I found the Zap Endurance Half Marathon Training Plan and was sold - just what I needed to keep some focus! It has 3 different plans to follow depending on one’s current fitness level and it’s easy to blend two groups to adjust mileage. I chose to start with Group A since I’m really putting in my best effort to build mileage slowly and lose some more weight before looking too seriously at any running goals. Now mid-way through week 4, I’ve decided to try increasing my number of runs/week as well as my mileage ever so slightly so I’m combining Groups A & B. I’ll start doing some of the strides that Group B prescribes next week, too.
Since my work schedule isn’t the standard M-F 9-5, I’m doing my long runs on Fridays which will make “race day” land on January 1st. While I won’t be racing it per se, starting a new year with 13 miles under the belt seems like a good place to move forward from. Maybe by then we’ll have a little more hope for racing in 2021 (fingers crossed!).
Despite being a solo runner for many years now, I know how demotivating it can be to go solo when you’re used to having groups to run with. FitFirst has an amazing community of runners who’ve come together over the years and we can’t wait for you all to be reunited! In the meantime, join the FitFirst Run Club facebook group if you haven’t already and never hesitate to pop by the store to chat all things running. A new pair of shoes never hurts to bring some fun back into the sport, too ;)
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Deirdre has been running on and off (more on than off) since she was 9 years old when she came home from school and announced to her parents that she had joined cross country. After many years of competitive running and then dabbling with long distance triathlon, she has found her “comfortable” place back in the recreational single sport world. Deirdre, a Certified Professional Dog Trainer and Feline Behaviour Specialist, has owned/operated Sassi Pet Services for more than a decade and is thrilled to have jumped back to her running roots by joining the FitFirst family on a part-time basis. You can follow her on strava & instagram and check back weekly for updates on her training!