Almost 8 weeks in the training plan gone, 4 weeks to go! So how have I managed so far?

For my training plan, I originally thought I would take some inspiration from the plan given to me by one of my club’s coach to finish in 1h45 last year (which I didn’t end up doing as I realised I was pregnant), but take it easy compared to it. Last year’s plan included 4 runs per week and 2 cross training sessions (ballet and yoga). One of the 4 runs was actually to go to a drills’ session to improve technique, and the 3 others played on the pace (easy, tempo, race pace). And this was supposed to add up to 35 to 50km per week (22-30 miles) ! As a comparison, the first 2 half marathons I did, I ran twice a week averaging 15km per week, finishing them in 1h55 and 1h51 respectively.

So last year’s plan was a bit scary. Add a less than 6-month old baby to the equation, and it’s downright daunting! So I did a bit of reading to see if I could maximise my training i.e still manage to do my Half in less than 1h50 (ideally 1h45 but I’m still not at my pre-pregnancy shape although making good progress) but with only 2 runs a week. I know that doing a lot of mileage seems to be the “golden plan” for a half marathon and more so, a marathon… but I’d like to think there are clever ways to make up for the lack of time one can dedicate to running.

So here is what I have been trying to stick to:

• 1x hills session, and go hard to make it count:
  • to improve leg muscles’ strength
  • to build lactate tolerance (here is a good article on why it’s important but a rough summary is greater aerobic tolerance = better oxygen transport to muscles = better oxygen availibility = delayed onset of lactic acid = less pain = better run)
  • to improve coordination (when I run on hills, I focus more on my arms/knees coordination)
  • and improve speed at the same time (with short hills reps) as I don’t have time for another weekly session solely dedicated to speed training.
• 1x long run on Sundays ( aiming for 10 miles ~ 16 km)
• Strength training
  • daily exercises focusing on glutes and pelvis, as recommended by my physio as I ended up visiting one for groin pain (strain mainly felt at ballet and soreness post runs), and knee and ball of foot pain post long runs.
  • Core strengthening with planks when I think about it (twice a week generally)
  • And a local “buggyfit” session, where I can take baby O with me, which is a 30-min HIIT.
• Cross training with my weekly ballet class and a short yoga session in my living room courtesy of YouTube.

On average I have run 20km/week so far. Some of them with Baby O’s and Hubby C’s encouragements.  At this stage I think I can do the Half in 1h50 but not much better. Let’s see how the next 4 weeks go. You can already help me fundraise for Cancer Research by donating on my JustGiving page. Thank you in advance. 🙂

Any new mums out there trying to train for a race? How do you go about it and make time? I will need to make more time somehow for my London marathon training from January, as well as going back to work and introducing Baby O to nursery… scary!