New Training & Midweek Randos

So I am 14.5 weeks out from my half marathon (we're definitely going with one in November!) and have officially begun training.....dun dun dun!! Although running outside now is still kicking my butt, I definitely feel like I'm burning off some goo and I like my new training schedule.  Once I'm 9 weeks out, I will begin to follow this schedule I found on The Runner's World.

Week	M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Total
1	Rest	2 miles. 5-7x1:00 AI, 2 miles	Rest	4 miles + 4 GP	Rest	3-4 miles	6-7 miles	19-21 miles
2	Rest	2 miles, 5-7x1:00 AI, 2 miles	Rest	4 miles + 4 GP	Rest	3-4 miles	6-7 miles	19-21 miles
3	Rest	2 miles, 2x[1:00, 1:30, 2:00] AI, 2 miles	Rest	4 miles, incl. 4x1:00 AI + 5-6 GP	Rest	5-K race	4-5 miles	22-24 miles
4	Rest	3 miles,3x[2:00, 2:30] AI, 2 miles	Rest	5-6 miles, incl. 4x1:30 AI + 6 GP	Rest	3-4 miles	7-8 miles	24-26 miles
5	Rest	3 miles, 3x[2:00, 2:30] AI, 2 miles	Rest	5-6 miles, incl. 4x1:30 AI + 6 GP	Rest	3-4 miles	7-8 miles	24-26 miles
6	Rest	3 miles, 2x2:00 AI, 2x2:30 AI, 1x3:00 AI+6 GP, 2 miles	Rest	5-6 miles + 4 GP	Rest	10-K race	4 miles	27-30 miles
7	Rest	3 miles, 2x[2:00. 3:00, 4:00] AI, 2 miles	Rest	6 miles, incl. 4x2:00 AI + 6 GP	Rest	5-6 miles	9-10 miles	32-34 miles
8	Rest	3 miles, 2x[2:00. 3:00, 4:00] AI, 2 miles	Rest	6 miles, incl. 4x2:00 AI+ 6 GP	Rest	5-6miles	9-10 miles	32-34 miles
Taper	Rest	2 miles, 4x1:00 AI	Rest	2 miles easy, 4 x GP	Rest	2miles	Half-marathon race

via

I'm not following it to a T yet as far as how much to run each day, aerobic intervals, gentle pick ups, etc, but I am following the run/rest recommendation.  In my old work out schedule I would run & weight lift about 5 days a week. By the end of the week I could always tell my legs and muscles were giving out on me and my runs seemed WAY harder by day 5!

So on "rest days" I no longer run, but still go to the gym to do my weight routines and first start off with 10-15 minutes on the stair stepper or treadmill at an incline to get my heart rate up.  Holy moly has this made me a happy worker-outer!  (That's a word, yeah?)  Now my workouts whether at the gym or running are about an hour as opposed to the hour and a half to two hours that they used to be with running and lifting all combined!

So now I feel like this working out....

Instead of like this....

Haha, you get the idea any way.  I used to get burnt out working out for so long and get in a rut!  So I think these rest days are the ticket.

I think I've figured out that while Benny may be a contributor to my allergies, he is not the main cause.  Sunday, while sitting in the airport for hours upon hours, I slowly went into an allergen fit!  Stuffy, itchy nose, sneezy, did I mention itchy?  For some reason when I travel I forget how to take my vitamins & zyrtec.  Weird.  So Sunday and Monday I paid for it.  But that means that Benson stays (ha, like him leaving was ever even in question ;)

Monday & Tuesday I think I had a massive allergy headache going on.  It was terrible, debilitating even.  But today I have been headache free all day long. Hallelujah!!

I FINALLY finished reading Water for Elephants.  I blogged about being excited to read it here and now, almost 2 months later, its read!  It took me a bit to really get into, but I love, love, loved it!!  Now I can't wait to see the movie!

Have you seen the trailers for this movie??

I picked up this book last week and can't wait to get started!  I'll be traveling with Brandon next week (making our way back up to Michigan) and will have PLENTY of time to read tagging along in the back seat of his car :)  Hopefully I'll be finished reading and ready for the movie when it comes out soon!

Happy hump day friends :)