And Thus Begins Our Training Season for 2014

Okay so I have my running plan that leads me to the Bluenose Half Marathon 2014. It is a 24 week plan broken into 4 6 week blocks. And we have just finished week 2.

The first 6 week block for me will be a solid amount of base mileage. And I mean base. This is all slow easy paced running, building my endurance and foundation before the harder work kicks in. Sure I wish I could have started this nice base work during the Fall or some other cool nice weather time, but this is Nova Scotia, this is winter and we just have to deal with it.

Luckily for me I just switched into a new pair of running shoes. Luke at Aerobics First put me into some New Balance 1010v2T. These are a low drop shoe from New Balance's Minimus line. Technically they are a trail shoe with a 4mm drop, but they are also a great winter shoe, just enough grip in the bad stuff but not too much to drag me down. It was also a great time to try a new shoe as my first bit if running is all about frequency and shorter runs. That is a nice way to break in a new shoe.

So how have the first 2 weeks been? I have dealt with snow, rain, wind, ice, and freezing temperatures, but have still manged a great start. The goal has been frequency and I have manged 6 runs in each of these two weeks, for a total of 89.5 km. That was all based on runs of 30-35 minutes max. As I said, frequency and ease was the goal of the first 2 weeks.

So if you read my previous blog posts you will know about heart rate training and zones. I had such great success with that style of training thanks to Jeff Zahavich and Kinesic Sport Lab, that I will continue it this season. So when I say easy running, I don't aim for pace, I am for time versus heart rate. And so far the bulk of my mileage has been in Zone 2, the fat burning zone. Running here will help me build up to a high mileage per week with little risk of injury.

I have also been making sure to include some strength and flexibility training at this point as well. Much of this is based on my work with my physio therapist Anita Connors this past summer.

So do we have goals? Sure, get faster, but do so without injury. Sure, but what about the Bluenose? Well last season I managed a 1:26 at the Half and all I can say is that I want to better that. And I know I can. In an ideal world I would love to break 1:20. Can I do it? Well based on the first 2 weeks of training I would say, I have no clue. But as we start to work on speed, especially in the 3 and 4th block of training this Spring, well I hope I have a good handle on what sort of pace I can race at this Spring.

I will try and keep you all up to date as the program shifts into new types of training, the first of which will happen in 2 weeks with the introduction of the long run! Oh what fun! Honk if you drive by while I run the Bay Road.

Oh and a shout out to the new running group in Timberlea, the Timberlea Tundra Pounders. Hopefully I can join in the reindeer games with you guys soon.