So the NH and I have been doing our best to stick with the Jeff Galloway training schedule which was posted to the runDisney website. Got it. No problem. It's there, easy to use, in black and white, and you can understand what you're supposed to do next. 3 days a week or running. Not a big deal, really.
Unless it's winter. Unless sickness befalls you. Unless sickness befalls both of you. Unless health issues decide to double up (and triple up) and befall upon the NH.
So this wonderfully laid out training schedule then became a messy excel document that I have been constantly manipulating to make this thing work. My only experience in training for anything is when I did the Couch to 5K program in late 2014. I even had a difficult time fitting all of those sessions in based on just real life getting in the way, but it did ultimately work! That was the important thing, and that's what I'm trying to keep in mind here. Sure, the distance is doubled, but the concept is the same - prepare as best you can given your circumstances, and that's all you can do.
We have timed ourselves at a pure walking pace, and we came out to 19.5 minutes per mile. That's definitely over the runDisney required pace of 16 minutes per mile. However, we do know that when we're able to run, we can easily shave our time down to around 13 minutes per mile. That's pretty darn good if I say so myself. What this really all depends on is whether or not it will be a good running day for the NH (and for myself, of course).
Considering our sickness and issues, however, I'm happy with where we currently are training-wise. Do I wish we were better? Yes. But what exactly should "better" look like at this point? Does it matter where I wish I was or is where I am more important? I'm going with option number 2 here - focus on where I am and where I need to eventually be - not where I wish I was. Plus, we're really not runners. NH definitely has more sports/athletic experience than I do, but he still doesn't categorize himself as a runner.
Now - more for my sake than yours (sorry, being selfish here), I'm going to share some training numbers.
| Month | Total Miles | Average Pace | Sessions Completed |
|---|---|---|---|
| December | 5.9 miles | 13:36 min/mile | 60% |
| January | 16.2 miles | 12:56 min/mile | 55% |
I had to rearrange the schedule again due to some illness, so the once-upon-a-time long run that was supposed to take place this evening has been pushed into the future. From here on out, I've got something that looks a little different from Jeff Galloway's plan, but it's a plan! So it's something.
Long runs will now be the following:
3.5 miles -- Saturday, February 20th
4.25 miles -- Sunday, February 28th
5.0 miles -- Saturday, March 12th
5.75 miles -- Saturday, March 26th
6.0 miles -- Friday, April 8th
That means the big one - the 6.2 miles (10K) will come on Saturday, April 16th during the actual Star Wars Dark Side 10K. Am I nervous about that? Yes. Oh, yes. But what makes me thing this will be okay is that I did this before when I did the Couch to 5K. I wasn't able to complete my longest run, so my last training run was basically my first real race. It worked out okay, and it was the farthest I had run ever in my life.
I'm hoping that this same thing will hold true for the 10K. Add in the adrenaline and excitement of Star Wars and Disney combined, I think we'll be just fine.
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