ZellyB
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2010
REFLECTIONS ON OUR FIRST @DopeyBadger TRAINING PLAN
So, we've officially completed our first @DopeyBadger training plan. Billy posted this info in his journal already, but I wanted to share it here as well.
Plan #164
Name: Zellyb
Race/Distance: Rock the Parkway Half Marathon
Training Plan Duration (weeks): 12 weeks
Continuous or Run/Walk: Run/Walk primarily but with a once a week portion at continuous
Days per Week: 5
# of Hard Days (per week): 2 (including long run)
Peak Week Duration: 5:53
Peak Week Mileage: 30 miles
Peak Single Run Duration: 1:50
Peak Single Run Mileage: 10 miles
PR at Distance Going into it (including when it occurred): 2:12:07 October, 2017
Expectations Going into it: Hoping for a new PR (stretch goal to get below 2:10). Actual completion time 2:12:34.
How closely were you able to follow the plan as written: Not as closely as I wanted. I ended up with a groin strain during the training and had to miss or curtail several runs. LIFE was also a bit of a challenge that hurt us some. Looking at my spreadsheet we missed 13 individual training runs and many of those were late in the training cycle after the injury.
Testimonial: I've been running for 5 1/2 years now following basic Galloway training plans and doing run/walk. We decided to give one of Billy's plans a try in our run up to the Chicago Marathon in October and my ultimate goal of getting a sub-5:00 marathon time. We committed to going to a 5-day per week running schedule where we'd previously do 4 days per week max. It was a big adjustment learning to run more slowly as our previous runs were nearly always at or near race pace. It was certainly hard for me to wrap my head around the idea of running most runs so much slower and then being able to break out much faster speeds on race day, but I'd read so many great success stories here and read Billy's intensive research process, so we had faith and took the leap. While we missed a PR on this course by 27 seconds, I count it a victory. Our PR race was on a much flatter course than this one and those conditions were ideal. This race, aside from being much more hilly, had 15 MPH sustained winds and gusts up to almost 25 mph - we even got sleeted on during this race. The last 4 miles were straight into a headwind with some significant uphills to manage. After dealing with the initial disappointment of missing a new PR, I recognized that the same training and effort on the PR course and the PR conditions would have absolutely resulted in a new PR. So, sometimes you must just accept those things that are outside your control and do your best. I feel like I was absolutely well-prepared for this race even though we'd not done any single long runs over 10 miles (we'd gone up to 16 or 18 mile long training runs before our last PR) and most at a much slower pace. I felt strong throughout this race and was comfortably able to follow Billy's race strategy. The difference was those last couple of miles with hills and headwind that made the difference. We're already looking for the next possible race to test out our conditioning, but we are excited to see where the next training cycle leads us.
I'm really pleased with the results of this training plan. After spending the last 5 years working diligently to improve my overall fitness and speed, I felt like I'd really taken myself about as far as I could go following the standard Galloway plans. Even with last year, pushing to 4 days per week, I wanted to try and see if there was more in there. I absolutely felt like running more days was a crucial part of the success we had last year and why I told Billy we wanted to try for 5 days per week of running. With Chicago on the horizon, I'm hoping for the best running season yet!
I was initially kind of bummed out about missing our PR on the run Saturday, but after some reflection and discussion with Chris, I think we both recognized that the same effort on the other PR course with similar conditions would most certainly have yielded a new PR. That's pretty freaking exciting honestly. I'd not really tried to RACE at all since that last PR attempt in October, so with just a 12 week training plan and much slower training runs, I was at PR condition. That's great and gives me a lot of confidence going forward.
After a couple of PM conversations with Coach and searching for some new races, we are going to give that HM PR another shot at the Independence Half Marathon. The race is Sunday May 6, so just 3 weeks away, but Coach thinks we should be close to back to 100% by that time. I feel like that PR is in there and just waiting to bust out! I admit that I really tried to feel confident going into this last weekend, but I had some doubts but coming as close as I did to a PR under tough conditions has really given me a boost of confidence. So, onward and upward!
I'm going to reintroduce some strength training and yoga again as well (although MUCH more carefully than last time when I strained my groin).
I felt like that conditioning also was critical to my success last season and I want to manage the same this year. Plus yoga just makes me feel good and sleep better!
This week is about resting and recovery, but then we are back at it!
