Next goal race – Lehigh Valley Half-Marathon
I joined some friends and coworkers in signing up for the Lehigh Valley Half-Marathon (LVHM) which will be held in Allentown, PA on Sunday April 27th. I ran the LVHM that was held in April of this year, it was the first “big race” of my adult running career and I had a fantastic time. The race was very well put together, I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a half-marathon this spring.
I’m going to train for the race starting in mid-December using an 18 week half-marathon program from the FIRST people. Hopefully this will let me build some strength on top of the mile/5k speed I’ve developed. I bought and read the book and have a few thoughts on the program from analyzing the paces and workouts suggested, but I’ll wait until I’ve been training on the program for five or six weeks before commenting.
November 16th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
Hey nice. I am always looking for a good half to run.
The FIRST plans still scare me. Maybe in a year or so I’d feel confident enough to try one. The paces I calculated for a Half plan were FAST.
Good luck. Always nice to have a big race to plan for.
November 16th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
The suggested paces intimidate me too. I’m purposely picking a slower pace to start than what my 5k times indicate. I think I’ll try the program for a while and then do a mini-tapered 10k race and retarget my half-marathon goal pace based on how I perform.
Two downsides to the FIRST program are:
* less days running (which is great for people that are time-crunched, but I really enjoy running, I don’t think I’ll enjoy my cross-training time nearly as much)
* all running is fast (restricts the set of people I’ll be able to run with, and also rules out trail running which I’d like to try)
November 18th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
I might jump on the bandwagon here too… Unfortunately, I’m not even running right now. But, I hope to get back on the roads soon. Biking it is for now.
Sounds like the FIRST program works against some of your basics to running. But, I guess a good result cures all that, huh?
November 18th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Eric – if I can get a 1/2 marathon that tracks closer to the times that the McMillan and Daniels’ calculators predict based off my recent 5k performances it will be worth it.
I hope your foot heals up soon and you can join us at the LVHM, I’m sure all the biking you are doing is keeping your heart strong.