Chalkboard Schedules

There's a new schedule taped to the chalkboard in the kitchen.

Last summer and early fall, there was a marathon training schedule up there.

Then, for a few months, there was nothing.

In December, up went the stress fracture return to running program.

That just came down and now my half-marathon training program for the June 3rd Women's half marathon is proudly featured.

It's my own schedule that I pieced together from previous half marathon training plans. It's pretty tame. There are no hill or interval training sessions on Thursdays. I will not be running 13k every Tuesday. I will be running 60 minutes every Tuesday and Thursday and I will be adding 2k to my long runs every Saturday. I get rest weeks every four weeks and I peak at 22k a few weeks out from the race.

I'm not going to break any land speed records. This schedule is all about building up my distance at a very conservative pace while making sure I have enough down time to keep my body strong and healthy.

I still haven't signed up yet - I want to get myself to about 16k before I drop $100 on a race entry. As long as I sign up before April 30th I get the t-shirt so I have until then to test my legs and see if they're ready.

If not, I will NOT be pushing them. There is a time and a place to push through pain. This recovery time is not one of them. If I start hurting, I will back off. If I keep hurting, I will drop out. I'd rather postpone my return to running half marathon than be sidelined again.

I'm cautious, I'm realistic and I have a tight rein on my optimism.

With a little bit of Irish luck I might just get to that start line.

Oh, and did you know that 50 minutes is apparently the magic time when you suddenly need to worry about applying Glide to all those chafing spots? I didn't know either.

Now I do.