ZOOMA Chicago Training Plan

Good morning, everyone!  We're halfway through the week, and I hope everyone is having a good one.  I've still got a lot to finish up before my flight Thursday night, but I'm trying to stay positive and get it all done!

When I get back from my trip home, it's time to start training for another half marathon!  On August 2nd, I'll be running the ZOOMA Women's Half Marathon in Chicago!

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Fun fact: I actually won an entry to this race thanks to a Twitter chat!!  I was so, so excited, and I can't wait to run this race!  I've heard nothing but good things about the ZOOMA race series and am hoping my experience is just as great.

I've come up with a training plan for this race and will start it on Monday (Memorial Day).  I wanted to go ahead and post it so that I can keep myself accountable and actually get started with the training when I say I'm going to.

Key: 

20+S=20 minutes of running with a strength workout.  This will most likely be the BodyPump class that I regularly attend with a short run either before or after the class

3 m SW=3 mile run with some speedwork.  The type of speedwork will vary week to week, but I do want to incorporate that more in my training

S/Yoga=Strength/Yoga.  I might to do both, I might do one or the other.  Depends on the day!

2 m/CT=2 miles and/or cross-training.  Nothing too heavy, though, considering the next day's work

LR=Long run.  I'll start with a 5-mile long run and work my way up to 12 miles, increasing 1 mile a week

I may be switching some of these things around, but we'll start here and just see how things go.  My main goal for training is to stick with it!  A lot of times, I make a plan for myself and don't follow through.  I have some ideas of how to motivate myself to do so, and I'll share those with you throughout the training process.

Keep in mind that I AM NOT a fitness professional/running coach.  These are things that have worked for me in the past, and I already have a running base to work from.  Ideally, I'd like to train for longer, but this is the time frame I have to work with (due to my own recent laziness).

Question for you: Do you have anything that you are training for right now?