That didn't quite go as anticipated

I am awful at keeping to workout schedules.  So, so, so awful.  I am even worse about working out when I don't have one, so I make them, knowing that they probably won't be followed nearly as well as they should be.  I tend to be somewhat rebellious when it comes to workout schedules.

 

From Pinterest

 

After being super excited about finally figuring out how to make those image do-hickey-thingamajigs on PicMonkey that all of the good workout people make, I went and blew the schedule on the very first day.  Ooooops.  That isn't a very good start I suppose.  I did catch up last night, though, and got in 2.18 miles of run/walk, plus stretching and foam rolling.  Mondays and Fridays are a huge challenge for me in terms of working out, so I may shift my workouts for the next few weeks so that they fall on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and one weekend workout.  Hopefully this will help me to actually get the work done in order to start a half marathon training plan.

And speaking of half marathon training... Only 7 days into the New Year, and I am already re-evaluating my goals for my next half marathon on May 4.  I had hoped that this would be "MY" race, and that I could realize my goal of running 13.1 miles in under 2 hours and 30 minutes.  Well, then that 2.18 mile run yesterday happened.  It didn't feel good.  It wasn't pretty.  In fact, it was miserable, and my hips protested a bit.  It made me seriously consider when I want to peak in my training, and what my marathon plans for September will be.  I want to meet my goals, but not to permanent detriment to my body.  That's just craziness, and not worth it.  For the record, I WILL run a half marathon in 2:30 or less in 2014... but since I'm already planning on doing 3 or 4 half marathons, I have options, and it's worthless to limit your options when it comes to things like which race you plan to set a PR at.

So instead of doing the same things I've been doing in the past, I am going to take a different approach to this next half-marathon, and I'm going to do run-walk intervals of running 5 minutes, walking 1 minute.  I'm going to use Jenny Hadfield's Run-Walk Half Marathon training program.  My goal for this half marathons is going to be consistency.  Sticking with the intervals.  Keeping steady pacing in both the running and walking portions.  Not going out so hard that I hurt myself and limp in.  Being able to cross the finish line with a little gas left in the tank.  All of these are things that I will be proud to accomplish on May 4.  No, it isn't running the whole way, but since I haven't gotten quite there yet, I think being able to say that I ran 5/6ths will be better than "I made it to 8 miles and couldn't go any further, so I limped in".  That's the hope, at least.  I don't know.

This is what I look like after limping to the finish line.  Not pretty.  Poor Alyx does not want to hang out with me looking all gross and grumpy and shit.  Also, this is probably one of the only pictures I've taken where you can actually see some of my scars from knee surgery.  Neato.

Honestly, I'm pretty excited about this run/walk program.  It looks challenging, but doable, and intervals are nice because you're constantly switching things up and less likely to be bored.  My theory, at least, because running is kind of boring unless you're with people who are willing to chat/commiserate the whole damn way with you.

Anyway, hos are your goals/themes/words/resolutions going?  Are you still right on top of them, or are you having to re-evaluate a little?