As we speak I am in the middle of training for my fourth half marathon. I can remember the first time I committed myself to the arduous process and asking “Where do I even begin?” I scoured the internet and found a few training schedules that I adhered to religiously. Since then, I have been able to modify these schedules to accommodate to my fitness interests, level, and time. I’ve been asked by several friends what I do to train and so I thought I would share my personal training schedule with you. I’m not an expert in this field, this is simply what has worked for me.

Cross Training: The first couple of times I trained, I ignored the cross train component and found myself riddled with injuries. This is crucial and can encompass whatever you find to be interesting. My personal favorite is taking a spin class or creating my own “boot camp” like routine. Other forms could include swimming, road cycling, zumba classes, kick boxing classes…. anything that can get your heart rate up in a different way than running.

Stretch: I’d say this goes without saying, but I didn’t stretch after my first half marathon and what followed was 4-6 weeks of recovering from a back injury. Check back next week for the best stretches for the back. Core work is awesome to incorporate on these days as well. A strong core equals a strong back (I learned that the hard way). For core strengthening moves click here, here, here, and here.

Happy running!!

Thanks for reading!

<3, Shannon