Training Runs - Kara

I have my first half marathon of the year this upcoming Sunday in Little Rock so I don't have any eventful training news to post for the week. It's been an easy one leading up to the big day!

I think there are around 12 of us Sole Sisters headed to the state capitol to run amongst the thousands of runners from across the US. Four of us are running the half marathon (13.1 miles) and the rest of the group is running the full marathon (26.2 miles). We have a lot of injuries so we will see who all is able to keep going once the first half is over. Little Rock offers the largest medal so many of my group thought that if they were going to do a full, this one would offer the best hardware. I'll be sure to post a photo next week! These medals are huge compared to all other races-you'll see!

I wanted to take this opportunity to share my training method...

I use Runners World "Smart Coach" to plan out my training log. This is awesome, it is free, and I hope that you check it out!

If you go to http://www.runnersworld.com/ and scroll down about half way on the page, there is an option called "Smart Coach". Once this link is clicked (and you join, it's free!) then you can create your own custom training plan. It's great because you can use it to train 1 mile, 2 miles, a 5K, half-marathon or even full-marathon. It's available for everyone to use at their own pace!

For those of you who are following Jennifer and I as we train for this marathon, I encourage you to think about planning your own race! In addition to the marathon and relay-marathon on May 28th, there is also a 5K run/walk (3.1 miles). This is a great way to get started and at this point, you still have plenty of time to train to walk or run this event.

Don't know where to run? http://www.mapmyrun.com/ is another free site that allows you to plot your own route, or to view the routes of other runners! I use this a lot to help find a route, and my group also uses this to e-mail the route to each other so we can plan our long group runs together! (Or maybe I should say together-without getting lost!)