Hop on board the #c210k bandwagon!

Now that warmer temperatures are setting in and my race schedule has opened up a little, I have decided to get back on a training plan. Yesterday, I made the decision to start focusing on speed versus distance. Training for distance in the South Louisiana spring/summer heat just is not fun, and since I have never done a speed training program, I decided that was the plan I wanted to get on. I have done distance training plans for every distance from a 5k (when I first started running) through a marathon. And while I have done several speed drills in my run workouts, I have never put myself on a plan to specifically get faster and maintain that faster speed. Well, times are a-changin’!

After I made this decision, my friend, @RunNeicyRun, said she would get on board with me…except she wanted to go for distance while I worked on speed. No problemo! I modified the plan for each of us, based on our goals. And then I tweeted about it. And lots of people said they wanted to do it too!

And then I got excited! WOO HOO!

In fact, enough people wanted in on this sweet running action that I just decided to post the training logs here instead of e-mailing them out to everyone. So, here we go…

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COUCH TO 10k (13-Week Plan)

If you are interested in mastering the DISTANCE, here are your training logs:
c210k DISTANCE Plan (.xls)
c210k DISTANCE Plan (.pdf)

For DISTANCE runners, on your plan, where is says “RUN”, keep in mind that this does NOT mean “SPRINT.” During your “RUN” intervals, run at a speed that you feel pushes you, but not at a speed that is so fast that you tire out and feel unable to complete the entire workout.

If you are interested in mastering the SPEED, here are your training logs:
c210k SPEED (.xls)
c210k SPEED (.pdf)

For SPEED runners, your speed run and easy run/tempo run paces are to be determined by you, based on your ability. Depending on the 10k goal time that you have in mind, you can use a site like this to help you determine what your target paces are.

ACCOUNTABILITY
If you are on Twitter, after you complete a work out, I encourage you to Tweet about it so that we can all encourage each other. Be sure and add the #c210k hashtag! You can also add a hashtag with the corresponding week and day that you are on. For example, here is what I Tweeted yesterday after completing the Week 1, Day 1 workout:

As I mentioned above, I got started on this program yesterday, but you can get going whenever you like and schedule your runs on whatever days work for you.

For the #RunLA fam…If you would like to participate in this as a group, you are more than welcome to! Day 1 and Day 2 workouts of each week will be done by you, on your schedule. We can all do the Day 3 workout together! I am planning to meet on Saturday mornings at 7:00AM at Milford Wampold Memorial Park on Stanford Avenue. This time/location is tentative and is certainly flexible. If you have any suggestions for a better time/location, please e-mail me. All runners are welcome (whether you are going for distance or speed) and I promise to stay with the last runner. So, whatever your ability, I can assure you that no one will be left behind!

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And just for funsies, since I am totally ready to throw my body into a training cycle (full steam ahead!), I will also be incorporating a lower body AND core training program. I found some awesome plans over at Shrinking Jeans. I love that they are structured in such a way that they don’t feel overwhelming.

In addition to sticking with the above running program, at the end of the next 30 days, I will be able to do the following:
100 lunges*
100 squats
2:00 min burpees
2:00 min wall-sits
100 sit-ups
35 push-ups
2:30 min plank


*You’ll notice that lunges are not shown on the “Kick-Ass April” plan. Since lunges do wonders for my legs, I added these in. Each day, I will do the number of lunges equal to the number of squats listed on the workout.

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GOALS
I fully expect this to be a complete and total shock to my system. I have not done something like this in about a year and a half, but I am ready. I am MORE than ready to knock off the last of this baby weight, and I hope that we can achieve our goals together. My weight when I started the program yesterday was 159.5lb. My lowest weight ever as an adult was 129lb, but I looked too thin and I only maintained that for about a week. My realistic racing weight is around 135lb, so I am setting that as my weight goal. While I certainly do not expect to hit that target in the next 30 days, I am hoping to hit that by the end of this training cycle.

Lastly, to prove to all of you that I am doing this right along side of you, I will be adding a “LOGS” page to the top of this blog. Each day I will post my training log for the previous evening’s workout…even including my weight. GASP!

Well, I think that covers everything! Let’s get started!

So, are YOU with me? Let me know what plan you are doing and what your goals are! If you are on Twitter, leave your handle in the comment so that we can all cheer each other on!