sha v 4.0

For those of you who are interested, I thought I’d give a quick update on how the half marathon training is going. I’ve decided to abandon the training program in favor of a more free-form, less rigid training program. At first I was feeling all right with the program, but by the 3rd week, on each run I did, I was feeling fatigued, I was hurting, and I became increasingly frustrated, to the point of giving up on a couple runs. I realized that there were a couple problems. First, my goal (< 2 hour half marathon) was way too ambitious for the shape that I'm in, and second, I was just overtraining. I don't really believe in running two days in a row, and while I know this means I'll never be an elite runner (that, and my stubby legs), it works for me. And I'd rather finish this half healthy at a slower pace, then faster and injured. That all said, since I've gone off the training program, I've had three of the best runs I've had in months, culminating with a great 11-mile run yesterday. So I think I'll continue on the Sha Training Program, and I'm confident that, while I won't make a sub-2, I'll finish this half feeling great.

(Image from the GPS data from my 11-mile run. Go here for more GPS data.