"The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry."

The very same can be said for marathon training.  My first week and a half felt AMAZING and I was in top shape to really get some tough workouts in and have a better chance at a PR at the Missions Heritage Half in February.

Then I felt it.  A sharp pain in the front of my lower leg on a easy two miler.  It was sore for a week after, so I didn't work out, didn't run. I taped it up, soaked in Epsom salts, foam rolled, and iced.  I saw a doctor but he was no help. I'm really bummed that I was forced to stop when I was just getting started.  

Since the week of Christmas, I've run a few times and taken it slow.  It definitely doesn't hurt as bad, and when I run it's never above a 1.  So, I'm going to tweak my training plan and see if I can salvage this training cycle even though my race is a month away.

New and Improved Half Marathon Training Plan:

Week of: December 30: easy 2, cross training, 5 miles
Week of: January 6: cross training, easy 3, cross training, 7 miles
Week of: January 13: cross training, easy 4, cross training, 9 miles
Week of: January 20: cross training, easy 5, cross training, 11 miles
Week of: January 27: cross training, easy 5, cross training, 8 miles
Week of: February 3: crossing training, easy 4, easy 2, RACE DAY!

I'm giving myself more recovery after long runs this time around to see how I feel.  If I feel good, then I will add more cross training throughout the week and tempo runs.  It went from a 10 week plan to 6, but I already had one and half in the bank so I guess it's 7 and a half?

I am extremely competitive, so part of me still wants to get a PR on this race, but I have a feeling I will just have to hang in there and hope I can finish at a decent time now that I've lost 3 weeks of training.

Thanks to KT Tape, compression socks, ice, foam rolling, Epsom salt, let's see if we can get this back on track!

What are some challenges you had to face during training?

Cheers,
Kasey