It is that time again….

Half marathon training time!

Today marks the first official day in my training program for the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon.  I have trained for three other half marathons on my own in the past and created my own training schedule each time, but this time I will be completing my first training plan created completely by someone else and with a group.

Picture from the Monumental Half Marathon

Last week, NIFS Mini-Marathon Training Program had the official orientation where we received our much anticipated training schedules among other fun running goodies.  Typically, I complete eight weeks of training for a half marathon, but this plan has me training for 14 weeks.  I am anxious, nervous, and excited to begin this program because it will be a completely different experience than what I am used to.  Typically, I complete my long runs all by myself (it is hard to find a friend that wants to run over 6 miles!) but the training program has the group completing all of our long runs together.  I think it will be fun to have a large group of people who can relate to what I am going through while training, and I can’t wait to support my pace group through their ups and downs.

I just hope the weather holds up for our first group training run on Wednesday!! It has been pretty rainy these past couple of days…

Here are some other half marathon related posts:

• Training Isn’t Always Pretty
• Indianapolis Women’s Half Marathon
• Fort 4 Fitness Half Marathon
• Monumental Half Marathon

Question of the Morning:

• Have you ever trained for a race in a group setting?  What were some pros/cons of the training?