I'm Seeking a New PB at Alloa, Feel Free to Join Me.

New Year Targets
Although I’ve been ticking over during the festive season and getting in a number of races, I’ve not been following a training programme and I’ve been missing out on long runs. As a result, like most people I’ve been eating and drinking too much and have put on a few pounds. To address this I’ve decided, again, to moderate my drinking and to follow a structured training plan. After consideration, I’ve decided to attempt to get a PB at the Alloa Half Marathon (HaM) on Sunday 20 March. This allows me to follow a ten week training programme and have an achievable target to aim at. I weigh 13.5 stone at the moment but reckon that my weight should be about 12:10, so that’s another target I have. I’ve also decided to up my abs exercises to 100 sit ups per day and leg lifts, so look forward to seeing a slightly trimmer version of me in a month or so.


My HaM PB, achieved at Alloa last year, is 1:36:08 but I never had a great race. I was still tired from the very hilly Haweswater Half. All my times have improved since then, so I’m confident that, if my training goes to plan, I’ll be able to reduce my HaM PB significantly.

Plan
Here's my training schedule:
12/01/2011 Intervals 4 x 1200m (or 4 x 4mins), with 3-min recoveries. Warm down
13/01/2011 6M easy
14/01/2011 Rest or 3M jog
15/01/20116-8M steady, inc a few strides
16/01/2011 Long Run 8-10M easy
17/01/2011 Recovery Run 5M easy
18/01/2011 Hill Work 7M hilly run, working hard on the hills
19/01/2011 5M easy
20/01/2011 Intervals 6-7M, inc 8 x 1 min fast, 1 min slow in the middle
21/01/2011 Rest or 3M jog
22/01/2011 Tempo Warm up, then 5M fairly fast. Warm down
23/01/2011 Long Run 8-10M easy
24/01/2011 Recovery Run 6M easy
25/01/2011 6M fairly fast, then 1M easy
26/01/2011 Intervals 4 x 5 mins, with 4-min recovery jogs
27/01/2011 5M easy
28/01/2011 Rest or 3M jog
29/01/2011 8M, inc fast bursts
30/01/2011 10-11M steady
31/01/2011 Recovery Run 6M easy
01/02/2011 Hill Work 6-7M hilly run, with hard bursts up hills
02/02/2011 6M easy
03/02/2011 Intervals 6-7M, inc 10 x 1 min fast, 1 min slow, and 6 x 30 secs fast, 30 secs slow
04/02/2011 Rest or 3M jog
05/02/2011 Fartleks 1M jog, then 6M fairly fast, then 1M jog
06/02/2011 Long Run 10-12M slow
07/02/2011 Recovery Run 6M easy off-road
08/02/2011 Intervals Warm up, then 6-7M, inc 6 x 2 mins fast, 2 mins slow
09/02/2011 6M starting slow, finishing faster
10/02/2011 Intervals Intervals: 12 x 400m, with 90-sec recoveries
11/02/2011 Rest or 3M jog
12/02/2011 Fartleks Warm up, then 5M fairly fast. Warm down
13/02/2011 Fartleks 10M steady
14/02/2011 Recovery Run 6M easy
15/02/2011 Tempo 3 x 2M at threshold pace, with 6-min recoveries
16/02/2011 6M easy
17/02/2011 Fartleks 8M fartlek on grass, inc 20 x 30 secs (approx)
18/02/2011 Rest or 3M jog
19/02/2011 5M, no pressure
20/02/2011 Race Kirki 12.5k  (not flat-out)
21/02/2011 Recovery Run 5M easy, off-road
22/02/2011 Rest
23/02/2011 Race Pace 2M jog, then 5-6M at half-marathon pace, then 1M jog
24/02/2011  5M easy, inc 8 x 200m strides
25/02/2011 Rest or 3M jog
26/02/2011 Rest
27/02/2011 Race Warm up, then race 6-10M. Warm down
28/02/2011 Recovery Run 6M easy off-road
01/03/2011 Hill Work 7-8M, inc bursts up hills
02/03/2011 6M easy
03/03/2011 Intervals 6 x 1M with 3-min recoveries
04/03/2011 3M EASY jog
05/03/2011 Trail Run 5-6M on grass
06/03/2011 Long Run 14-15M slow
07/03/2011 Recovery Run 6M easy
08/03/2011 Tempo 3 x 2M at threshold pace, with 6-min recoveries
09/03/2011 6M easy
10/03/2011 Tempo 8M fartlek on grass, inc 20 x 30 secs (approx)
11/03/2011 3M jog
12/03/2011 5M, no pressure
13/03/2011 3M warm-up, then 5-6M race (not flat-out) or 13-15M steady
14/03/2011 Recovery Run 5M easy, off-road
15/03/2011 6-8M at a comfortable pace
16/03/2011 Intervals 2 x (8 x 200m) fast, on grass, with 1-min recoveries
17/03/2011 Fartleks 6M easy, inc 1M at race pace
18/03/2011 Rest or 3M jog
19/03/2011 General 4M easy, in race kit
20/03/2011 Race