Hi Friends 🙂
Yesterday was a rest day. A glorious rest day!
I filled out my training calendar – for Grandma’s Marathon in June– it is ready to go. Next week “officially” starts our 18 week plan. I’ll have 2 “short” runs (3-5 miles), 1 “medium long run” (5-10 miles) and 1 long run (starting at 8 and building to 20 miles) each week. In addition, Sunday will be my crosstraining day (yoga, biking, or elliptical) and on Tues and Thurs I will do strength training after my run. Nothing too vigorous, I want to get through the 18 weeks injury free. Monday and Friday are 100% rest days.
The plan I will follow is Hal Higdon’s Novice Marathon Plan. This is the same plan I followed last year. I don’t feel “ready” to move up to intermediate. Maybe next year 🙂
Jason ordered Run Less, Run Faster – which is a book I read about on N Her Shoes. I think that type of plan work well for him because of his work commute/schedule. If he reads it (and I read it!) quickly enough, maybe I’ll do it too. For now, I’m trusting Hal 🙂
After work yesterday I decided to make one of Averie’s Microwave Banana Oat Cake. It was so delicious on Saturday that I decided to make another one. But I tried switching it up with ¼ cup pumpkin and ½ banana (instead of 1 whole banana), lots of cinnamon and nutmeg.
IT WAS SO GOOD!!! I think I was on pumpkin overload in November but now I’m ready to slowly add some back into my meals.
No need for any peanut butter on top or anything. Please, check out Averie’s recipe and give it a try! It is so easy!
So delicious!
*How do you plan your workouts? Do you like to train for events or do you just choose a workout each day?
*Are you a pumpkin fan year round or only in the Halloween/Thanksgiving time of year?
I also wanted to say thank you to Christin at Purple Bird Blog – she told me the secret to replying to comments so they are emailed and they appear on the blog 🙂 Thank you Friend!
And thank you to anyone who checked my blog yesterday and saw it had been “deactivated” and then checked back later. I do appreciate anyone who takes the time to read my blog. I was so pissed yesterday morning — and I still haven’t gotten an explanation. I’m glad they realized their mistake and reactivated it somewhat quickly.
Enjoy your Tuesday!
Holly
The Couch Potato Athlete 
February 8, 2011 at 6:34 am
I followed Hal’s novice plan for my first marathon and I loved it. This time I went with Runner’s World and my own tweaks for my plan. It’s different, but it’s working for me considering the obstacles of winter training. I also felt like I was not ready for the intermediate plan.
February 8, 2011 at 7:41 am
I hope to one day (if I run another marathon after this one!) feel confident enough to tweak the plans — for now I just trust the schedule 🙂
February 8, 2011 at 6:55 am
i tried commenting on your blog yesterday and go the error message. that you didn’t actually de active it. i thought that was kind of strange.
i don’t think i’ve eaten pumpkin since november and i honestly dont have a desire to either. i am craving tropical fruits lately. i take this as a sign that i should go on vacation 🙂
February 8, 2011 at 7:42 am
It was so bizarre and I’m glad everything is back to normal. What a pain in the ass.
I hear you on craving fruits — I am so ready for winter to be over!
February 8, 2011 at 7:44 am
I plan my workouts day by day. I do what I want and I do it until I get tired 😉
February 8, 2011 at 7:45 am
You have such a good attitude about working out — for me it is such a mental fight sometimes that unless I have a plan in place I would quit after 20 minutes or so.
February 8, 2011 at 7:44 am
can you share the commenting secret, at all?! i love trying new ideas to make blogging more efficient!
you cannot got wrong trusting hal. i like the sounds of your training plan: balanced with the running, xtraining, strength and rest time! this is exciting!
i have to try that breakfast!!! not a HUGE pumpkin fan, but AM a huge pb fan!
have a great day – would love to hear how that book is, too…
February 8, 2011 at 7:46 am
Cathy I will send you a separate email because it will take me a while to explain!
February 8, 2011 at 8:11 am
I do strength 3x a week (one full body, other two specific areas), and then cardio 2-3 times a week. Strength is kind of random when I do it, though. Good luck with training!
February 8, 2011 at 8:13 am
Good for you for getting strength in — I am usually so good about cardio but I *need* strength training!
February 8, 2011 at 8:13 am
great job on picking a marathon and going for it. most of the time i like to just work out to work out but occassionally i get a bug and want to “train” for something.
February 8, 2011 at 8:16 am
In 2010 I worked out consistently in the first half of the year (for my first marathon) and then the rest of 2010 I didn’t work out very consistently. I think having a goal or event to work towards really motivates me. But it seems like there are plenty of other people who don’t need that!
February 8, 2011 at 9:18 am
I think I go through a can of pumpkin at least once a week. It’s so good and worth it all year.
I am training for a half marathon (or many) and have a set schedule that I follow every single day. 🙂
February 8, 2011 at 9:21 am
I’m glad I’m not the only one still eating pumpkin. Do you have any pumpkin pancake recipes on your blog?
February 8, 2011 at 10:18 am
Can you email me the commenting trick, too?
I am currently training for a half marathon so I have my workouts pretty set in stone. I find it helps me stick to a good routine when I have something to train for!
February 8, 2011 at 10:21 am
Yes I will email it to you now!
And I definitely agree that having an event to train for helps me stick to a routine — I remind myself that I do not want to struggle (too much!) on race day.
February 8, 2011 at 10:54 am
Pumpkin all year round for me! It never gets old.
February 8, 2011 at 10:56 am
“No need for any peanut butter on top or anything.”
Blasphemy 😉
February 8, 2011 at 11:26 am
Haha – so true!! Thanks again for your help yesterday, I do appreciate it!
February 8, 2011 at 11:21 am
happy tuesday! your organization for working out is so great. I might do the same sharpie to calendar thing. I don’t keep track but should
February 8, 2011 at 12:00 pm
I’m usually a October and November pumpkin fan. I’m not sure why, but I can’t get into eating it at other times 🙂
February 8, 2011 at 12:06 pm
Maybe it is because it has been so cold lately that I crave those fall/wintery foods? I don’t know. At the same time I am craving summery fruits — I think I’m just hungry in general!
February 8, 2011 at 2:53 pm
It must be exciting to have a running schedule set! I’m still in “unofficial” training, but that’ll end soon once I settle on which one to run. Are you weight training at all through it? I know a lot of schedules don’t accomodate for weight training days..but I’d still like that to be a part of my fitness routine. It’s just hard to do all that, weight train, and have off days too!
February 8, 2011 at 2:59 pm
I plan on doing some weight training on Tues and Thurs — those are my lighter running days — at most I will be running 5 miles on those days — I’ll run in the AM and hit the gym after work. Yes, I need days off and I need some weight training too. I totally agree!
February 8, 2011 at 6:25 pm
Thank you my friend for the linky love. And you and your pumpkin..lol. I always have tons of bananas which is why I use them in recipes and always hate to open a can of pumpkin b/c it seems like i use 1/4 c and then have a huge can to try to figure out what to do with it!
And comment replies on your blog, so that they are both on your blog AND emailed to the person, if you are a self hosted WP site, there is a plugin that does this. Ahem, we had this discussion this morning…big thank you for being my guinea pig!
If you have other tips, for non-SH WP blogs, like yours or Christin’s, lmk what they are. People write to me wondering sometimes.
Your blog being done…still head shaking about that one.
February 8, 2011 at 7:35 pm
Hey I’ve told you before that I will give 1/2 can of pumpkin to a friend to share — MN nice 🙂
I’ll send you an email about replying to comments in WP — it was so simple but I would have never figured it out on my own.
No prob on being your guinea pig – happy to help!
February 8, 2011 at 8:49 pm
Great training calendar, Holly!
I usually wing my workouts in my head. As a trainer…I got sick of charting stuff. I do most of my clients workouts in my head too. Although, with my pregnant brain lately I need to start writing stuff down more. I usually plan out my workouts for the week (in my head) on Sunday. After I have the baby I may start writing stuff down just to keep it structured and recorded.
February 9, 2011 at 7:52 am
I love that you wing your workouts! Sometimes it is just nice to go with the flow and decide each day what I feel like doing.
February 8, 2011 at 9:45 pm
I am glad you got everything up and running! I am a pumpkin fan year round, but I ration myself since I tend to overload on the beta carotene. I work out because I like to work out. I am not training for anything and I am not a runner. I just like being in shape, especially with all the heart disease and cancer that runs in my family. I hope you had a great day Holly!
February 9, 2011 at 7:54 am
Thanks Sarena — I’m glad everything is up and running too! For the past couple of years I haven’t been able to have pumpkin year round (with the shortages a few years ago) — there seems to be a steady supply at the grocery store and in my cupboard, so I’m good to go!
February 8, 2011 at 11:11 pm
that salad looks great. I loooove black beans – I could eat them every day (heck, sometimes I do ;))
will you share the secret of getting blog comments e-mailed with me, as well? I’ve been wondering this for a while!
February 9, 2011 at 7:45 am
Yes I will definitely send you an email about the commenting thing!
February 9, 2011 at 12:34 am
Hi. I’m a new reader of your blog.
I have 4 days of cardio a week and 2 days of strength training a week = 6 days workout. I don’t train for something specific rather I swap my running cardio on some days with walking or tennis.
February 11, 2011 at 6:33 am
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