Training for a half marathon...as a medical student.

Hi! I'm Jackie. I'm a 3rd year med student and might be a little crazy for trying to train for a half marathon and do my clinical rotations at the same time. I've gotten some of my tougher rotations out of the way (surgery and ob/gyn), so at least the next few months should be semi-close to normal working hours.

When I first signed up for the half marathon, I hadn't really run for a few years. I've been slowly building back up since November and can now do 2-3 miles without dying...always a plus. My plan is to do a few more 2-3 mile runs this week, then begin this 12-week training plan starting February 4th:

I liked the plan because it only requires running 3 days a week. It's also the same plan miss Heather used to successfully complete her first half marathon this Fall, so clearly it works! I figure I should be able to convince myself to do 2 runs during the week with a longer one on the weekend. I haven't really started incorporating strength training into my workout routine yet, but I'd definitely like to follow the schedule and begin 2 days of strength a week. 

I'm glad the weather's looking up for this week. I was a big wimp and didn't run at all during the week last week due to the cold weather. The high was in the 20's and by the time I got home from work I just couldn't convince myself to go back outside! I'm on my family medicine rotation until Friday, which means I'm at a site pretty far away from Georgetown and not able to get to the student gym to use the treadmill. This is the last week of that rotation before I'm back at school for a couple months. I won't have an excuse anymore not to run in bad weather, since the gym is literally a 2 minute walk from the hospital. So, plan for this week:

-Run 2 miles on Tuesday or Wednesday when it's going to be 60 degrees outside.

-Do a 3 mile run on Saturday or Sunday.

-Start the training plan next Monday.

Yay running! :)