The Surfer Dude's Guide to Training

Remember when this was a running blog?  Well surprise! ...for today it is again.  I wanna talk about training plans and fast shoes.

beautiful beautiful shoe

Today I tried out my new lightweight trainers (the mizuno elixir, aka the smurf shoe) on the track.  Yes, that's right.  I finally bucked up and did a non treadmill workout.  I've been scared to since Boston since I had a few bad workouts right after.  And...it went ok!  4x800 @ 3:09ish and 4x400 at 1:30ish with prolly an average of 2 minutes rest between each.  

These shoes are amazing.  I've always been a huge fan of Mizuno, but I felt like freaking Mercury with wings on my feet in them.  And I look like a Smurf.  Best purchase of the month.   

I was all excited that I can run on real ground and not a machine until I looked up some paces on RLRF for the 5k to see if I was where I wanted to be.  I'm not.  Gotta go faster on the 800s.  Or, God forbid, possibly actually follow a training plan with some consistancy???

(Dum dum dum....ominous music...)

I don't like training plans and I've always considered myself to be a little like the surfer dude of running. 

"You gotta go with what feels right, braaaa."

"Just listen to what your body wants to do, duddeee"

What I mean, is that I've felt like if I do a training plan with a rigid workout schedule, it stops being fun and play, and starts becoming a job.  

But like the surfer dude, we all have to grow up sometime, right?  Well....maybe....

After years of almost daily discussion with my friend Christina about running (and gossiping about runners), 50% of these talks have ended with her trying to lure me into a training plan with wild promises of PRs and age group trophies.  I haven't bought it.  I trained in high school, and I was mediocre-ish.  

AND if I really give it my all, I can't claim post race "hey...I wasn't even training...braaa".  

(I don't mean to say I don't try.  I run the crap outa hard workouts, there's just no rhyme or reason to them.)  

But I'm beginning to think Christina, my pro-training amiga, might be right. Or that at least, I should give one a try.  After watching the steady improvement of so many bloggers after dedicated sweat and tears, I think I want in.  

This fall, I am going to sign up for a Triathlon, and find some plan (possibly Run Less Run Faster) that allows me to train for my half marathon on October 30th while learning to not drown in the pool.  A hybrid plan I think will be a good place for me to start....

Unless I decide to take up surfing instead.  

So....what training plans have you tried?  Tell me about your PRs or awesome improvements!  Inspire me and make me jealous!  

Also...do you guys care what I run on a weekly (or daily) basis?  

I don't usually write it because I assume no one cares, but I can recap if anyone (God forbid) is looking to me for training ideas.  Or just wants to make sure they are running faster / more than me, that's cool too :).