training plans

after researching different marathon training plans, i'm thinking about following one of hal higdon's plans for the NYC marathon. i got the plans from his website, and i also ordered his marathon training guide, which should arrive next week.

in order to test out the plans and figure out which level to use, i decided to use one of his half marathon plans to train for a half in april. this also has the advantage of giving me a shorter term goal to focus on, since i won't start marathon training til july. (most marathon training plans are 18 weeks long.) and training for the half will help me increase my base (fitness & mileage) so i'll be better prepared when i do start marathon training. it's a win-win-win situation.

so, beginning january 23, i start training for the more/fitness women's half marathon in central park on april 15! i'm going to try out higdon's intermediate plan, which incorporates some speedwork -- my first foray into that kind of training. wish me luck!