....make my own training plans after coming back from an injury that sidelined me for 3 months! I'm thinking back to the Star Wars 1/2 Marathon that I did in April 2016 after coming back from Achilles Tendonitis and having a PRP injection 8 months prior. This was back when I didn't really follow training plans, ran just for fun (nothing wrong with this!), had no expectations for myself, and really never thought that training for a race would improve my time (ohhh I was SO wrong!).

This was my first race that I traveled to and really wanted to have a PR, but most importantly have fun! I was really excited to be back at Disney after having not been since I was 11 and was training for my second marathon at the time (I was using the Jeff Galloway's marathon training plan and only running 3 days a week). 

After having been in a boot for 3 weeks after my PRP injection (more on this in a future post), I was OK'd to begin a run-walk method and this kept me busy until late October when I could finally run for 3 miles+ at a time! I thought that the Jeff Galloway training plan really suited me where I was in my training cycle (it's longer than other training plans- maybe 18 or 20 weeks?), so I began training for my June race in January. I had two 45 minute runs a week and one long run. I did cross-training the other days. It was a great plan to get me back into running (and I ended up getting a PR in my marathon in June), however I still had absolutely NO clue that you needed to have 'easy' run days vs 'speedwork' vs 'tempo' run days. So needless to say, I was not in shape to PR in the half in April at Disney and they also had a heat advisory that weekend, so even if I was in great running shape, a PR probably wouldn't have been in the cards anyways. 

Here are some things I took away from using the Jeff Galloway Training plan:

• It was a great 'introductory' plan for beginning any race distance or coming back from an injury. I got to the starting line with just one expectation- to finish and stay healthy during training. I did both and got a PR!
• It's really easy to fit in 3 runs/ run-walks a week. This was so great when I was working 50+ hours a week!
• If you are just wanting to finish and have fun with a race, this is a great plan for you
• If you are not new to running or coming back from an injury, I would either adopt this plan with some speedwork/tempo runs or mesh this plan with another training plan to suite your style
• Do not expect to PR at a half marathon when you are training for another race distance PR OR when there is a heat advisory OR when you are traveling to a race OR when you coming off an injury
• Adjust your expectations based on your fitness level and current training schedule