If your goal is to complete a half marathon this year, not necessarily the one in April (the SLC half right?) then consider doing the TOU half (Top of Utah) which is in August then when you hit the higher mileage, it will be June and July. You can do some early early morning runs on your own before hubby goes to work. Plus the a.m. runs will be nice and cool, but bright. This will allow you to go to the mountains for some trail runs too or to go out to the farmlands of College Ward or up Hollow road towards Blacksmith Fork Canyon. Those are nice runs. You could also train on the TOU half course, down Blacksmith Fork and through Millville to Providence. Also, training during the summer would allow you to stick your kids in the jogger for some of your long runs.
Another option is to do 2 treadmill runs a day. You can run in the morning for 45 minutes or so and then at night or in the afternoon for 45 minutes or so. Do music on your Ipod for the morning run and then pop a movie in for the afternoon run. Then next time do a book on tape for your morning run and just worry about completing the distance and then on the afternoon run, focus on interval exercises. One minute of 6mph, then down to 5mph for a minute, but on a 5 incline, then the next minute drop the incline, but go all out at 10mph. Then drop it to 3mph and stride sideways for a minute and then stride on the other side for another minute and punch it up to 7mph and then back to 5.5 for a 5 incline. Just spend every minute for about 30 minutes just changing things around and then for 20 minutes after all of that just do a 5 mph casual run in silence and mull over some thoughts and just cool down a bit. That makes time go fairly quickly for me on a treadmill. It constantly busy working the treadmill.
Another option is to do 2 treadmill runs a day. You can run in the morning for 45 minutes or so and then at night or in the afternoon for 45 minutes or so. Do music on your Ipod for the morning run and then pop a movie in for the afternoon run. Then next time do a book on tape for your morning run and just worry about completing the distance and then on the afternoon run, focus on interval exercises. One minute of 6mph, then down to 5mph for a minute, but on a 5 incline, then the next minute drop the incline, but go all out at 10mph. Then drop it to 3mph and stride sideways for a minute and then stride on the other side for another minute and punch it up to 7mph and then back to 5.5 for a 5 incline. Just spend every minute for about 30 minutes just changing things around and then for 20 minutes after all of that just do a 5 mph casual run in silence and mull over some thoughts and just cool down a bit. That makes time go fairly quickly for me on a treadmill. It constantly busy working the treadmill.
Another option is to buddy run. Find a buddy who is also training and swap the babysitting for the long run. Keeps you accountable too. I'm training for something in June, so I could help buddy this. I can also think of a couple other ladies who are training for something who might be willing to do this.
You could also keep your April goal but knuckle down and get those long runs in the morning before hubby goes to work while all the kids are in bed too. It will be cold, but if you're dressed right, it would be just fine. It would only be once/week. Besides, it's kind of ethereal running in that fog in the morning. Pretty cool.
Another idea for the treadmill run is to make a list of some world or social or personal problems that you would like to solve and when you run, pick a problem to mull over in the mind and try to solve. Go into the trance-like state in your mind and fix a problem. Also, self-visualization. Get on the treadmill and picture yourself on the course. Put the music in and picture your run, where you are outdoors, the scenery. During the run too, also time the waterbreaks. Aid stations usually are at the 3 mile mark and then every two miles after that. Practice with your water and GU and Gatorade. If you plan to carry your own hydration and fuel, make a plan and practice with that. Also do body scans during the run --- things you actually experience during a half marathon.
You could also do your run when your kids are in bed and have hubby come sit by the treadmill and that could be your talking time -- while you're running. It's your long run so you could put it at a comfortable, talking pace and do that....
So, those are my ideas. Things that I've done and tried. If I come up with more, I'll let you know. (Yay, I'm sure you're thinking).
Al
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