What training plan to use?

Red alerted me to a training plan for a half marathon in the August issue of Runner's World magazine. I took a look (I am way behind in my magazine reading, so finding the magazine was an adventure), and I get the sneaking suspicion that it might be a tad more advanced than I need at the moment. It's a 10 week plan, so I have time to work up to it. Whoever heard of training to get ready for a training plan? Well, since I see it's more than I can handle I think it's good that I know my limitations. There is absolutely no reason to get hurt while doing this.

I'd give a better comparison to the other training plan I have in the book Everything to Know About Running except I can't find it. It's in the house somewhere; I just can't locate it at the moment. Oops! It's got a fabulous beginner's plan I might pick back up. I used it to help get in shape for 5Ks, so I know generally how it works. It does bug me that I can't find this book, but I can find every single text book I own for my master's program. I guess that just shows where my priorities have been for the past year and a half. I've learned so much and truly value the education I've received, but boy will I be glad to be finished with school!!

In the end if I don't really like either plan I'll search for one online. I'm sure Jim Galloway's site has something. How do I pick a training plan? Simple: how easy is it to understand, and can I achieve the goals laid out in it reasonably well? Right now I can't run a mile under 10 minutes, so when I see the Runner's World plan say run a 5 mile tempo run with 3 miles at 8:54, I know it's probably not for me.

(For those that don't know, a tempo run is defined by Runner's World as "Run easy for one mile to warm up. Then dial into the given pace. Run easy for a mile to cool down. Tempos should feel challenging; on a scale of 1 to 10, your effort will feel like an 8." Don't feel bad if you didn't know; I had to look it up LOL!)

HA! Like I could ever do that. Keep in mind this training plan is for folks looking to break 2 hours for their half marathon. I think I'll be lucky to hit 2:30. They do profile a lady who is trying to break 2:30, so it's nice to see them highlight those who can't run like the wind.

So in the end, we'll have to see. The August issue also talks about how hard it is to run during the searing heat of summer, so I know it's not just me struggling with this. I haven't run since last Saturday, and I won't run again until this Saturday. It'll all come together soon!