0  | 

I found this helpful Thank You! Your vote will be tallied soon!

In an effort to lose some weight and spend more time with me doing something I love, the hubby has asked me to create a half-marathon training plan for him - and figure out how the whole family can participate in his training.

Yay!

So this is what I came up with. My husband owns his own business and therefore doesn't have a ton of time. Also, we take turns dropping the kids off at school - so each of us has some mornings each week free.

I'm having him run three times a week. Once a week, he'll do what's called a "tempo" run, where he runs faster than his expected half-marathon race pace. He'll only run about three miles like this, and he'll do it one of the mornings where I take the kids to school. The cool thing is, he'll get up early, go run, and come home when the kids and I are having breakfast.

On his second run of the week, he'll run at his half-marathon race pace. He'll also do this one in the morning by himself, and this run will be between four and seven miles (building up throughout the 12 weeks between now and the Seattle Marathon in the end of November.

His third run of the week will be his long run. We'll start at four miles and ramp up little by little to 12. I say "we" because I'm coming along - and we're not getting a babysitter! The Girl will be pushed in her stroller. She'll have her dolls and some toys, and typically she's pretty content even though she is four years old.

It's The Boy, though, who can't wait for tomorrow's first long run. He's coming along on his bicycle! He'll probably ride ahead of us, but he'll come back, then ride ahead again. He trained alongside me last year for marathon season, so I know he'll be great company for John and me this year, too.

The key to bringing the kids along is to make sure the routes I choose work for bicycles and strollers - and, of course, John's training. The Seattle Marathon course is quite hilly, so we'll need to train on hills. Fortunately, there's seven miles of bike trail across Mercer Island nearby that are nicely paved, but hilly.

I'm super-excited to try this and get outside with the whole family. Today it feels like fall - and for that past few years, when it starts to get cooler in September, all I want to do is run!

But for tomorrow, just starting out, we're going to run/ride on a flat paved trail. I've got to ramp these folks up easy.