Training schedules for Half Marathon

I took the time today to do some research on the best approach to traing for a half marathon. There are a TON of great sites to choose from! I noticed that although each site has a different training schedule to follow, they are all pretty much the same and emphasize rest days for recovery. The two sites I like best were: www.marathonrookie.com and www.jeffgalloway.com/training/half_marathon.html. The Marathon Rookie seems to have a good schedule that runs 10 weeks. This would get me ready in plenty of time, and I could redo a week or 2 if I needed. The Jeff Galloway site has a 19 week schedule, which may be better for me given that the marathon is 4 months away. It also has 30 minute runs during the week, which I can do on my lunch breaks, so time constraints wouldn't be as much of an issue. I'll definately be taking a look at others too, but these both caught my eye.

DAILY WEIGHT LOSS TIP
I have been getting a lot of questions since I started this blog about how I lost weight over the last two years. There are so many things I have done to change my eating/exercise habits over that two year period that its hard to write it all down. What I think I will do is give one tip a day throughout this journey. That way others can try them out and see if it works for them! That is one thing I have learned - not everything that works for one person will work for the other. Some people have a lot of success on programs like Weight Watchers or Nutrisystem. I am not one of those people. Good Ol' Fashioned counting calories and exercising worked best for me!

TIP: Keep a food journal. Start off by taking a normal day and write down everything you eat. You may be amazed at what you find out! Then look up how many calories you have eaten that day.

I recommend sparkpeople.com, but you can find calories at many other sites on the web. If you have an iphone, I recommend downloading the "Lose It" app. Its free and I think its the best app for keeping track of calories. If you don't mind spending a little money, I HIGHLY recommend DietPower. It is a program for your computer and you can do amazing things with it. If you use any of these programs, you can also find out how many calories you should be eating to lose 1-2 pounds a week (recommended weight loss per week).

Even if you do nothing else, keeping a food journal will cause you to eat less calories because you are holding yourself accountable. Being aware of what you eat can change your mind quickly about eating that extra piece of cake! =)