GULP!

"Panic. It crept up my spine like the first rising vibes of an acid frenzy."
--HST

Sometimes you do things in this world and don't realize what your actions have wrought until the consequences are right upon you, gunning for your soul. My sphincter just tightened after counting the weeks I have left to get ready for the Cleveland Half Marathon: six.

Six weeks to ramp up from my measly, post-injury 12 miles per week. [Up from 9 miles!] A month and a half to drop 7 pounds. Forty-four days to get ready to run 13.1 miles in less than 1 hour, 50 minutes.

And I haven't even decided on a training plan.

Well, that is, not until right this moment.

Viper's On-the-Fly Six-Week Half Marathon Training Schedule
I will use a three-day program similar to FIRST and I'm stealing quite a bit from an article on the FIRST half marathon plan from Runners' World, which describes a 10-week schedule that I'm going to have to go ahead and ignore. Also, while I'm at it, I might as well give Vanilla some credit for his review of FIRST, which now leads me to bastardize the program.

The three-day schedule allows me to rest my balky knee and eliminates those dreaded junk miles by making each run count. However, I must make a couple changes.

I don't have a good or open track nearby, so I'll have to simplify the speed sessions. I will use a spur-of-the-moment measurement, using trail markers, lightpoles or a timed interval on the road.

Also, the plan calls for cross training, specifically cycling or swimming. First, I stopped riding my bike after a 100-mile race a couple years ago and I fear for my life riding around in this city. Second, I don't swim. So ... yeah ... maybe some basketball or hiking. But I'll keep up with my core strength sessions.

OK, now let's really test this experiment of one theory. I'm shooting for a sub-1:50:00 finish, which means about 8:20 miles. That's a little slower than my recent 5K pace of 8:15. And now, the math ... [four hours later] ... OK! The pace will remain consistent for all sessions. See the fun times ahead!

Week 1
Speed: 3x800 (3:38 800s)
Tempo: 4 miles (8:05 miles)
Long: 8 miles (8:50 miles)

Week 2
Speed: 4x800
Tempo: 5 miles
Long: 10 miles

Week 3
Speed: 5x800
Tempo: 6 miles
Long: 8 miles

Week 4
Speed: 6x800
Tempo: 5 miles
Long: 12 miles

Week 5
Speed: 6x800
Tempo: 8 miles
Long: 8 miles

Week 6
Speed: 3x800
Tempo: 2 miles
Long: Shit, I'm still screwed ... Half Marathon

This plan goes into effect next week.