Off Season Training Progress

After finishing the Detroit Half Marathon, I took two weeks off from running to let both my body and mind heal - no running or workouts of any kind. The idea came from how Hansons runners take two weeks off after running a marathon.

The time off definitely helped. I was able to get refocused and recharged to start training again. Because I was starting from two weeks of no running and wasn't training for any race, I decided to take things slow and easy. This allowed me to focus on my running form and to start strength training.

Until the start of 2016, I'm not following any set training plan. I let my experience and body help guide me through the workouts. Almost every run has been a Zombie Run before work during the week. At the start of 2016, I'm going to switch over to Hansons Half Marathon training plan and see how well that works for my half marathon in April.

As Week 8 of my off season training comes to an end, I'm right on track with where I need to be for the start of racing season in April.

Here's a look at how my off season workouts have progressed since the beginning of November:

Week 1
November 2 - 2 miles
November 4 - 2 miles
November 6 - 2 miles
TOTAL MILES = 6

Week 2
November 9 - 3 miles
November 11 - 3 miles
November 13 - 3 miles
TOTAL MILES = 9

Week 3
November 16 - 3 miles
November 18 - 3 miles
November 20 - 3 miles
TOTAL MILES = 9

Week 4
November 23 - 4 miles
November 26 - 4 miles
November 27 - 4 miles
TOTAL MILES = 12

Week 5
November 30 - 5 miles
December 2 - 5 miles
December 4 - 4 miles
TOTAL MILES = 14

Week 6
December 7 - 5 miles
December 9 - 5 miles
December 10 - 3 miles
December 11 - 4 miles
TOTAL MILES = 17

Week 7
December 14 - 6 miles
December 16 - 6 miles
December 18 - 4 miles
December 20 - 7 miles
TOTAL MILES = 23

Week 8
December 23 - 6 miles
December 24 - 5 miles
December 26 - 6 miles
December 27 - 5 miles
TOTAL MILES = 22

I hope everybody's training is going well and wish you luck with your upcoming races.

Professional Running Teams

With every sport, there are professional teams with professional athletes. Being a runner I started following professional teams and professional athletes. I respect the time and effort these athletes put into training. Though many runners have sponsors (Brooks, Hoka One One, etc), it's not like other professional sports where an athlete can sit on the bench and still get paid. If the runner doesn't race and do well, they don't get paid.

Some of the professional running teams I follow are Hansons Original Distance Project (Hansons ODP) and Northern Arizona Elite (NAZ Elite). I know there are many other professional teams and professional runners. These are the two main teams I follow.

I started following Hansons ODP because the team is based in Michigan, my home state. The coaches of the team are Keith and Kevin Hanson. I like their philosophy of allowing the Hansons ODP runners to live together and train together. When the runners aren't out for a run, some of them work in the Hansons Run Shops in Metro Detroit area. This is where I go to get my running shoes. I like having a professional runner help find me shoes that fit my running needs.

The Hansons ODP team has the following runners on the team: Melanie Brender, Bobby Curtis, Brendan Gregg, Mohamed Hrezi, Luke Humphrey, Melissa Johnson-White, Katie Kellner, Desiree Linden, Dot McMahan, Cally Macumber, Dani Miller, Mike Morgan, Jake Riley, Jen Rock, Clint Verran, and Jason Witt.

This year the Hansons ODP team has 9 runners who qualified for the Olympic Trials Marathon: Dani Miller, Desi Linden, Dot McMahan, Jen Rock, Melissa Johnson-White, Bobby Curtis, Jake Riley, Luke Humphrey and Mike Morgan. There are 3 runners who qualified for the Olympic Trials Half Marathon: Melanie Brender, Katie Kellner, and Brendan Gregg.

I started following NAZ Elite from learning that Ben Rosario (former Hansons ODP runner) started a professional running team in Arizona. I like his coaching style. He's able to help his runners to run well in races all while keeping a light atmosphere with his team. It's also great how he works on keeping NAZElite.com updated so fans can keep up with the how the team is doing.

The NAZ Elite team has the following runners on the team: Ben Bruce, Stephanie Bruce, Ryan Dohner, Scott Fauble, Eric Fernandez, Rochelle Kanuho, Lauren Kleppin, Matt Llano, Craig Lutz, Scott Smith, Kellyn Taylor and Amy Van Alstine.

The NAZ Elite team has Kellyn Taylor, Lauren Kleppin, and Matt Llano qualified for the Olympic Trials Marathon. Ben Bruce and Scott Fauble qualified for the Olympic Trials Half Marathon. Rochelle Kanuho qualified for the Olympic Trials 10K.

I highly recommend checking out these runners and teams. It's a lot of fun watching people do what many of us wish we could do for a living!