10K & Half Marathon Training Plans

My first 10K is scheduled for 1/14/12. I don't really plan on 'training' for this, but rather just run it along with my half-marathon training schedule (they actually suggest to run a 10K on/around Week 10 anyways, so that works out perfectly.

My first half marathon is scheduled for 2/12/12. Assuming a 12-week training schedule, that means that my training will start on/around November 21th! Yup, thats right....so after Slim in 6, I'll give myself a rest and then jump right into this training schedule.

For my training, I'm going to use the "Hal Higdon Novice Half Marathon" training schedule. My goal is not a time goal, per se, but rather a goal to finish in the standing and unaided position! I'm really not sure how this will work if I couple if with the P90X program. With the running training, there are only 3-4 days of running each week, so I may be able to do it if I really focus on time management. But, I know that this training has to take precedence over the P90X if I want to ensure that I finish in the upright position! I hope I can do it both...but if I have to slack-off on P90X and only do half of it, so be it. I definitely don't want to overtrain and risk injury after all!

So, what is the Hal Higdon Novice Half Marathon training plan? Its a 12-week conditioning program that focuses on a single long-run, with 2-3 short runs in the week, coupled with other cardio and/or strength training. Its truly a very well-rounded program, which is what attracted me to it. And unlike Galloway's method of run-walk-run, I think Hal's program assumes that you will/want to run the whole thing. Maybe I can't when it comes right down to it, but I certainly want to get close!

Week 1 starts off like this:
Monday: Rest Day
Tuesday: 5K Run
Wednesday: 30 minutes Cross Train or 3K Run
Thursday: 5K Run
Friday: Rest Day
Saturday: 30 minutes Cross-Train
Sunday: 4 Mile Run

Week 10 looks like this:
Monday: Rest Day
Tuesday: 5 Mile Run
Wednesday: 5K Run or 30 minutes Cross-Train
Thursday: 5 Mile Run
Friday: Rest Day
Saturday: 60 minutes Cross-Train
Sunday: 10 Mile Run

The following two weeks are taper weeks, finishing with my first half! So, you can see that its possible to work P90X into this schedule, if I plan it carefully. Rest Days can be substituted for upper-body strength building in the P90X program since it won't encourage overuse injuries with my legs, and the program above clearly has sufficient cross-training opportunities for the yoga or kenpo exercises of the P90X program.