Training for a Half?

If not, consider that humans were born to run.

Or so says an article published Monday in the New York Times.

Humans evolved to run long distances in the heat, evidenced by a suite of characteristics -- our forward pointing big toe, our relative lack of body hair, springlike ligaments and tendons in our feet, a narrow midsection, a keen sense of balance and an extremely powerful gluteus maximus.

Contrary to wisdom that says running long distances is bad for our health and causes injuries, this article presents another view: Running is not only good for humans, but it is what we were made to do.

I asked Katie Valle, 21, about her training for the Women's Running Magazine Women's Half Marathon in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Nov. 22.

Q: Why did you begin training for a half marathon?
A: "I had been wanting to do it since freshman year, and it's taken me four years to finally buckle down and start doing it. Originally, I saw some seniors in my sorority who were doing it, and I thought it was bad ass -- but not something that I thought I could do. I wanted to challenge myself, and it turns out I'm capable of much more than I thought I was."

Q: What has this training taught you about yourself as an athlete?
A: "I'm typically one to work on something for two weeks and give up on it. By increasing my training a little bit week by week, I realized that I can be successful at something in the long term."

Q: So did you want to give up after two weeks?
A: "Yes. I knew that if I skipped a long run one week, I wouldn't be able to catch back up. Having the race deadline was a good motivator. Knowing that I have to do a long run at the end of every week motivates me to keep working out."

Q: What advice would you give to someone who wants to start training now that you've been doing this for a while?
A: "Find a training plan online, but know that if you can't follow it exactly, it's okay. You can alter it to fit your schedule. And find someone to do it with. Running partners help keep me accountable, and give me the motivation to get up and do the long runs."

Q: What are your goals for your first half marathon?
A: "They say you're not supposed to have a time goal -- but me being my competitive self, I want to get less than 2 hours and 30 minutes. But I get nervous saying that because I'm worried I can't do it. When I'm there, I know I'm going to be happy that I finish. I will be running across the finish line; I will not walk."

Q: What are your goals for after this race?
A: "I do want to run another one, but not until March. I want to not completely lose my running endurance. I'll probably still run at least 6 miles once a week. I also want to focus on eating right and muscle toning. You would think I would be losing weight, but I'm not doing anything else right -- besides running."

Q: What advice can you give about eating before, during and after a long run?
A: "It's been kind of trial and error: What should I eat beforehand? What should I eat after? Should I eat in the middle of a long run? I want to be ready for race day so I can know exactly what to eat. For breakfast on the day of my race, I'm going to have a peanut butter and banana sandwich. I've found that all the sports gels make me sick, so I'm going to use gummies during the race. They give me a quick burst of energy and they're easy to eat on the go."

Katie's 15-week training plan
Sunday: Long run (increase from 4 miles to 12 miles over 15 weeks)
Monday: Recovery day -- stretching and minimal strength training
Tuesday: Short run (increase from 3 miles to 5 miles over 15 weeks)
Wednesday: Cross-training (spinning, racket ball, elliptical)
Thursday: Short run (same as Tuesday)
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Cross-training (increase from 30 minutes to 60 minutes over 15 weeks)