10 mile race training plan

So..... that 10 mile race I signed up for ? Kind of a spontaneous thing, but now I'm signed up. That will be the longest distance I've ever run, so it scares me. 10 miles is LONG for me given that my longest run ever was the 10k in the fall. But I'm going to see how training goes and try and give it a shot. After my issues with shin splints this fall, I'm a little worried about my legs holding up, so I'm trying to do a lot of cross training.

First step= training plan.

I tried to find a training plan that incorporated lots of cross training. I found this Hal Higdon 10 mile novice plan and it seemed to fit what I wanted. I wanted to switch things up a bit in terms of days he wrote the plan for (I like long runs on Fridays since I'm not in the school), so I made my own plan based on his. I ended up just using Higdon's mile distances as the only set thing each week, and the rest is blank so that I can do whatever type of cross training I"m in the mood for.

Here it is....It is not done by days of the week, but in my mind it starts on a Monday with the "stretch and rest" and goes from there. I like that it's flexible. Like this week (1/14) I did a rest day on Sunday and did my "run and strength" on Monday. I then fill in whatever cross training I do each day. I've already missed or changed a few things, but I'm letting myself do what works with my schedule and feels good. I want to stick to the long runs as much as possible though.

I'll keep updating on how it's going over the next month or so. Ahhh, it's so soon!

WEEK OF	Stretch and Rest	Run	Cross train	Light Cross train	Run (long)	Cross train	Run  & Strength
12/30		2 mile	Tabata class	Elliptical	3 mile 4 mile	Stair and elliptical	2 mile & Strength
1/7	Rested	3 mile  elliptical-30	tabata +ellipitical	elliptical	4 mile	elliptical	2 mile & Strength rest
1/14	2 mile and strength	2 mile elliptical	2 mile and tabata		2 mile		2 mile & Strength
3 m		4 mile			5 mile		3 mile & Strength
1/28		4 mile			6 mile		3 mile & Strength
2/4		3 mile			4 mile		3 mile & Strength
2/11		5 mile			7 mile		3 mile & Strength
2/18		5 mile			8 mile		3 mile & Strength
2/25		3 mile	Cross train	2 mile run & strength	2 mile or rest	Rest	RACE