Every time I train for a marathon I learn something new. This time around, I learned the importance of patience for my post-long-run run. It's OK to slowly recover from a long run. There's no need to be run at race-pace all the time. I've also learned to appreciate my weekly medium-short run (7-9 miles). I love these runs! I put in my head phones and just put on miles. It's relaxing and easy going without judgement. Feels nice to just run without expectation. I've also noticed that my body takes a little more time to recover than it did the last time I trained for a marathon...and that was just 6 months ago. Aging is a glorious and humbling experience.
And, the training begins. My days will be filled with obsessing about mileage, checking weather, and planning my life around my next work out. I'm following a standard mileage build getting up to 23 miles then tapering for two weeks. But, I'm intentionally adding a four week speed building portion during the mid-distance long-run weeks (14-17 miles). I read an old article from Runner's World called, "Time to Rethink Your Marathon Training?" by Greg McMillan. Basically, he suggests that after a four weeks of base/strength-building that runners who want to run faster should include a four week session that includes speed workouts followed by weeks endurance building. Here's a link to the article: http://www.runnersworld.com/race-training/time-rethink-your-marathon-training-program?page=single
So, my base/strength-building starts this week. A week that follows my first volleyball tournament in 5 months, which was also my first hard court tournament in over a year. My body is annihilated. I'm determined to work out but I'll be sore and stiff. But, the fun I had playing volleyball with former teammates was well worth a week of discomfort! My Plan:12/22/14-12/28/14 Monday: Body Pump - hills/speed training Tuesday: 7 miles easy Wednesday: 5 miles Thursday: 6 miles push Friday: Rest Saturday: 14-15 miles Sunday: Easy cross training |
The Road
The training it takes to get me where I want to be. The Goal
On May 10, 2015 I will run a marathon in 3 hours and 38 minutes.
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