Friday, June 22, 2012

marathon plan (the boring, technical stuff)

Hi all. Hope you've run many happy miles since we last spoke, I know I have. Addison and I ran her first 1 mile fun run in May and it was the happiest mile I've ever run. I could NOT have been any more proud. That same evening I brought my 5K PR down from 29:01 to 26:22.
Then on June 1st, Addison and her Daddy ran another 1 mile fun run and thanks to some unseasonably cool weather, she dominated the mile and I brought my 5K PR down again(!) to 24:44. I never ever in my life imagined I would run under 25 minutes for a 5K. I hope this proves that persistence is key to running.
I've probably been averaging 20-25 miles a week most weeks and am slowly acclimating to the heat. And by acclimating, I really just mean sweating profusely like a piggy. Oh well. I've also been VERY busy on the "rest of my life" front and that is why I have been absentee here. Do forgive me, I haven't forgotten you. Right now I am mentally gearing up for my first marathon training cycle and below I have copied and pasted (because I don't have any computer skills above that) what my current thinking is for a plan. It is from the very respected Hal Higdon website, and I have made some minor modifications, mostly to the first half of the plan. I bumped up the first several weeks runs from 3, 5, 3 to 4, 6, 4 because that more closely mirrors my current runs and I like even numbers. :) (I also added a total column to see how many miles are scheduled for that particular week and a date column so you can see when I am beginning and where I should be as the months roll past.)
The only long run I modified was the second scheduled 20 miler and I bumped that up to 22 miles. I realize there is much debate about running more than 20 miles in training. I don't know which camp I sit in just yet, but I think I will put down to run 22 and form a real opinion after I actually become a marathoner.
As for a little reasoning as to why I chose this plan, and not one of his novice plans, mainly has to do with what I realistically think I can accomplish while also serving as a challenge throughout. There are more actual running days in this program, and the mileage is a bit higher than the novice plans, but still nowhere near the more advanced plans. There is no prescribed speed work or tempo runs, with the exception of occasional runs that should be run at "goal marathon pace" and are indicated with "pace" after the mileage number.
I have never run 5 days a week (consistently) before, but I run 4 fairly easily and I would like to see how my body responds and recovers. I also took out the cross training day and am just calling it a rest day. Of course, this may all change and I drop a day of running a week (as my body requires) or tweak the mileage here and there, but I think it is pretty sound even with my own changes factored in. I like the idea of having 5 days scheduled knowing that life happens and if I miss one of the week day runs I have plenty others scheduled to keep me progressing forward to my goal on November 18.
On the day where the schedule calls for a half marathon race, I am still trying to sort that out and it may require some slight juggling of weeks. I am hoping to run a half in Winslow, AR, sometime in September with my run buddy N. We shall see, and if not, I will simulate race conditions as best I can.

Without any further ado:



Hal Higdon’s
(Modified) Marathon Training Schedule: Intermediate 1
Date
WEEK
SUN
MON
TUES
WED
THU
FRI
SAT
TOTAL
15
July
1
Rest
4 m run
6 m run
4 m run
Rest
5 m pace
8 m
run
27
22
July
2
Rest
4 m run
6 m run
4 m run
Rest
5 m run
9 m
run
28
29
July
3
Rest
4 m run
6 m run
4 m run
Rest
5 m pace
6 m
run
25
5
Aug
4
Rest
4 m run
7 m run
4 m run
Rest
6 m pace
11 m
run
32
12
Aug
5
Rest
4 m run
7 m run
4 m run
Rest
6 m run
12 m
run
33
19
Aug
6
Rest
4 m run
6 m run
4 m run
Rest
6 m pace
9 m
run
29
26
Aug
7
Rest
4 m run
7 m run
4 m run
Rest
7 m pace
14 m
run
36
2
Sept
8
Rest
4 m run
7 m run
4 m run
Rest
7 m run
15 m
run
37
9
Sept
9
Rest
4 m run
5 m run
4 m run
Rest
Rest
Half Marathon
26.1
16
Sept
10
Rest
4 m run
8 m run
4 m run
Rest
8 m pace
17 m
run
41
Date
WEEK
SUN
MON
TUES
WED
THU
FRI
SAT
TOTAL










23
Sept
11
Rest
5 m run
8 m run
5 m run
Rest
8 m run
18 m
run
44
30
Sept
12
Rest
5 m run
5 m run
5 m run
Rest
8 m pace
13 m
run
36
7
Oct
13
Rest
5 m run
8 m run
5 m run
Rest
5 m pace
20 m
run
43
14
Oct
14
Rest
5 m run
5 m run
5 m run
Rest
8 m run
12 m
run
35
21
Oct
15
Rest
5 m run
8 m run
5 m run
Rest
5 m pace
22 m
run
45
28
Oct
16
Rest
5 m run
6 m run
5 m run
Rest
4 m pace
12 m
run
32
4
Nov
17
Rest
4 m run
5 m run
4 m run
Rest
3 m run
8 m
run
24
11
Nov
18
Rest
3 m run
4 m run
Rest
3 m run
Rest
2 m
run
12
18
Nov

Race
Day!






26.2



1 comment:

  1. Hello MB,
    Just a quick message to ask if you would be interested in a ‘mutual’ following on twitter. I am currently following you now and am awaiting for your follow-back. (#FYI I do RT’s ‘anytime’ for all #Triathletes #Cyclists #UltraRunners #Marathoners #FitnessProfessionals who follow me on Twitter and have something important they want mentioned for support…)

    All the very best to you and yours for the rest of 2012 and beyond MB. Look forward to hearing from you…

    Darin
    twitter.com/DarinArmstrong
    #TeamLIVESTRONG

    ReplyDelete