Via Marathon training officially begins in a week! I knew I would use Hansons for my training, but I went back and forth on whether to use the beginner or advanced plan. I originally decided to do the beginner.
The first thing I did was write out the entire beginner plan on my color coded calendar.
My colorful beginner plan.
But as I wrote the plan, I kept thinking that it didn't look like a big enough challenge. I mean, the first several weeks were full of 2-5 miles runs. The first run that hit double digits was Week 7. Is that really going to get me to my goal?
I know you are allowed to add mileage to this plan, but if I was going to add mileage, why not just do the advanced plan?
Then I wrote out the advanced plan. I broke it into Part 1 and Part 2 so it wouldn't be so intimidating. I put the first nine weeks on one piece of paper and the second nine weeks on another. Mentally, it will be easier to think of doing two 9 week plans than one huge 18 week plan! (Running is all mental games, remember!?)
I know you can't read this, but I just wanted to show you how I laid it all out.
There are two things that scare me about the advanced plan. It's the 11 weeks in a row of super high (for me) mileage and the intense speed training. It's not that I don't want to put the work in. Believe me, I am very excited to work hard. I am just worried about my body holding up!!!
Fears aside, I decided to do the advanced plan. The last thing I needed to figure out was my time goal for the marathon so I could run my training at the correct paces. I said before that my A Goal is to PR with a <3:28:07. I promise you if I just got a 3:28:06 I would pee my pants with excitement. But I'm worried about whether I should train to hit my goal right on the mark or if I should train to get under my goal... that way there is some buffer room, you know? I talked to Allison, who just completed the Hansons plan and she said go for 3:25:00. Okay then!
My paces for each workout.
None of those paces scare me except marathon goal pace.
I honestly do not think I can run a marathon at a 7:49 pace. I know that's a lousy way to think at the beginning of training, but I have to be honest! A 7:54 pace would bring me in at 3:27 and having those 5 extra seconds per mile seems much more manageable. We shall see...
Hopefully I am able to complete all of the prescribed workouts on the Hansons plan. But beyond that, here are some other things I want to be sure to do during the training:
This pretty much sums up all my training goals. I didn't mention anything about lifting as I realize it may have to take a back seat for now. Even though I only lift upper body (read here if you want the reason for that), lifting is EXHAUSTING! And I don't normally lift and run on the same day. But since I want to keep my rest days completely workout free, if I want to lift during these 18 weeks, I'm going to have to do it on a day I run.
Fridays and Mondays look like they are the lowest mileage days on the plan. If I am going to lift, it is going to be on those days. I realize I may skip some lifting sessions or I may not be able to lift as heavy as I normally do. Right now I am okay with that, but I'm not going to lie... if I see myself getting weaker it is probably going to bother me! I will just have to deal with that as it comes.
There ya have it, folks! More than you probably wanted to know about my upcoming training! Writing this post has really made me excited! I can't wait to BRING IT!
... But it also has me scared. I am very skeptical of my abilities right now. I suppose that is normal. I can't wait to work hard but I know it may not pay off in the end. We shall see. (Why am I being such a Negative Nancy!!!!!????)
Did you ever have to let lifting take a back seat to your running?What is "high mileage" according to you? (For me it's anything 45+!!!)

















