Monday, August 3, 2015

On your mark...



So as of last week my marathon training has officially begun. Technically I've been training for the past two months or so. This year I really didn't want to have such a hard start with training because I was dealing with some mental anxiety about officially starting. While my level of fitness is completely different then last year I still has some nerves.

When I was preparing for my first full marathon I really focused on increasing my miles. I started out averaging between 25-30 miles per week and managed to peak at 50 before my taper. 26.2 miles was new to me and I had no idea what to expect. I was terrified of hitting the wall and figured that if I focused more on T.O.F. (time on feet) that I should be able to keep the wall at bay. But like many first time marathoners I ditched my race plan the minute the sirens blared. I went out faster than I planned and though the wall didn't surface until mile 22 and I was able to recover in mile 24, the struggle was very real. 

This year I'm running the same race so I'm already familiar with the course. I'm no longer a newbie and after running in some additional races this year I've gotten better at keeping my excitement in check at the start. As far as my plan goes the only thing that will change will be my long runs. My weekly runs will go as such:

Tuesday: 5 miles
Wednesday: Alternate between tempo runs and hills (average 4-5 miles)
Friday: 7 miles
Sunday: long runs (12-22 miles)

I also do yoga and weight training three days a week. My focus this year isn't so much on miles or endurance but speed. Before I even started training I used a half marathon as a guide to see if I made any progress in getting faster. Last year my half marathon time was 2:17, this year it was 1:57. In one full year I managed to shave twenty minutes from my time with absolutely no speed work. While my nerves center mostly around training I'm pretty excited about the actual race. 

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