...the start of officially losing my damn mind. It's June 1, aka 18 weeks until my first marathon. Today on the workout schedule is ab work and quad/hip strengthening (to keep the knee issues from returning). I'm not feeling motivated. It's gonna be a LONG 4+ months, methinks....

Starting? Starting to lose your mind? Huh... You put a solid plan together, trust it. You can do this. You're about the most consistent runner around...sheesh.

Hey zoom I'm five weeks out from my marathon and the end of what will have been a 26 week training period - admittedly the first 12 were all solid base building but still a long time! I've had a couple of things that have made it easier to get through: - i've used a 3 week build period/1 week recovery week phase which essentially breaks the training down into 4 week blocks. It is much easier to do 3 weeks build with the goal of reaching the cut back week and recovering there. It also turns an 18 week plan into 4 blocks which are also easier to achieve. - an A4 sheet of paper pinned up at my desk at work with every week listed, the distance of my long run according to the plan and the total weekly distance. On Monday morning I can come into work and cross off another week from my list - a visual sign of progress and a good way to start the working week - Races. Do't over do it, I put two races into my program, one 15 weeks from marathon and one 7 weeks. Just gives something different. - Vary the training, including session types and for me courses, running the same courses always got me bored so I chose to explore different areas when i went running - Share your runs and experiences on Running Ahead!! This was the first time I made notes on my runs and that in itself is good motivation, tells so much more than just looking at the numbers (pace, HR, etc) Hope that this is some help to you Hank

It's not official until you have at least back to back months with racing a marathon.

Heh...I don't foresee that ever happening. I'm not Trent.

Heh...I don't foresee that ever happening. I'm not Trent.

I didn't either, ZZ. But, you just never know. Did you always have the goal of running a marathon? In a specific time? Or, oh, I don't know--running 1500 miles?

Heh...I don't foresee that ever happening. I'm not Trent.

BTW... I DID IT. Flying Pig: May 4th Hatfield-McCoy: June 14th Pig time (for 26.47 miles): 3:39 McCoy time (for 26.22 miles): 4:42 See my BQ by 40 blog for details, but let's just say that the primary factor was NOT the spacing between marathons.

My only goal about two years ago was to be able to walk the half marathon distance in a WEEK. How things change. Marathon training is FUN.

And it'll be "funner" when my knee quits acting up. Nice blog--I bookmark'd ya'!