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George's First Marathon Training Journal (Read 390 times)

    I'm targeting the Vermont City Marathon May 24th as my first marathon. So I'm starting this journal outside of my usual log so you can all hold my feet to the fire. Wink. After my first HM in October, I had runner's knee and some other issues due to overstriding but I seem to have fixed that and am looking forward to ramping the miles (slowly). I just have to be diligent about exercises and stretching. So the base of my plan is a weekly Saturday long run with my running club and a longish run on Wednesday mornings. Kinda looks like this: Monday: Easy run Tues: Weight training and XT Wed: mid-week longish run - push to 60-90 minutes Thur: morning easy, evening tempo, eventually add in hills every other week in am Fri: Weight training and XT or easy jog Sat: weekly long run, progress to 16-18 miles, 3 hours or so Sun: Recovery jog 3-4 miles I'm going to try to add doubles to Tuesday or Thursday runs when I progress a little further. My club has a tempo run Thursday nights so maybe an easy run in the am and the tempo at night. I have some good hills around my neighborhood too so I'd like to work in a hill workout every other Thursday too (then I can run the Thursday night tempo at an easy pace). I'm following Nobby's and Mikey-Mike's advice to focus on time for my Wed and Sat runs vs. actual miles and I'll listen closely to my body and see how it goes. For this week, I'm just doing some easy 5 and 6 mile runs and a long run Saturday of about 10 miles at a nice easy pace. Then I race the 2.5 mile leg of the Mill City Relay on Sunday morning. . I hope I don't blow the team time Tongue. Ran my first 5K ever on Thanksgiving and managed a 7:26 pace so that's pretty much what I expect for Sunday. I haven't trained for short distances, I almost exclusively run long. But I hear it's fun and the post-race soup is supposed to be good.

     


    #2867

      I ran the Vermont City Marathon in 2006; I liked it. Other than a 2 mile out/2 mile back on a highway early in the race, anyway. The rest of the race goes through the center of town cloverleaf fashion w/o repeating a lot of the course, but still allowing spectators to cheer for you. My wife got to see me 6 times w/o moving more than a quarter mile or so. This might be helpful: http://news.runtowin.com/2006/05/30/the-vermont-city-marathon-course-analysis.html

      Run to Win
      25 Marathons, 17 Ultras, 16 States (Full List)

        I ran the Vermont City Marathon in 2006; I liked it. Other than a 2 mile out/2 mile back on a highway early in the race, anyway. The rest of the race goes through the center of town cloverleaf fashion w/o repeating a lot of the course, but still allowing spectators to cheer for you. My wife got to see me 6 times w/o moving more than a quarter mile or so. This might be helpful: http://news.runtowin.com/2006/05/30/the-vermont-city-marathon-course-analysis.html
        Thanks for the tip. I'd really like to run Sugarloaf but 5 1/2 hours is way too long in the minivan with the kids. Tongue

         

          Busy weekend. 7 mile trail run Saturday and ran the 2.5 mile leg of the Mill Cities relay on Sunday. I ran it as hard as I could but I think the leg work I did in the gym on Friday cost me. It was snowy and cold but I managed a 7:16 pace. My team finished 8th in the Master's division with a total time of 2:57:48 for the 28.3 miles. Big end of running season party after was a lot of fun. 1,000 runners getting together and having a good time. Taking today off since my legs are a little achy. Hitting the weights tomorrow with an easy 3 or 4 miles after.

           

            So I did my first real hill workout this morning. I was a little achy in the lower legs last night after my 7.4 mile run yesterday but felt better this morning. I did a 2 mile easy run to a steep hill that's a little over a third of a mile long. Took me just over 3 minutes to run it. So did it twice then ran a tempo home for about 2 miles. A total of 5.12 miles. I loved it and felt great. I was really using my legs to drive up the hill. Next time, I'll do it three of four times. It was raining tpday so I was a little nervous on the downhill. One other note, I've been running in ASICS DS Trainers lately but they haven't felt great. Inside of my heel and arch have hurt a little. Today I went with my Landreths with no added support and they felt great. And my legs still feel great now. I've become a much more efficient runner and don't really need the stability I guess. Tomorrow is the Jingle Bell run with my running club. A short fun run through town in "gay apparel" and a couple stops at some members' homes for socializing. so, I get a recovery jog and recovery nog all together. Big grin Then a long 10-12 mile trail run on Saturday morning.

             

              Approached 30 miles last week. Saturday's 9.5 mile was OK but not great. but legs feel better today after by easy 5 1/4. Also starting the 100 push-up chalenge this week. After my run, I got 23 after a couple warm-up sets. Smile

               

                Pretty good week this week. Other than the nipple burn from yesterday's morning run in a snow and ice storm, I feel pretty good. Yesterday's easy 8 miler was cut a little short b/c I soaked through my clothes and could feel the burn in my nipples. Can't wait for X-mas to get my new running jacket. running in 2-3 inches of new snow is fun but it's much harder than I realized. I was really surprised by how much harder your legs have to work. My pace was much slower than I thought (probably a good thing). Today I did a tempo run of about 3.33 miles at a pace of 7:47 which is probably a little fast for me but it felt GREAT! Nice easy 3-4 miles tomorrow after weight training, Saturday I'll be off b/c the DW is working (she's a nurse), plus we're getting 6-12 inches of snow Friday night. I'll be heading out early Sunday morning for a long run of 8-10 depending on how I feel and how bad the roads and sidewalks are. I'm a little bummed that I can't run on the trails now. MTA: I'm excited about feeling good right now. Knee is better, PF is fine, shins are OK. I should hit 30 miles this week and I start my 18 week marathoin training right after X-mas. I'm happy to be back at 30 mpw before starting my training.

                 

                  Haven't posted in a bit. Simply put, everything seems to be on track. Big grin I'm at 30 mpw now; had a step back week last week during X-mas to give the shins and knee a rest. The goal is to work up to 40 mpw. My challenge is to lose about 8 lbs over the next 4-8 weeks w/o compromising the increase in miles. Also trying to figure out the best way to strength train with only 2 days per week rather than my usual 3. Right now I'm trying a full body routine Tuesdays and Fridays: Power cleans 4x5 or 3x8 Squats 4x5 or 3x8 Bench press 4x5 or 3x8 I finish with hip flexor and core work since those are weak spots. Spread eagle sit ups, crunches, leg raises, planks, etc. I mix it up. On Fridays I add pull-ups and dips for 3x8 for the only isolated arm work I do. It's a short routine that allows me to get in a run after so I can keep my miles up. I've been rotating ASICS Landreths and DS trainers for my running but Landreths are near retirement so I ran yesterday in new Brooks Glycerins. Like them a lot. I've been misdiagnosed as an overpronator a couple times but I am really neutral. The Glycerins felt great and my knee feels awesome and no shin soreness. I'm looking forward to cranking it up. Lastly, my only New Year's rsolution is to get really disciplined with the diet. I'm pretty good about it but got a little lazy in Nov/Dec.

                   

                    Well, the weather forecast forced me to see how well I'd handle two longish runs on back-to-back days. I felt great, albiet a bit fatigued this morning. Did 7.6 yesterday and 8.2 this morning at a slightly faster pace. There's a good hill in the middle of the run and I did feel a little tired during that stretch but once past it, I picked up my pace and cruised home feeling good. Nice to know I can do back-to-back days like that. Tomorrow I'll head to the gym for weights and an easy hill run on the treadmill. Looking forward to easy runs at end of week and getting 12 miles on Saturday. I'll be at 40 in no time. Big grin

                     

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