The training:  Decided to go with Hansons Advanced plan mainly because I have a history of IT band problems and I thought the shorter, faster paced long runs (Hansons caps the LR at 16 miles) would make it more likely that I would survive uninjured but at the same time it was still a challenging program.  I had considered using Pfitz 18/70 but I didn’t know if I would hold up to all those long slow 20 milers.

The first few weeks were pretty rough and the plan ended up being tougher than it looked on paper.  It was relentless – Hansons is all about cumulative fatigue and I was definitely feeling the fatigue.  But I never felt like I was on the verge of injuring myself. I just felt exhausted. But I followed the plan pretty much to the letter and about half way through it got easier.  Legs were suddenly feeling stronger than ever.  I did extend two of the 16 milers to 18, mostly for the psychological benefit.  Averaged around 57mpw for the plan with peak weeks of 67-68.

The goal:  Hansons has you running MP runs from the very start of the program.  Using my half marathon PR of 1:46, I chose 8:30 as GMP knowing I would have to get faster throughout the training cycle to actually be able to race at that pace.   Ran a tune up half 4 weeks out in 1:43:58 (a 2.5 minute PR) and based on that I decided to stick with 8:30 pace for race day and see how it went and hopefully come in under 3:45.

Pre-race:  I was feeling sort of nervous about the lack of long runs.  Who trains for a marathon without even doing one 20 miler?  I knew I could run 26.2 but at an 8:30 pace??

Temperature was 33 and sunny at the start and supposed to be around 41 at the time I was hoping to finish.  Went with arm warmers, short sleeved shirt, and shorts, hoping I wouldn’t be cold.

The race:

Miles 1-3:  First few miles I had to keep myself from running faster – The magic of taper I guess, but 8:30 pace felt much easier than it had in training but I tried to keep it controlled and reigned myself in behind the 3:45 group, who was running a bit fast.  (Splits: 8:26,8:27,8:30)

4-10: I got into a rhythm and the next few miles went quickly. I was trying to be careful not to push the pace and keep it feeling like an easy effort – slower on the inclines, faster on the declines.  Pretty course through some nice neighborhoods and the sun was shining and was actually enjoying myself (8:28, 8:37, 8:33, 8:30, 8:22, 8:24, 8:29).

11-13:  This is where I was expecting it to become more of an effort to maintain pace but it still felt more like easy pace than race effort.  A few small inclines/declines here and I tried to maintain steady effort (8:39, 8:19, 8:36) Crossed the half at 1:52:37, a few seconds behind 3:45 pace.

14-18:  By the halfway point it wasn’t getting harder so I decided I better start racing this thing!  So I decided to up the pace a little and try to run closer to 8:20.  Now this was feeling a little more like race effort.  Still not laboring but definitely pushing it a bit more.  By mile 15/16 I knew I only had about 10 left and I would be fine.  I was starting to feel some fatigue in my legs but I had done 10 at MP feeling much worse in training so I knew I could do it.  (8:23, 8:20, 8:20, 8:22, 8:31)

19-23:  Legs feeling tired but I had done a million training runs with tired legs. I knew at this point my lack of 20 milers was not going to be a problem.  Less than an hour of running left. I could do that.  (8:08, 8:11, 8:24, 8:23, 8:30).

24-26.2:  Ok, my legs are starting to hurt a good amount but I just tried to ignore it and keep them turning over.  Only 3 miles left. Less than 30 minutes and I would be done. I was done checking my watch and just focused on running as best I could.  (8:21, 8:24, 8:07 and the final .52 at 7:50 pace – garmin measured it a little long)

Final time:  3:42:44!

Pretty happy with this!  About a 45 minute from my first marathon in 2010.   Looking back I probably should have pushed it a bit more in the first half but I didn’t know how the later miles would feel.  My legs felt strong the whole way and I never once wished I would have done a bunch of 20 milers.  I’m glad I chose to use the Hansons program and would highly recommend it!

And I really enjoyed this race – it was well organized, pretty course, fairly flat and the perfect sized race for me (about 750 doing the full).  The weather was pretty perfect – I felt comfortable the whole time, low wind and sun was shining.

The tshirt and medal:

Awesome job, really really awesome.  Really is inspiring.

Great job!  What a reward for a well executed race and training cycle.  You've just about convinced me to use Hansons beginner plan for my next marathon.  I'm sure I'll be asking you more questions.  Congratulations again!

Fantastic race Jenny. Holding back a bit at the beginning meant you could finish strong and have a great time out there!

Awesome, awesome, awesome! Congrats, and enjoy your well earned donut.

Congrats! You killed it!

Thanks.  I ran 2000 miles last year and the 6 months prior to starting Hansons I think I was averaging right around 50mpw.  (and doing speedwork once a week)

Onemile - Congrats again lady. Have a donut and a beer on me.

 

Questions time. What was your average mpw prior to Hanson's?