Bring It On, Marathon

I determined that I'd better launch my 2013 marathon training as soon as we got back from Norway. This seemed, for most of early summer, like a date that was comfortably far away. But Norway came and went, and suddenly I was faced with making good on my vow. Drat. I launched into planning.

Last year I followed the regimen prescribed by the book Run Less, Run Faster, which advocates a three-day running week with two days of cardio sprinkled in. This is great for people who worry about wear on their joints and have little time to dedicate to training. I was happy with the results when marathon time rolled around, but I realized that, more often then not, I had ended to skip the two cardio days and sometimes one of the workouts as well (though almost never my long run). If I was pretty happy with the results of a very loose adherence to that training program, I imagined I'd be over the moon about my outcome if I stuck to a slightly stricter plan. Meanwhile, Ed was horrified by how little mileage I put in last year in preparation for the race and pointed me toward some very convincing literature about the importance of running every day, even if only a little bit. The theory is that one's body becomes accustomed to a certain cadence, making it easy to fall into stride on race day. Or something.

Accordingly, this year I've revamped my training schedule so that it incorporates both schools of thought. I'm doing the three weekly workouts outlined in Run Less, but instead of the two non-running cardio options (swimming, biking, eliptical, etc.), I'm doing three days of easy, short runs in between the harder workouts. Putting in an easy four-mile run every other day adds 12 miles to my running week without my even really noticing the difference, and if I do it first thing in the morning it doesn't really affect my daily schedule, leaving me free for social engagements, cleaning the apartment, and staring contests with Todd. My easy days are feeling so easy I may bump the mileage up to 4.5, then to 5 - increasing too fast leads to injury. My three Run Less workouts consist of one interval run (example: 5 repeats of 800 meters at a very fast pace), one tempo run (example: 5 miles at a faster-than-usual pace sandwiched in between one mile for warm-up and one for cool-down), and one long run (increasing in distance each week at a pace 30 seconds per mile to 45 seconds per mile slower than my target marathon pace). I wrote it all out on calendar pages, and am making notes of what I actually do on each day, which is rather rewarding. In addition to the running, I'm taking a weight training class at the gym once a week and am incorporating some stride-outs and hip exercises a few times a week, too. It's a lot, but I figure that even if I miss a bit here and there, which is bound to happen, I'm still going to have a very solid base from which to work on November 3rd.

I've made another change as well: I've stopped wearing my headphones as much while I run. Usually, I listen to audiobooks to pass the time, but I want to be more focused on my body and my workout while I'm running, and the idea of spending at least a little time each day completely free from electronics appeals to me. I find myself coming up with more creative ideas when I run without headphones, and I feel a bit more centered and at peace.

So far things are going quite well. It was hot enough when we got back from Norway that running early in the morning was the only option, but since my internal clock was askew it was easy to just go with it. After a little more than two weeks of this schedule, I'm feeling wide awake by 6:00 A.M. and start getting tired around 9:30 P.M. Perhaps I'm not the life of the party anymore, but I'm OK with that. My left calf muscle has been twinging pretty consistently for about two weeks, but although it hasn't gotten better, it hasn't gotten worse either, so I'm keeping an eye on it but continuing to run as planned. Otherwise, I feel good. I've been at it for a little over two weeks and have missed only one workout, so things are off to a promising start.