As usual, I’ve done a poor job of maintaining this blog. Now is a good time to start back up, because this will serve as my training journal for my 9th, 10th and 11th marathons. Training started yesterday…more on that in a moment.
Here is the plan:
Chicago Marathon 10/13/13
New York City Marathon 11/3/13*
California International Marathon 12/8/13
* This marathon requires that I raise at least $5,000 for child protection with Team World Vision. More on that later as well.
I intend to post about every training run, as well as whatever comes to mind. We will see how it goes.
This year, I’m using Hal Higdon’s Advanced Marathon Training. I’ve been through most of his marathon training plans, and I think this one fits me pretty well. Let me bring you up to date:
My Marathon PR is 4:29:06. I want my marathon time to start with a 3. I would like to get there this year – at least by the time I run California. My plan is to consistently train for a 4:00:00. I’ll reassess after Chicago, then after New York – and I’ll adjust accordingly.
This means that I need to get used to running consistent 9:09’s or better. I’m on my way. I’m going to push myself to get there. Some might think that by the time I had completed 8 marathons I would be there. Those people are obviously wrong. I’m not there yet. But I love having a goal to chip away at. And that is what I am doing.
This training program consists of 6 workouts per week. A couple of short easy runs, a hill or speed workout, a tempo run, a Saturday mid range and Sunday long run every week.
After Chicago last year, I realized I was a bit tired of running. I had another half and another full on the schedule. I ran the half and I was still tired. So I changed my Dallas Marathon to a half, and I got through it…but didn’t love it.
Boot Camp
I took some time off and started working on overall fitness at the beginning of the year. I ran the Cowtown Half Marathon and the Big D Half Marathon, February and April respectively, but aside from that kept my running at a minimum. I dedicated myself to working out at Corps Fitness Boot Camp with Jeremy Jones. Jeremy has helped me a ton. This workout involves speed work for my running and overall conditioning. We work out at 5:30 AM (no biggie for a Texas runner) as many as 5 days per week.
Several weeks ago, I started running longer weekend runs and a few runs during the week. Last week, I got up to a total of 23 miles over the week…time to start the real thing. At this point, I plan on going to boot camp three times per week as long as I’m getting adequate rest. The running schedule will get pretty intense in a few weeks.
I’ll post info on my runs from here on out.
greggorunner 