The past week reflects my most weekly running mileage in several weeks. My hope is that by maintaining a schedule of three good runs & 3 equipment -less strength training workouts each week and adding two days of biking, I’ll start losing these 17.2 pounds. We’ll see what next Monday brings…4 day weekend coming up, which will make avoiding too much eating tres diffcile.
So, my 16 week training for the 2011 Chicago Marathon officially starts this week. My theme for this year is “4 hours or bust.” I really want to train to break the 4 hour mark in this year’s marathon. To put it in context, last year, for my first ever, on a miserably hot day, I ran a 4:50:something. Yikes. But I’ve learned that I need to have an intimidating goal to work toward in order to stay motivated. So, 4 hours or bust.
I’ve posted my training schedule (see the page link above), which follows the FIRST training program. I followed their system (minus the cross-training) for my May half marathon and was excited to see how it really helped me get faster (this is a relative term, of course).
That being said, I’m still not convinced that I’ll follow this system for the marathon. It’s maybe a little too aggressive for my current base (up to 20 milers in the 4th week!!!!). So, I’m looking at creating a hybrid of this with another plan or going with this other plan altogether.
Here are my goals and thoughts for this year’s marathon training:
1) Develop the discipline of getting up early to get the workouts in. I don’t want my training to be a burden to my family. I also don’t want to run at night. It’s time to become an early riser for once in my life. So tonight, I’m setting my alarm for 4:30 am. Yikes.
2) Lose 19.7 pounds to reach my goal weight of 175, which would make my BMI no longer “overweight.”
3) Run three days per week. Cross-train by riding my bike two of the other days.
4) Strength train three days per week (simple, equipment-less stuff): push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. (Might need to add an excercise or two to strengthen the muscles around my left knee).
5) Join a friend and mentor of mine to run with Team World Vision. I wasn’t going to run for a charity this year, but I really like the idea of having my running be about more than me. My friend is seeking to raise $7000 for clean water projects in Africa by getting 700 people to donate $10 each. He’s invited me to help him toward that goal, so I’m signing on. (I plan to share more about this as I get more figured out.)
6)Whenever possible, share the miles with someone. I ran a few miles this past Saturday with a few guys from our Austin run/walk club, and it’s amazing how much easier it is to run when someone is running with you. (Lots of thoughts for a future post here…). Those long runs get especially lonely, so I’m going to try to find some guys I can run with every now and then through the process.
7) Remember that it’s the process, not the race that really matters and makes the difference. Each day I have the health and the opportunity to get out and move, I will be thankful. I won’t get down on myself for a slow run or for not hitting all my goals for a workout.
So, join me on the journey toward my second marathon…I better get to bed!
Well, marathon training starts this week. 16 weeks and 19.7 lbs to go.
So, marathon training is scheduled to begin this month. One of my goals for this year is to get to a “healthy” BMI for the first time since I was a teenager. For my height, I need to get to about 175 to no longer be in the “overweight” category. So, from today, that leaves me about 17 and some change to go. I plan to post a photo of the reading from my scale every Monday through the Chicago Marathon. That’ll help provide me with some accountability and hopefully demonstrate some progress in the months ahead.
Dan, in real Life 