2008 was the year I really got into the habit of running (or working out) daily. I didn’t follow a formal plan, just started running more consistently. Although since August I haven’t run every day, I certainly feel that something is missing on days when I don‘t do any physical activity.
This Sunday, Oct 26th, marks 12 weeks til the Rock and Roll Arizona Marathon, where my goal is to run sub-3:23:00 so I can qualify for the New York City Marathon. In order to really push through and come up with a big 7 minute PR, I decided to try something new. I purchased a “custom training plan” from Greg McMillan. I filled out a survey on my background, goals and habits, and received back a daily plan.
So.. I’ve been running every day this year, and I mentioned that on my survey. Perhaps I should have mentioned that many of those days only consisted of a mile or two.. because I have one “OFF” day and two “OFF or..” days between now and Jan 19th! To be fair, the notes say that it’s ok to rest when you need to, but naturally I am going to try my best to follow the plan!
Like the workouts Meredith’s coach has her do, almost all the workouts (except the long run) are based on minutes rather than miles. That way at least I will have the opportunity to monitor myself and run at an appropriate pace as I’m feeling.
I will admit that the idea of jumping into a plan again will take some determination. I know that following a plan will give me the results I want, it will just be a matter of making the time. I got used to the Pfitzinger workouts, I knew what to expect on a given day.
Just like the Pfitzinger plans, every workout has a specific purpose. Many of the days are “easy runs” ranging from 20/30 minutes to 75/85 minutes intended to “build endurance”.
Saturdays are my long runs, generally intended to “build endurance and stamina”. Many of the long runs are progression runs intended as “dress rehearsals” for the marathon. I think this should be really great for me: I know I can run the distance. The secret is being able to hold race pace as I get fatigued.
“Our general rule when I coached the Discovery USA program was that if you could finish a 14- to 22-mile fast finish long run with the last 8-12 miles at your goal marathon pace and the last 2-3 miles at 10K race pace, then you would have no problem accomplishing your goal in the marathon. For the first fast finish long run, the initial few miles would be about a minute and a half slower than marathon race pace and only the last 5-10K would be fast. But, by the time the last fast finish long run would come around, the initial few miles would be only 30 seconds slower than marathon race pace and the last 15-20K would average goal marathon pace.”
Wednesdays are the other hard day of the week, where I have different workouts. Many Wednesdays will be dedicated to “building stamina – lactate threshold”, but there are also a few weeks where I can “choose my own workout”, focusing on building overall strength, stamina, or leg strength.
When I first looked at the plan I was intimidated by the lack of days off. But when I break it down to the actual workouts, it’s certainly manageable. Every week there are three half hour easy runs, two easy runs of around 75 min, and two hard days. If anything, it will just be about really pushing it on those harder days. As I said, I think the progression long runs will be a great help, and I know that I’m not very diligent at speedwork, so it will be good to have those Wednesdays targeted at speed and stamina.
This weekend I’m torn between wanting to go out and enjoy the Colorado outdoors with a nice run, and taking it easy in preparation of the work ahead of me.. I guess we’ll see what the morning brings!
