On Monday, February 1st, there will be 18 weeks until the San Diego Rock 'n Roll Marathon. Since mid-November, I've been establishing my running base, which culminated in the running of the Carlsbad half marathon. Now, to build upon that and prepare myself for the next level, I've finally (I think) worked out my program. I leaned heavily on Bob Glover's book, but also reviewed Hal Higdon's advice, Jeff Galloway's, and the articles and outlines at CoolRunning.com, RunningPlanet.com and RunnersWorld.com. There are certainly other gurus with sound advice, but I notice common threads running through all of them and eventually had to settle down and start mapping out a plan, else risk getting bogged down in information overload.
I've never...ever...run further than 13.1 miles. Ever. I've hiked further than that in a day, with a backpack; but that's a bit different from distance running. So, this is going to be new territory for me, and I find it pretty exciting. I'm not as intimidated as I was when I first committed to the marathon, but I can't deny that I'm still a little incredulous that I will actually make it happen.
The details are subject to change and my approach is to remain flexible and not bound to a scripted plan. The only stakes I wanted to place in the ground were official "race" events that I would like to participate in between now and June 6th.
The first is the XTerra Black Mountain 15K Trail Run on March 14th. I've run this route on my own when I included the loop trail through the chaparral-covered hills and dales on the shoulder of San Diego County's Black Mountain, as part of my personal consolation half marathon when I couldn't run in the Heartbreak Ridge Half Marathon last September. I increased the distance from 9 to 13 miles back then with some extra loop backs and had Joan and the kids support me along the way at various pre-arranged spots. It was a healthy run which I found challenging, though the race organizers describe it as a fast course. By that point in my training schedule, 9-10 miles will be a cut back in my long run distance, but I'll plan to run it at a quicker pace.
The second event is part of the Carlsbad 5000. A 5K wouldn't normally be something to anchor a marathon training plan on, but they're offering the All Day 25K again and I've signed up to do that. I'll run in all five 5K open individual events. They're spaced such that I'll have about 30-45 minutes after one to rest before starting the next one. I already know I can do 3 sequential tempo-quality 5Ks with minimal rest in between. I should be able to add two more by then.
Two weeks after that is the 3rd and final midterm event: the La Jolla Half Marathon. On April 25th, I'll return to the scene of my first ever half marathon and see if I can do better than I did when I was 27. I'll be two thirds of the way to the marathon by then, and upon completion of the race two thirds through the San Diego half marathon Triple Crown.
The weekend runs will be the centerpieces of each week's schedule, involving either a long/slow distance run or a shorter race-pace run. I'll shoot for Saturdays, with a rest day following on Sunday; but where that isn't possible or doesn't work out, I'll run on Sunday and turn Monday into a recovery day.
I've divided the 18 week plan into 3 six-week segments to make it a little more psychologically manageable. 18 weeks is a long time. The first stage will begin on 1 February and consist of mainly building my long distance runs up to 18 miles. The first five weekends will involve 4 gradually increasing long runs with a 10K race pace run in the middle to break it up just a little. This stage culminates with the 15K Trail Run on March 14th.
The 2nd 6 week phase will emphasize running strength training, with more hills, speedwork, while continued increase in mileage. I have 3 LSD weekends planned with my first breach of the 20-mile barrier, building up to 22 miles. Alternating every other weekend with the 3 long runs will be a Black Mountain "summit run", the Carlsbad 5000 and La Jolla half marathon.
Phase 3 will take me from April 26th to the marathon on June 6th, and will be focused on the final buildup to near marathon distance. I'll do 3 LSD weekends, followed by a 10K race and a final tapering middle distance run the weekend before the marathon.
I have not worked out what my weekly mileage totals will be just yet, but I'm starting around 32-35 miles and figure I'll be building to over 50 by May. The rough weekly outline is:
Monday: 60 minutes base-pace recovery run (or rest day if Sunday was a hard day)
Tuesday: Cross train (swim, spin, row, or weights circuit)
Wednesday: 60 minutes hard (tempo, intervals, supersets, or 10K race pace run)
Thursday: 30-45 minutes base-pace recovery + cross training
Friday: 60-75 minutes HM/M pace run
Saturday/Sunday: LSD, 10K, hill run or other race event
(If the event is on a Sunday, Saturday will just be a moderate, short run to stay loose)
There's flexibility and variety here, while also seeming to hit the key principles that the experts say will prep me for the marathon. I'm not after a time-goal, but the path I am setting myself on should lead to an expectation of something like a 3 hr and 45 minute finish. Simply finishing in 4 hours or less will be fine with me.
