Chill Runs and Marathon Plans

I did a nice and easy 4.5 miler on Thursday evening to work out some kinks. It felt good, but I could definitely feel the sapping of energy that had gone on for that race only 3 days before. It was interesting to feel it. But I felt strong. And I felt happy.

Over the last few days, I have been chewing on how I want to prepare for this next marathon. Reality set in hard in my first plan, that following my plan just wasn't going to happen yet, and by the time my body was ready to acquiesce, I was so far off the mark, it wasn't even funny. Furthermore, the plan I was following, Jeff Galloway's, included runs that were in excess of marathon distance. I am not sold on whether I think this is a good idea or not, but the reality was, because it all became so condensed at the end, it was a race to keep up. And now I have the luxury of starting from scratch-- a clean slate.

I like plans that run longer. I don't really care for the super short condensed plans... one of two things happen... either the mileage ramps up too fast and things hurt-- not that this is a problem now... only 5 days from 27.23 miles (yep, apparently I added in another mile... who knows where, but I did.) OR its the slapdash here's enough to get you to the end. I did slapdash, and well... it got me over the line, but I have a lot of room to improve the 5:40:17, that's for sure. I know I have a sub-5 hour in me, if not something a little faster... but it would take some time.

So I am opting to go with Hal Higdon's "Personal Best" training plan. It's 30 weeks and if you do some fast math, as I did, you'll realize I need to be in week 4 this week. D'oh. Now before you get too concerned... truth is week for caps out with a 7 miler. The rest of the week is a bunch of 3 and 4 milers and the truth is, this isn't a stretch for me right now at all. My trick this time is going to be the consistency that I lost in the last plan with all of the work craziness. I think I might have to reign that in a little bit now. This plan is going to do a few things for me. For one its going to radically change the frequency of my running. I will be out there pretty much 5-6 days a week. It's going to force me into something very consistent which was really lacking in this last marathon prep. Secondly, its going to push me into doing some speed sessions, which I really need to start focusing on. Overall, I think its an indication that I am finally back to being able to truly train... not just run. So I am ready to get cracking.

This evening I am taking Miss Marisa out with me for a run. We haven't been able to do this much-- really not since the very start of dating, which I think she may secretly be forgetting, is coming up on May 7th. Yep, that first most beautiful woman and I are celebrating 2 years. But for now I am just happy that we'll be heading on out the door for a run together. This time, I don't have to act like the evil gym teacher.