03 August 2009

16 Weeks To Philly

Yesterday marked exactly sixteen weeks to the Philadelphia Marathon, so that means today marks the first day of my training schedule. Mondays are rest days so my first day of running will actually be tomorrow.

I am excited and nervous all at the same time. This is the first time I have really committed to a training plan. I had one for the Broad Street Run, but it was really a just a guideline and I ended up abandoning the plan for a number of reasons.

My plan consists of running for a length of time rather than distance. I will be recording the distances in my log, but the plan for each run is to have a good run for the set period of time. My first speed work is not until the fourth week of the plan, and then those build each week after that.

My long run peaks at 4 hours which comes four weeks before the marathon. I also have a couple of runs over 3 hours. The goal with these runs is just to get the time on my feet and make sure my mind and body are ready for what will be coming. After the 4 hour long run I will begin my taper.

It is definitely a beginners plan, but I am confident that it will do me good, and as long as I stick to the plan I will have a good run on November 22. I created the plan myself, so it is customized specifically for me. And I consulted different training plans on the Internet and in a couple of books, so I am confident that it is a quality plan for its purpose.

It is going to be a long and hard four months, but it is going to be very worth it come November.

2 comments:

joyRuN said...

Good luck & happy training! Sounds like you're headed in a good direction - I think it's usually best to customize training plans instead of blindly following what's out there. There's too much variation in the running experience.

Lindsay said...

yay to the start of a new plan :) stay focused on the main goal and don't get too caught up in the day-to-day ups and downs. enjoy it!