Training for a marathon

From the many blogs I read and the few people I have talked to about marathons, it is clear that there is not a golden training plan that guarantees the successful completion of a marathon. Rather, everyone has their own unique training plan that works best for their fitness level and end goal. For many first time marathoners, it is all about finishing! This is the case for me. I just want to finish the 26.2 miles and want to run as much of those 26.2 miles as I can. While it is completely acceptable to walk portions of a marathon, I would like to keep a steady pace throughout the entire race. I have not set a time goal for myself but may have a better idea once my long runs become longer.

Most marathon plans follow the same pattern. Short runs during the week with a mixture of cross-training, and a long run on the weekend that continues to get longer. For someone like me that has a hard time focusing on 26.2 miles, a training plan is vital. Since I have never run anything over 13 miles, it will be important for me to stick to a training plan that helps me build up to 26.2.

During the week, I want to focus on high intensity interval training, strength training and yoga.  It may take me a few weeks to get into a rhythm of what my workouts will look like during the week, but I am hoping to find a nice balance of workouts that will allow for recovery time and help me get stronger for my long runs on the weekend!

So my training plan looks something like this:

DATE	MILES
12/17/11	8
12/24/11	6
12/31/11	10
1/7/11	12
1/14/11	8
1/21/12	14
1/28/11	16
2/4/11	10
2/11/12	18
2/18/12	12
2/25/12	20
3/3/12	15
3/10/12	6
3/17/12	26.2!!!!

The great thing about running with a group like TNT, is that we meet at a different place each weekend for our long run. This last Saturday, we ran a 4 mile course (twice) starting at the Capitol Building, up the National Mall to the Lincoln Memorial and back down the National Mall to the Capitol. It is a run that almost every DC'er has done and a run that I could never get tired of! Something about running along side our national monuments that gives you just an extra boast of motivation.

You will have to excuse all of my pictures. They are all taken on my phone camera and in the early dawn hours....

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