On my way to Ironman, I feel like I need to suffer through a marathon at least once, to see what it is like to cover 26.2 miles (42.2 km) on foot. My reasons for a fall marathon are 1) a good way to get back to training with a purpose prior to starting my IM training in December and 2) build up my run frequency to reduce my chance of injury while completing IM training.
Since my goal is simply to finish a marathon this fall, I've chosen the latest available race in my area:Niagara International Marathon on October 23 Road2Hope Hamilton Marathon on November 6! This gives me 2 more weeks than I thought, which I will definitely (try to) make good use of. This also nicely accommodates the Oakville Half Marathon on September 25 as training/race prep.
I'm using a training method made famous by Slowtwitch member BarryP. This method appeals to me because the run frequency is very high, duration of each run is relatively short (excellent for us ADD folk) and I have had success with high frequency running in the past.
During phase 1 of my training, I'll be slowly building my mileage and getting my run legs back. This phase consists of 6 runs per week using a 1:2:3 ratio; 3 short runs of duration x, 2 medium runs of duration 2x and 1 long run of duration 3x. As recommended, I've extracted my paces using the McMillan running calculator for recovery (6:26 - 6:45 min/km), long runs (5:49 - 6:26 min/km) and easy runs (5:49 - 6:08 min/km). These paces sound really slow, and that is the whole point. BarryP emphasizes training to run more, not to run faster during training, leading to more efficient training overall and faster racing.
As I've experienced the switch to high frequency running (2-3 days to every single day), I'm aware of the adjustment period required upfront, so I'm starting with the rather unambitious 'x' value of 15 minutes (therefore 2x = 30 min and 3x = 45 min for any recent business graduates reading my blog). Once I've reset the habit of high frequency running, I'll begin to increase my total running time by 10% per week, as is often suggested.
I'm doing this training based on feel. Typically, I've used some sort of data in the past to guide me, but I think I've overlooked the importance of listening to how my body responds to the stresses of training. Thus my training volume for each week will be determined by how I'm feeling going into that week (i.e. maintain volume, cut back or add up to 10%).
If you made it this far, you have more patience than I. This was a rather self indulgent post to help justify my madness to myself. I'll update along the way and re-evaluate how smart this idea actually was once the marathon is over.
Daily workouts
Since my goal is simply to finish a marathon this fall, I've chosen the latest available race in my area:
I'm using a training method made famous by Slowtwitch member BarryP. This method appeals to me because the run frequency is very high, duration of each run is relatively short (excellent for us ADD folk) and I have had success with high frequency running in the past.
During phase 1 of my training, I'll be slowly building my mileage and getting my run legs back. This phase consists of 6 runs per week using a 1:2:3 ratio; 3 short runs of duration x, 2 medium runs of duration 2x and 1 long run of duration 3x. As recommended, I've extracted my paces using the McMillan running calculator for recovery (6:26 - 6:45 min/km), long runs (5:49 - 6:26 min/km) and easy runs (5:49 - 6:08 min/km). These paces sound really slow, and that is the whole point. BarryP emphasizes training to run more, not to run faster during training, leading to more efficient training overall and faster racing.
As I've experienced the switch to high frequency running (2-3 days to every single day), I'm aware of the adjustment period required upfront, so I'm starting with the rather unambitious 'x' value of 15 minutes (therefore 2x = 30 min and 3x = 45 min for any recent business graduates reading my blog). Once I've reset the habit of high frequency running, I'll begin to increase my total running time by 10% per week, as is often suggested.
I'm doing this training based on feel. Typically, I've used some sort of data in the past to guide me, but I think I've overlooked the importance of listening to how my body responds to the stresses of training. Thus my training volume for each week will be determined by how I'm feeling going into that week (i.e. maintain volume, cut back or add up to 10%).
If you made it this far, you have more patience than I. This was a rather self indulgent post to help justify my madness to myself. I'll update along the way and re-evaluate how smart this idea actually was once the marathon is over.
Daily workouts
- 30 min run with Tesla @ 6 min pace. Extremely humid; this was ridiculous. Poor dog had a tough time with this one.
- 1 h ride on the Slice, avg pace of 34 km/h over a gently rolling course. I have had some ongoing saddle discomfort which I attempted to address after the ride, but that is for another post!
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