I was looking over the race calendar last night trying to decide whether to sneak in another race this weekend. There are SO MANY races coming up over then next 4 weeks or so, I could just about do two a weekend if I was so inclined. I enjoyed the two 10K races that I did the last couple weekends, but am feeling like I need to stop for awhile and concentrate on my marathon training.
The problem with racing, and particularly shorter races, is that I always end up trying to beat my personal record, which means I need longer to recover. I would like to set a PR with my marathon on September 10th, which means I need to get some quality mileage in. I will have a harder time doing this if I am whacking my muscles every weekend with a fast race, so I have to be a little more conservative with my racing for the time being.
Rough Training Plan for September Marathon
I really haven’t sat down and come up with a detailed marathon training plan for the September marathon. I basically have 9½ weeks left until the race, so my only priority is to get adequate long runs in during this time. Last weeks 3-hour long run and this Saturday’s long run will be my indicators of how I will proceed with the long runs. I want to run around 3¼ hours this Saturday. If that goes well, then I will just keep building from there. If it proves to be too demanding then I will stay around 3-hours for another week or two before building up.
So I guess my training weeks will look something like this:
Monday (4:30 p.m.): 14K/8.7M tempo run (at least 5:30/K, 8:51/M pace)
Tuesday (4:00 p.m.): Cross-training (swimming and/or weight training)
Wednesday (6:00 p.m.): Easy 11K/7M (or more) with Graben Running Club (6:00/K, 9:39/M pace)
Thursday: Rest
Friday (7:00 p.m.): Easy 14K/8.7M (6:00/K, 9:39/M pace)
Saturday (5 a.m.): Long run on hilly route (Town of Weingarten)
Sunday: Cross-training
This is probably not enough running to break my personal record, but I’ll sure give it my best shot. Oh, by the way here is the profile of the marathon in September, the route is 90% forest paths and trails:
I like it how you always put pace in km and miles:) My first (or rather second) year of running when I trained for a marathon, I raced every weekend, sometimes twice a week. I was in a much better shape despite not putting as many miles total as now. I believe in fast training. Races push me to do so. Now I slog:) Even when I think I run tempo, because it's trails, it's slow. Sometimes I think I should go back to short races at least as a aprt of training, but it is expensive to do so, and I am scared to be disappointed at the results.
Oh, and I also didn't realize Germany has such a rich racing schedule.
hey, which race are you running on sept 10th? i've got a uk trip coming up and was thinking of running the robin hood marathon with karin that weekend.
That peak at 26K doesn't look too fun. But forest paths and trails will be awesome.
Forest paths and trails sounds great! However, since it is a trail run, won't your time increase? I mean, if you are going up against a PR that was set on a road marathon vs. running trails, seems like the trail run will be slower. I'm not an experienced trail runner, but I've heard they are always slower...
Yes, sounds like a very nice marathon. Not much time to left to train for a PR, but you never know what is going to happen. With the ultra training you should have some benefit from the increased mileage.