I'm Racing This Weekend!! A Summary of this Training Cycle

Its race week!!! Now it's time to party!!  Now it's time to freak out and analyze my training!!

In preparation for this marathon,  I looked at a few different plans before deciding on Hal Higdon's Intermediate II Plan.  I had a 16 week training cycle, but before that I had about 2-3 solid months of base building.

Hal Higdon Intermediate II

I  used the Basic Training Schedule that can be found free online

this plan focused on getting the mileage in.

There was only one day of goal paced running.

Here's what my actual run data looked like.

I didn't have the ability to run back to back days on the weekends.
I did a lot of my goal pace work on  Tuesday's and Sunday's.
I also fit my long runs in and around my work schedule.

During the first two months of this traininig cycle there were quite a few two a day workouts.  I chalk that up  to the fact, that it was way too hot to run 8 miles all at once outside on my lunch break (When this training cycle first started the day time high was 100 degrees).

FWIW I do the majority of my training during the middle of the day.  I don't have enough time before work to get a quality workout in, and at night after the workday my family comes first.

I really did focus on adding more mileage per week, than last year's marathon attempt. I also decided not to race a half marathon during this training cycle.  I thought it would be too risky trying to taper for a half, race, and then recover from the half.



Here is a snapshot of what my mileage looked like last year.

And here's this year's totals:

July                         139 Approx 31.5 miles per week
August                     137  Approx  32 miles per week
September                190 Approx 44 Miles per week
October                    179 Approx 40 Miles per week
November                 111 Approx 37 Miles per week

I knew that I ran more mileage during this training cycle, but it blows my mind that I ran 70 more miles in the month of September than I did last year.... See that's what happens when I stick a half marathon in the middle of a marathon training cycle.  I lose too much time on the roads from recovery.

I'd be lying if I didn't say that I feel more confident going in with a higher mileage base. But, I don't want to take anything for granted. 26.2 miles is a long race.

The race starts at 9:00am on Saturday morning,  The temperatures should actually be pretty pleasant for running.

I still don't know what I'm going to wear but, I have a ton of options.

I started carb loading earlier this week.

Homemade Cinnamon Swirl Bread.

I was a little stingy with the cinnamon sugar.

This doesn't look appealing, but it's
one of my favorite meals.
Rice, Beans,  Potatoes, and Salsa Verde
I also forgot to take a picture of the
homemade tortilla I ate.

I'm trying to stay away from dairy, and I'm not trying any new foods over the Thanksgiving Holiday.


I'm nervous as all get out, but I love to race.  The race itself will be the reward of this training cycle.

Thank you for following along.

See you on the other side!