Marathon Training Plan

I have been mentioning that I have started training for a marathon, so I figured I would explain more about what I am doing and all that jazz. I have already run two half marathons and a 20k, so I am really excited to start training for something farther. I decided last fall that I was going to run the Madison Marathon this upcoming November. I signed up for it right away and since then I have been looking forward to starting training!

The Game Plan

     Two weeks ago I started the Hal Higdon training program. I run four days a week, with one long run occurring on Fridays. The way my class schedule works out for school makes it so that I will run after all of my classes are done on Fridays, and before class on the other days. I like the late night Friday runs because it allows me to eat enough before I run, and get a little warm up in before I leave (ie walking back to my sorority house from class). I also get to sleep in on the weekends, so I'm not complaining.

The Challenges 

     One thing that I will have to figure out is getting the proper nutrition and hydration during my workouts. I am already planning on trying the GU gels and honey stinger gels as a fuel during training. I also want to experiment with some natural foods, but being gluten free does limit some of my options. I think I have hydration figured out, but I have yet to actually put my plan into action. I bought a belt that holds two water bottles. My plan is to have one holding water, with the other holding an electrolyte drink. I've done a combination of these drinks during my half marathons and it has worked well. The final element to my nutrition challenges is the fact that I will be living in a sorority house, so I don't have a lot of choices in my dinners and lunches. This will really only be a problem after long runs, but all I need to do is guarantee I get enough protein and carbs to allow my body to recover.

     The second main challenge that I see coming is injury prevention. I tend to get a lot of shin splits and some random knee pain. During my freshman year of high school, the knee pain was so had I went to physical therapy for it. My game plan includes using the same therapy exercises to strengthen my hips. I also will include some strengthening workout I learned from running cross county over the years. Finally the last thing I am going to do is to make sure to listen to my body. I just want to make sure something like a injury doesn't derail me.

The Goals

      So originally I was hoping for just racing in under 4 hours, which is still the main goal, but now I feel like I am getting a little crazy and am hoping to finish in under 3:40 min. This goal is a massive long shot, especially considering that I have already hurt myself, but if I ran this, then I could qualify for the Chicago Marathon. Running it in under four hours is something that I think I could definitely do as long as I don't get hurt and can figure out the proper racing nutrition to fuel myself correctly. Even with these time goals in mind, I really want to finish the race and enjoy myself throughout the process.

Wish me luck!

xoxo,

Maddie