The Plan

Today Bromka and I ran 17 miles. We went out on Beacon Street, past BC, Heartbreak, and the Johnny Kelly statue (here, and here... on a side note, Johnny Kelly was pretty much the man. He ran the Boston Marathon 61 (!) times, and won it twice back in the 30s. An inspiring dude....) to the 18 mile mark on the course. We turned around after 8 miles and made our way back to Boston on the same route that the marathon takes. Heartbreak wasn't so bad, it's just a really steady hill at a point in the marathon when you really don't want to be running uphill much. We went all the way out to Kenmore square and backtracked to BU to add an extra mile, giving us 17 for the run. It was 1:55:03, which is about right considering we were splitting between 6:25 and 6:35 per mile on the last 5 or 6 of the run. My legs weren't too sore from the race yesterday, which is good.

And now, the long overdue training plan for the 2006 Boston Marathon. This plan isn't really based on anything specific, such as Runner's World, Running Times, or anything suggested in a book, but more on my own running experiences over the last 10-11 years. My goal for the marathon is to run under 2:50. This averages out to 6:28 per mile. Now, this pace isn't really that fast, it's only slightly faster than we run on our daily training runs. However, 26 miles is a long way, and this is my first marathon, so 2:50 seems like a reasonable goal. The chart below (hopefully it's readable) outlines each week from now to the marathon, what races I'm planning on running, what mileage I'll total each week, and what kind of workouts I'll be doing. This is obviously a flexible plan. (Read this as weeks to go, Sunday date and run, mid week workout, Saturday race/workout, and approx. week mileage total)

Weeks to Go

13. Jan 15th (17 miles) / no workout / Mile race @ Tufts (65)

12. 22nd (16-19) / workout (1000s? ladder?) / No race (60-70)

11. 29th (15-17) / faster intervals / 5k race @ Tufts (60-65)

10. Feb 5th (14-17) / short, fast workout / Mile race @ BU (55-65)

9. 12th (15-20) / tempo? longer intervals? / No race (65-75)

8. 19th (15-20) / tempo? longer intervals? / No race (65-75)

7. 26th (Hyannis Half Marathon) / No workout / No race (70-75)

6. March 5th (16-22) / intervals? / No race (70-75)

5. 12th (Boston's Run to Remember 5 miler) / No workout / No race (55-65)

4. 19th (16-22) / Faster track intervals / No race (65-75)

3. 26th (14-18) / Easy workout / 5k at Tufts Hillside Relays (50-60)

2. April 2nd (14-18) / workout? / No race (50-60)

1. 9th (13-16) / No workout / No race (45-50)

Monday, April 17th Boston Marathon



I think this plan is good for several reasons. First is that it won't leave me overtrained for the race. It's very easy over the course of training to not take enough recovery time, and you end up with very tired legs at the end of a training cycle. Almost everyone I know at Tufts has had this happen at least once over their 4 year careers. I want to be in great shape on April 17th, but I also want my legs to feel fresh. In terms of racing, I'm really excited for the upcoming indoor track races. After those are done I'll have time to really focus on my long runs and getting in some good workouts and tempo runs. Hyannis will give me a good indication of what kind of shape I'm in, at least in terms of longer races. It'll also be a good way to get used to the prolonged and drawn out pain that is racing longer distances. Racing a 10k, or half-marathon or marathon is waaay different from racing a mile, or 5k, or even a 5 mile xc race. Totally different beasts. Boston's Run to Remember should be a lot of fun. It starts right near Foley Hoag LLP, where I work, and has an awesome course through downtown Boston. The 5k at Hillsides (weather cooperating) could be really really fast... I'm hoping to suprise myself. And that just leaves Boston in mid-April. Cool....