| After struggling with injuries much of last summer, I started a training program in October with the hope of making a long, slow progression back to the marathon distance. Patti and Warren Finke put the program together in a book titled Marathoning Start to Finish. There is a version of this book available online - the printed book is slightly different, but you’ll get the picture. The book includes four different programs (beginning, recreational, intermediate, and advanced), but even the beginning plan includes 5 training runs of 20 miles, which is more than most beginning programs. The programs are also much longer than most plans, but I like the gradual progression. I’ve always liked the training more than the events - I guess that’s weird, but that’s me. My best marathon time to date is 3:18 in Portland (2004) after following the beginning training plan from this book. I’m following the advanced plan this time with the hope of beating this time in a spring marathon. Today I finished the first phase of the plan - “basebuilding”. This phase lasted 17 weeks and brought my training from 50 miles/week to 80 miles/week. The next phase, “sharpening”, will take me through the next 8-10 weeks. The sharpening phase is followed by a two-week taper and then the big day. The sharpening phase will be a little less mileage per week, but will include one day devoted to speed training and pace work, which I’m looking forward to. |
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