Week 4

Well, it was a disappointing week unfortunately. I ran just the 3 times although I did clock 13 miles in that time, including a good 3 miles outdoors on Saturday. It's been significantly cooler in Phoenix the last few days which of course made things easier.

I have now decided to work on the Hal Higdon schedule immediately, I am scheduled to start the 18 week course on the week of June 30th.

To be ready for that I need to be able to run 10 miles on Saturday July 5th. The remainder of the training for that week is comfortable; 3 miles on Tue/Thu night, 5 miles on Wednesday night and 5 miles on Sunday. My plan therefore is to run the 3/5/3/5 miles on Tue/Wed/Thu/Sun respectively and then build my long run mileage up week by week to hit the 10 miles that weekend.

My outdoor running will be switched to Tue/Thu nights (3 miles both) to start and then in a couple of weeks I will also add the Sunday 5 mile run. I of course need to increase my outdoor stamina quickly and will use a local running teams meet in Scottsdale, AZ on a Saturday to do that. Linked to a store called the Runners Den they run between 10 and 20 miles at 8-8.20 min pace on a Saturday which is perfect for my training.

I want to get my stamina up to that level quickly and may use the 'B' running team for this course who run at 10min pace to do this. This is significantly slower than my intended Marathon pace but will help me with outdoor runs.

So, I have 6 weeks to increase my long run mileage from 6 miles to 10 miles which is very doable. I intend to run 6 miles this weekend then increase by .5 to 1 mile each week dependant on how strong I feel to hit a comfortable 10 mile long run by the end of June.

Missing my long run this week will likely hurt me, I can't afford to do that again especially when I start in my 18 week training schedule.

Week 3

The big news this week is that I have decided on a 'formal' training program for the marathon. Right now I am running 4-5 times a week with 2 long runs and 3 shorter runs. I'll keep this up for another 6 weeks before switching to Hal Higdon's Intermediate Marathon Guide; http://www.halhigdon.com/marathon/inter2.html

Hal is a Runners World contributor and experienced runner, he 'coached' me through my 2 NYC Half Marathons, of which for the 2007 race I came in at an average pace of 7m46s per mile, which is a little quicker than what I hope to achieve for the marathon.

My base training will set me up to be more than comfortable running at the levels set in the guide, my main goal in the next 6 weeks will be gaining outdoor stamina; right now I am dehydrating too quickly and struggle to run more than 1 mile without needing a break. I found a running Club that meets on Saturday's so I will use them for my long run training once more into the rhythm. They run between 10-20 miles at 8.20 pace so that is perfect for my long run training.

Last week was good, I ran 5 miles on treadmills Tue/Thu night, and another 6m on Saturday. I also ran a 5km on Wednesday outside but, struggled (see above!).

This week has started well, for cross training I today swam 16 length's in the YMCA pool. Tomorrow and Thursday I will run 5 miles again, and again a 5km run outdoors on Wednesday. Saturday will likely be a 7 mile run, with another 5km outside on Sunday.

We have record highs in Phoenix right now so outdoors running is a challenge but, I need to do it. My hope is that, if I can get into the groove of running distance in zero humidity, NYC will be a breeze!!!

Week 2!

Time is flying, week 2 already :)

Last week started off great, then tailed off... I managed 2 sessions of strength training (Mon/Fri) and 3 runs of 4.5m, 5m and 4.5m Tue/Wed/Thu. So, all good until the weekend but that's when it all fell apart! I blame the puppy...

Yes we got a puppy, and adorable yellow lab named Violet. She is a handful, frankly I felt more exhausted Sunday night than I think I would have if I had run as planned!

This week has started well, despite being in LA the last 2 days. I ran 5m yesterday morning and plan to hit 6m tonight, and another 5m tomorrow. Friday will likely be a day off, then a 5km on Saturday and a 6 or 7 miler on Sunday. Sunday's run will be difficult as I am heading out of town with my extended family so it will need to be an early run. In fact, I may well switch my Saturday and Sunday runs around, that's more sensible!

The weather is warming up, we're expected to hit 100f for the first time this year on Sunday (good day to be out of town!). I am still mixing my runs between the treadmill and the street. I met a local running store owner recently and he said 'hydrate', that's the key to desert running... Therefore I am going to crack on with drinking water!

Thanks for reading...

Week 1..

Well, I guess this is week 1, of 24 ugh!

I am pleased to confirm that despite appearing otherwise, I haven't procrastinated since my last post. After my 4 mile run on Thursday, I followed that up with a good 5 miler at 8min pace on Friday.

Saturday and Sunday saw a change of scene. On Saturday I accompanied my wife to the pool on and swam 20 laps, on Sunday I hiked North Mountain with my mother in law! Tonight I strength trained in the gym.

The gym in our current rental condo is lacking on weights unfortunately but I make do with what they have. We move into a new home in about 2 months and in the community there is a HUGE gym with all kinds of machines/free weights, I look forward to that.

The variation in workouts is good, it keeps me interested. Running will be the main workout of course and I will be out the next 3 nights. My aim is to hit 20 miles over 4 runs this week, I'll be upping that by a mile or two each week. Tomorrow I am in LA so will run in the hotel gym. I hope to get out on the street Wednesday night but, that depends on the weather (read heat!)

The next 12 weeks really are base training before I start the real training. I am researching plans on the Internet and will settle on one shortly. 3 month plans are the norm so, 12 weeks base training and then 12 weeks real training.

Back next week, 20 miles to the good I hope!

Here we go...

Well, I belatedly start my blogging today. It's 6 months basically until the NYC Marathon so my training, and blogging starts here!

I've been running the last 2 months but, never consistently so now I am going to knuckle down and get into a routine. My plan is to build stamina/fitness for the next 2 months, largely by running of course but also swimming, cycling and hiking. When we get to 4 months before 'M' day I will change into a more dedicated running program designed for a marathon.

My runs will be mixed between outdoor (hitting the pavement!) and indoor on the treadmill. A lot of that will be decided by the time and temperature!

Today, day 1, I did 4 miles on a treadmill. I am training at 8min/mile pace although my usual race pace is closer to 7.40/mile. As my stamina improves I'll likely increase my training pace. Ideally I'd like to finish in sub 3h30m but, being my first marathon that is optimistic and frankly I'd be delighted with anything below 3h45m. I have 2 half marathons under my belt at my goal pace but, this is a little different!

It's around 85f in Phoenix right now, that's a little below average. I plan on running 5m tomorrow likely on the treadmill also, then cycle on Saturday and hike Sunday. Mixing it up keeps it interesting, although I find running relaxing it can get a little repetitive!

This is a good time to start my training as my works busy time is just coming to a close so I will have more time to dedicate to this.

Cookie out for now.