Janette's Blog

(Click Here for Janette's Run Log Summary)

River Towns Marathon Training

November 16, 2013 7:08:59 PM

Distance
Time
Mile Pace
Temp.
Weather
5.5 Miles 0:59:21 0:10:4759°Fsunny

I haven't posted in a while...TWO MONTHS...so this is a little longer than usual.

First of all, I've decided to run another marathon. Someday (in the distant future) I'd like to qualify for Boston, but as of now I need to drop over two hours off my marathon PR. (2:02:38 to be exact.) To qualify for Boston I need to run at a 8:12 mile pace, which is currently faster than my 5K PR pace. So I've decided to try training for more marathons to get closer to qualifying and build up some base mileage.

Right now, my goal race is the River Towns Marathon in Danville, PA on May 3rd. I've been training for about four weeks, but not enough to set any real goals. I know if I keep up with my training plan, I will be able to PR. I'm using the free training plan offered by runDisney for the Disney World Marathon. The plan suggests running twice a week for 30-45 minutes and then a long run on Saturdays. I like the that the midweek runs are by time (as opposed to distance) because I don't feel I have to get up AS early. I just run whatever distance I can in 30 minutes. Recently it's been just over 2.5 miles.

The plan also suggests using a run/walk interval for the duration of the race. Long runs have a recovery distance every other week, so I only use the intervals for the longer distances. I'm experimenting with a run 3 minutes - walk 1 minute ratio, which is what I used for the Runner's World Half Marathon. I had a great experience with it there, and it worked well today. I can push pretty hard for three minutes and then I feel like I catch my breath during the one minute. Hopefully when the runs get longer this ratio is sustainable. We shall see!

The only other run I'm signed up for between now and then is the inaugural Philly LOVE Half Marathon on March 30th. I'm excited to be part of the first center city race in the spring! I will most likely sign up for the Athlete's Closet Winter Series again this year as I've enjoyed it the past two years! Good luck to everyone running the Philadelphia Marathon and Half-Marathon tomorrow!

Comments

Post a New Comment

Name:
URL:
Message:

November 18, 2013 9:01:03 AM

Name: Chris
Yay! More posts. I'm glad that you decided to try another marathon. Keep it up. I also like the Athlete's Winter Series, it's not so early or far :)