9 Weeks to the Shamrock!

Tomorrow will mark 9 weeks to go in my countdown to the Shamrock Marathon. My long run tomorrow is scheduled to be 14 miles - and the weather looks perfect!


Last Sunday I ran the First Light Half Marathon and while it was very cold, I was happy with my results. I finished in 2:02:04, which equates to a 9:20 pace. My goal for the Shamrock is first, to PR, and second, to maintain a 10 minute pace. My current PR for a marathon is 4:41:11; which was on a course with hills between miles 10 - 19. The Shamrock course is nice and flat, just one overpass. A pure 10 minute pace for 26.2 miles comes out to a finish time of 4:22:12, so that would obviously be a PR for me. Allowing for a bit of a fudge factor, shooting for a finish time of 4:30:00 would require a pace of 10:18 - which if my training stays on track, should be doable.



I have included a running "lesson" in a while, so let's re-cap what we've covered one more time:

1. It takes determination
2. It’s a major time commitment
3. You can’t control the weather
4. Have a goal
5. Get motivated
6. Have a reward system
7. Invest in good running shoes
8. Stay healthy
9. Have a support team
10. Don't chafe me Dude!
11. Run safely



Lesson # 12 is Don't Peak Too Early During Training. Ideally, you are a year-round runner, so when you start your training in Week #1 you are not starting from scratch. As mentioned earlier, most marathon training schedules start either 16 or 18 weeks before race day. It's okay to train longer than 16 or 18 weeks, which is what I am actually doing this year for the Shamrock. The important thing however is that you don't max out your long (or longest) runs too far in advance of race day. You want to finish your long runs about 2 weeks prior to race day. So if your longest training run is 20 miles, do that 2 weeks before race day and then start to taper down and rest for the big day. If you run a training run of 20 miles 2 or 3 times, that is preferable, but still time it so your last long run is two weeks before the race. It is imperative that you walk up to that starting line on race day, well rested and well fueled. Seems obvious, but juggling your running schedule, especially your long weekend run, around everyday life and the weather, can be hard some times.



Today's Song of the Blog for your running pleasure is The Boys of Summer by Don Henley.



I'm starting the hard part of my marathon training cycle now, or as I refer to it, "the second hill". I'm halfway there, and my training goal is to do 2 or 3 20 mile runs. Stay tuned - I'm on the home stretch!



Ciao!