My Training Plan

I've never done any competitive running. My mom pushed me into the school's summer track program back in elementary school, but I hated it and quickly protested my way out of that. That is the extent of my coaching in running. My mom always thought I would have been a good cross country runner, and now I wish I had listened to her. Some professional advice on running style and technique as well as some specific training and coaching would certainly be useful now.

Not having the money to secure coaching, I found a training plan on Cool Running, a running site with loads of information on it. I chose the Intermediate Marathon Plan. Although I didn't have the recommended running base when I started the plan, I felt decently comfortable that I could build into it pretty well. What I like about the plan is that the longest long run is full marathon length: 26 miles. Plans that top out at 18 or 20 miles, as many do, don't make any sense to me. Sure, if you can go 20 miles, you can probably survive 26, but wouldn't you rather know that you can do the full length, and that the last six miles won't be a hellish experience?

Currently I am doing my long run on Mondays, as this fits best with my schedule. As I get closer to the race I hope to slowly transition the long day back to Saturday mornings (the same as the race), but this will be difficult with my work schedule.

The plan is oriented toward male runners aiming for under 3:30 for the race, but goals are something that I will get into later. Hopefully it will work for me!