Marathon Training Officially Begins

My marathon training officially begins this week. I found enough training programs through various sources that I was able to modify and merge a few of them to meet my own goals and needs. Most of the marathon programs out there range between 12 and 18 weeks, where as I have almost twice that much time to train. I will be continually adjusting my program as I get a better feel for what it is I am about to take on.

I have broken my training down into four parts:

• The first nine weeks will focus on building a base and preparing for my spring half-marathon.
• The following nine weeks will focus on extending my long runs, hoping to include two 20-mile runs.
• The remaining bulk of my training will focus on maintaining the distance achieved on my long runs while slowly building to a peak of 23 miles, just about 5-weeks before the marathon start.
• The final weeks of training will consist of reducing my weekly and long runs to prepare for race day.

I don't believe I will be incorporating any intervals or tempo runs into my program since I am not trying to achieve a faster pace. This is my first marathon and my goal is to finish the race strong, although I would like to finish in under 4-hours. It is hard for me to accurately guess my time since I have not run any further than 14 miles. Realistically, I am giving myself a 30-minute window, hoping to finish somewhere between 3:55 and 4:25.

More to come as training begins to take shape!