Game On.

Here we go, marathon training officially starts this week!  I’m doing a training program run by my local Fleet Feet, which will be great for a number of reasons.  The primary one, of course, being plenty of company and fluids on long runs, not to mention plenty of people I can pester with all of the questions I have about running a marathon, and running Chicago in particular.  Get ready Tammy & co, there are plenty 🙂

The other reason I decided to run with Fleet Feet is that their Country Music training group got me to the half marathon last year fully prepared, and launched me into this love of running that I honestly didn’t think would go this far.  Instead, I’m about to dig into 15 weeks of consistent distance PRs, lots of foam rolling, and way more running through the soupy humidity of a Nashville summer than I ever imagined would be appealing.  And my legs and head are ready for it (I think).

The Fleet Feet team emailed the first four weeks’ training schedule out the other day, and looks like they’re recommending only 3 runs a week.  I was a little surprised, as I assumed the only real way to train for a marathon would require more than 3 days a week, but the more I think about it, the more I think it’ll work for me.  I still hope to have some time and energy to play tennis and go to yoga this summer and fall, and realistically, I’ve never stuck consistently to running more than three times a week.  So hopefully I’ll actually stick to this plan in a way that will get me ready for Chicago.  Since they’ve gotten me to the starting line prepared before (and my only goal here is to finish), I’m willing to put the planning in their hands.

So without further ado, here’s the plan for the next 4 weeks:

 

 I’ll be joining the Fleet Feet crew for speed work on Tuesday nights as well, and will adjust the warm up / cool down appropriately to get to the full mileage for the day.  I’ve also been joining my local Lululemon’s run club on Thursday mornings for the last couple of weeks, so I’m going to try to use that run + extra mileage when necessary for my second mid-week run.  Wednesday nights starting in late July will most likely be tennis nights, and I’ll try to get to a yoga class on Sundays.

So that’s the plan!  15 weeks and counting!