The Plan

Training for the OKC marathon starts on Monday and I think I have a pretty good plan that will help me improve my fitness and time. This will be my third marathon and I have learned a few things in training for my first two. 1)  I am not a runner that can use a "run less, run faster" system for a variety of reasons (mostly lack of cross training) 2) I need to make sure I focus on long runs and use those to set up better for the race. 3) I need a plan with flexibility as I have a 7 month old son at home and family obligations to meet.

So, I developed a plan that focuses on increasing my mileage, better and more long runs, while still allowing me to have the flexibility I need for my family. You can see the plan below, but in summary, it starts with a base of around 25 miles per week (mpw) and peaks at around 50 mpw, and has me running four days a week. And if all goes well over the next 16 weeks I will have logged a total 550 miles, not counting the marathon itself. During each week I will have hill days, easy days, and tempo runs, along with the long runs, which should all help increase speed, strength, and VO2 capacity.  Based on research from experts and the advice from fellow runners in the forums at Runners World.com, if I keep to the plan and train smart I will crush my PR and move closer to the sub four hour marathon I have been dreaming about.

Each week I will post the goals for the week in the hopes that by making them public there will be increased incentive to stick to the plan. And then during the week, I will give reports on my progress with a summary at the end of the weekly cycle.

The plan is listed below. Let me know what you think!