And so it begins......

It is official! Marathon training has begun so it is time to wake this blog up and document my training better than I did for the half. The goal race is the BMO Vancouver Marathon. Everything is bought and paid for: race, accommodations and the flight to get there. It is time to get the training done!

My plan for the next 18 week to train inspired by the Hanson's Marathon Method. Basically it is a high total weekly mileage, but with a maximum long run of 16 miles. The premise is based on cumulative fatigue. I will need to modify this training plan because I teach group fitness classes and I find them to be quite tiring. When I trained for the half marathon in May I ran 5 times a week but I kept the same outline of long run, speed runs and strength runs. I will do the same thing for the marathon, modifying the beginner plan/ You can find more detail on the plans via a search, and can even get free pdf.

As written it is as follows:
Monday - 4-7 easy miles beginning in week 6 (plus warm up and cool down)
Tuesday - speed/strength runs beginning in week 6
Wednesday - rest day, no running
Thursday - 5-10 mile race pace run beginning in week 6 (plus warm up and cool down)
Friday - 3-6 easy miles beginning in week 2
Saturday - 3-8 easy miles
Sunday - 4-6 easy miles building to 10-16 mile long run starting in week 7


The plan starts off with running 4 days a week for weeks 1-2 and 5 days a week for week 3-5. On week 6 the last day of running is added in as well as the increase in intensity.

I will be modifying the schedule to suit my life.

1. Starting with 5 days a week running 5-7 miles.

2.  Friday and Thursday runs will be switched because I teach 4 classes on Thursday and there is no way I will have the stamina to add another 90 or so minutes of activity in there.

3. The  miles from the (now to me) Thursday run will most likely be added to the other easy runs of the week or skipped according to fatigue levels.



I know that this plan is going to be tiring. I found training for the half marathon tiring, and I have a lot more on my schedule than I did then.  I know I am going to have to get as much rest as I can and not stretch myself to far.

My goal for this blog is to update at least once a week with my training progress, comparing what I have run to what is on the Hanson's Plan. Please follow along, as well as follow @collbel on instagram for my almost daily recaps.

So soon is all relative...

I have less than two weeks before I start the training plan.  I have been consistently running 5 days a week since the week of October 15 and have gradually building up my weekly mileage from 25 to 40 km a week.
I have also added some intervals and some shorter race pace segments.

According to the Hanson's plan the first week that has both of those is week 6. The mileage also is 64km for the week (over 6 runs). I know I will have to build up the mileage over the first 5 weeks safely. I also was thinking about what I am going to do about that 6th run. The way I have it on my calendar that run is up to 10km and on a Thursday. That's the day that I teach 4 classes. Although I don't do them all high intensity, there is 30 minutes of spinning, and I am also on my feet for 2:45 for the other 3. This will have to adequately substitute. I know from the experience of training for the half marathon that I cannot run 6 days a week plus teach classes.

In other news, I have finally finished all my courses for my personal trainer diploma!!