Marathon Thursday

So, in order to keep my motivation up mid-week, I think I am going to start posting how my Marathon training is going (I might switch this to Marathon Mondays so it rhymes, but we'll see)

Here's my schedule so far: 

Mon Tues Intrvls Wed Hill Thurs Hills Friday Tmpo Sat Long Races Total Ends 5 3 3 8 19 2/12/2011 6 5 10 3 6 30 2/19/2011 10 6 5.5 2 13 36.5 2/26/2011 6 4 8.5 6 7 Run for Red 5k 31.5 3/5/2011 6 5 6 6 15 38 3/12/2011 5 6 5 3 5 18 42 3/19/2011 6 3 5 3 5 6 Riverton Half 28 3/26/2011 6 3 5 3 5 20 SL 10 Miler/Win Cir Half 42 4/2/2011 9 6 8 6 8 14 Ogden 10k 51 4/9/2011 9 6 8 6 8 7 SLMarathon Half 44 4/16/2011 9 6 8 6 8 21 Fri SJor 10k/Win Cir 30k 58 4/23/2011 9 6 8 6 8 7 Cake Walk 5k 44 4/30/2011 9 6 8 6 8 13.1 Provo Half 50.1 5/7/2011 9 6 8 6 8 8 45 5/14/2011 9 6 8 6 8 22 59 5/21/2011 9 6 8 6 8 14 51 5/28/2011 9 6 8 6 8 10 47 6/4/2011 6 3 3 3 1 26.2 UV Marathon 42.2 6/11/2011

Days Done Confirmed Races

Map key (skip over if you don't really care): Everything is in miles, the races in red I am for sure doing, the ones in black I'm thinking of doing and are on the Saturday they are next to. The boxes in green are the days I've done. Tuesday I do some intervals, like fast, slow, fast, slow. Wednesday I run steady up one of the many long hills in Provo. Thursday I go up and down one of the steep hills next to campus 7 or 8 times, Friday I try to run my marathon pace (7:15 min/mile) for a certain distance and then Saturday is my long run. 

So far things have been going great. I've only missed one day a week so far and I want to keep that as my standard. Not missing any days would be great, but sometimes things come up. My Garmin watch has worked better than I even hoped, which is saying a lot. If your looking for a smart running investment for a committed runner, check these things out. The long runs are what I've felt best about. Both the 12 and the 15 I averaged less than 8 min/mile which was my goal, even though the 15 was only a couple seconds faster. I want to keep that pace up through my first 20 mile run and then try to get faster for my next to 20+ mile run.

Surprises so far:

I've almost completely given up my expensive running shoes and now just run in my old cross country flats all the time. I've been wearing huraches and going barefoot long enough that I think the musscles of my feet reject the shoes now because my feet KILL every time I finish a run in them. Maybe I'll try to ease back into my running shoes, because I know they have benefits too, but maybe not.