Training Log - Monday, February 28, 2011

In an effort to improve my speed, I went back to my last marathon training plan that I downloaded from the Runner's World UK website. They have Garmin training schedules that are based on certain finishing goals and targeted towards heart rate or pace training zones. Since I used the heart rate plan last time, I opted to download the training plan using pace as the base. This is a 16 week Garmin training plan. You basically enter your target race date, and if you want to use heart rate or pace as your baseline and it will create a downloadable schedule that you can import straight into Garmin Training Center and then download to your Garmin Forerunner. I just select the workout for the day, hit start and the workout begins, telling me what I am supposed to do, signaling when I am going too slow/fast, etc.

I absolutely love it...not the actual training ('cause I hate speed work), but the ease of use. I started the 3:30 marathon training plan today since that was the pace I ran my last road marathon in. In 16 weeks upon completing this training cycle, I will follow it up with the 3:15 training plan, followed by the 3:00 training plan with the goal to run the Rocket City Marathon this December between 3:00 and 3:15 hours in order to qualify for Boston. I actually have no plans at all to run the Boston Marathon, I just want to proof to myself that I could if I wanted to:-) It will also allow me to follow a much stricter training schedule than I have been lately. My plan is to basically follow the weekday workouts to the tee and to extend the long runs on the weekends to continue my ultra training. In addition, I will throw in a couple of additional weeknight runs to get my mileage up as well. At the end of the day, it is my main goal to run my next 100 miler in under 24 hours.

This morning's workout was easy, my plan called for a slow 4 mile run and I gladly obliged. I had my first soccer game of the season yesterday and every muscle in my body was hurting. In addition, I was going for my second Muscleworks workout at the local gym during my lunch break and that wouldn't be a picnic, either. I chose to once again run on a treadmill at the local gym since the weather forecast called for some serious weather. In hindsight, I could’ve gone running with my usual crew, because the bad weather didn’t hit until after lunch.

Not sure yet, what tomorrow's workout calls for, but I'm sure it'll be tougher than today.