THE PLAN

*deep breath* I have some news

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This is a big deal. *deep breath* I have some news.

No, I’m not pregnant.

I’m going to run the Ottawa Marathon on Sunday 27 May, 2012 and I’m shooting for a Boston Qualifying time. 

Oh my god, I’ve said it. This is a big deal. KB and I are both committing to this goal. She and I are in the same age category and we both need to run absolutely no more than 3:35. That’s an hour and 10 minutes off my marathon time. (cue butterflies in my stomach and general feeling of nausea.)

The last few weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster for me and as a result, I’ve been running like a madwoman. About four or five days a week, you can find me pounding the pavement, trying desperately to hang on to my sanity.

Two weekends ago I ran 7K with SK and it slipped by so quickly. Last weekend I ran 8K back home in Goderich and wanted to go much further. I was afraid of being accused of trying to run from my demons (aka Mom would get worried about me and drive out to pick me up) so I cut it back. During the week I’m getting in at least two 5K runs, a bike ride on the trainer in the basement, and a 6.6K run. And I’m feeling amazing. So logically, my head turns to “I wonder what we are capable of?” Not to mention a friend, MC, ran his first marathon at Niagara Falls on the 23rd and said, “I’m super proud, but I want to do another one and do it faster.” Which is pretty much exactly what I said after mine. Yet another spark in the fire… Finally, I saw KB on Friday night. She and I chatted about a spring marathon and our parallel goals of ‘better’ and ‘faster’. So that, dear reader, is how I got to “I’m going to do another marathon and I’m going to qualify for Boston while doing it.”

“That’s great Hoodie,” you say, “spout off lots of big talk. Where’s the plan Hoodie? Where’s the PLAN?!?” Well, rest assured good friend. There is a plan and it started yesterday.

The Plan.
Starting yesterday I’m doing the Hal Higdon 12 Week Intermediate Speed Work prep. See below for the bang it started off with…

After the 12 Weeks of Hal, I’m moving on to 18 (more) Weeks of Hal. Again, an intermediate training program.

Status Update:
 Day one: failed to run 5K. I ate Halloween candy, sat on the couch, and gushed over this cuteness:

Day two: because of time constraints, swapped the scheduled workout with the Wednesday workout. Completed 4.3K and 3 x hill sprint repeats.
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To refresh your memory, or to learn about how the marathon went for me the first time, read marathon before 25 – complete.

Check out the pictures at marathon pics almost a month late.

There you go. That’s my big news. Hells yes bitches.

www.runottawa.com

the plan – see that? not in all caps.

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last night’s run:
4M around the neighbourhood
38:00 mins
avg pace 9:30ish/M
effort: 2M @ E (easy), 2M @ goal M(marathon)
pain: none aside from nausea
notes: ran in my new trail shoes on people’s grass or rocks instead of the sidewalk to make it a bit more of an authentic off-road experience. I hate the people with freakin’ slippery faux brick driveways. they should be banned. almost ended tits up in the rhubarb three times. fuckers. shoes were great though. socks were sucky and I got a blister from them. they are now for after run feet warming. never. ever. for running. ever. otherwise it was a great run. I started out a bit too quick instead of taking my time and warming up so the first M was 9:30ish pace and the mile 2 was 10:30ish and then I kicked it up for some tempo work for a mile and then took a 2 min recovery jog and then gave’er again. miles 3 and 4 were 8:30 and 8:15ish. I wanted to barf by the end but that’s what mile repeats are for according to the Best of Running article in this months Runner’s World.

now for the plan (formerly THE PLAN) update
I needed more than 24hrs to recover from the Niagara 1/2. instead, I took one week off. at this point I need to evaluate the p90x lite approach for weight loss or instead build a solid base for a spring marathon and use that to lean out. if I’m going to attack a BQ, the weight loss is a must. sucks for soccer and hockey b/c I’ll get pushed around more but it’ll make me quicker over 42.2kms. I think p90x lite might be too much for me as I dial up the base mileage running. that said, core work and strength training will be essential for me to BQ. I need to be all around strong to hold my form through a marathon. so it’s eval time… review the p90x dvds, rummage through the wealth of other fitness stuff I have for alternatives and come up with a new THE PLAN. the training schedule posted at runbayou is really interesting. it uses periodization which is cool since I’ve never done anything like that before. so investigating it for use for the spring marathon training plan. in the mean time, the plan is for the week:
M- run medium
T – volleyball and run or strength train
W – soccer and easy
R – hot yoga and easy
F – easy
A- long run
U- rest.

Oktoberfest 5K race report and THE PLAN

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bah hell. so the taco bell did not help my performance at the Oktoberfest 5K. I did not PR but did PR… hehehe. I’m in a new age bracket so technically it’s a PR for this bracket, being my first race, but not a lifetime PR. I ran the 5K in 25:31 (chip time), good enough for 5/50 in my age group. I was pretty uncomfortable in the later third of the race, dry heaving once. ME was super duper (sometimes I get so mad at him! not training at all and beating me!) pacing and pushing me through most of the race. I didn’t kick and didn’t push at all in the last km. that was poor. I lost the mental game with myself and didn’t even try to override what my body was telling me. this weekend I’ll have a good opportunity to work on my mental game during the half.

this weekend is the Niagara Falls 1/2 Marathon and I want to PR in the half. need to be 2:10 which I think is achievable. I plugged my 5K time into a predictor and got an estimated finish time of 01:56:19. so there it is folks – a sub 2hr 1/2 marathon should be achievable. will let you know results via twitter and/or the blog.

so, I was wandering the internets, mostly the runner’s world web site and found these awesome forum discussions and new website: your weekly workout, P90x and running, and Shane’s Training. all were very informative and inspiring. just what I needed as I ramp up for THE PLAN.

THE PLAN consists of training for the next 7 months, hopefully culminating in a wildly successful spring marathon. the work break down structure: the next 90 days will be filled with base building running and P90x Lite for weight loss. the next 4 months will be hard training for a spring marathon. likely this one because it gives me 18 weeks of training. wish me luck. it’s going to be hard!