Food and Fitness for Living Better

This year I have a goal to run a marathon in a 3:45 pace. And I’m making my own training plan to hit that goal.

I ran my first official marathon in 2023 to support my best friend in her goal to run another marathon. We planned to run the first half together, and then I stayed with her until mile 16 or 17. Our pace was averaging around 12 minutes per mile by the time I peeled off, so I was rearing to go. It was surprisingly great to run a marathon this way: steady, easy pace for the first half, and then take off for the second half. I definitely hit a negative split first half vs. second half. I didn’t get passed by a single person once I split off, and man was it fun to have everyone cheering me on for how strong I looked (and felt)! I finished with a final time of 5:00, with my last 9 miles averaging about 9 minutes per mile. 

A finishing time of 5:00 equates to 11:26 per mile, and I know I have a faster race in me. My longest road run in my training was a 10:49 pace over 18 miles. Instead of running another traditional long run of say 23 miles, I opted to do a trail race instead where runners had 8 hours to run as many loops of a 4.1 mile course as possible. My goal was 5 laps for 20-21 miles, and I ended up finishing 7 laps for 29.5 miles!! It was awesome and my first taste of ultramarathon running. Arguably, that 29.5 miles counts as an ultramarathon. But if you ask my now husband, he’d say it doesn’t count until 50k (or 31 miles). If you ask me, it’s better than his ultramarathon (which is nonexistent)! Either way, I was proud of myself for finishing 29.5 miles and still smiling at the end.

This go around, I don’t have any ultras planned in my marathon training, but instead built in time to go skiing and knowing I won’t want to do a long run every weekend. I am still going to build my mileage up, and for the first time really push up my weekly volume. I max out at about 100 miles per month when training for a big race, and this year I plan to push 40 miles a week in my peak month, which could lead up to 150 miles per month!! I’m a bit nervous, but honestly I feel my goal isn’t aggressive enough if I’m not nervous I won’t hit it – that’s what makes me work harder. 

I am also designating one speed workout per week since I need to focus on fast running to hit my target pace. My comfortable pace is 9:30 to 10:30 right now, and I need to run 26 miles at an 8:30 pace, so there’s certainly work to do. 

Lastly, I’m focusing on the habit of running as many days as possible, even if not far. I need to practice the habit of warming up, getting sweaty, stretching, and showering. It’s the mindset that I need to keep myself accountable. 

Putting it all together, here are my training plan features:

• Long runs weeks paired with high mileage weekend to allow flexibility. The current sporadic nature is to accommodate my real life plans! Each color block is a pair, and the long run can flip flop between the two weeks as needed. 
• Increase from 20 miles per week based to peak 46 miles per week, increasing 2 miles per week
• Speed workout to be faster at shorter distances
• One rest week built in, to be moved as needed
• All runs not necessarily planned, but full detailed plan accounts for planned mileage and what needs to be made up in other easy runs through the week. 
• Long run weekends: my approach to ultramarathon prep, which I really liked for its flexibility. With long runs, I feel like the whole day is dedicated to preparing for the run, hours running, and recovery. And frankly I usually just want to curl up on the couch after and do a whole lot of nothing. 

This year, I’m seeing the two week blocks as a weekend for training and a weekend for life. There are major events we don’t want to miss, snowy ski weekends to enjoy, and friends and family to visit. So one weekend I allow my self to be away from home and less focused on my training, but then also give myself permission to prioritize training while I’m home. This doesn’t mean I have no life while I’m home and training, but instead enjoying the company of my local friends ☺️

The engineer in me loves to see the data laid out (you should see the rest of the spreadsheet!), so naturally the next thing I wanted to see was my mileage by week:

That looks reasonable! I’m excited for this marathon training block because it feels like I’m seeing what I have in me this go around! My first goal was just to run a marathon; no time goal, just finish it. Now my goal is to run it for time, and I had to pick a time that felt a little aggressive, because easy goals aren’t as satisfying to achieve if you ask me. I guess if I wanted to go full aggressive I’d be training for a Boston qualifying time, but I’d still be dropping over an hour off my previous marathon. And who knows, maybe that’ll happen anyway! Maybe I’ll be able to hit my half marathon goal during this training block by hitting a 1:45 finish time for 8:00 pace. 

What are your goals for this year? Do any include something that requires dedicated training? If so, have you made your plan yet?