Here we go again

Today is day 1 of training for the Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 16th - Marathon # 9!

There is something exhilarating about a brand new training plan. 19 weeks of scheduled runs lie ahead -- subject to ongoing revisions, of course -- with tempos and intervals, recovery runs and MRP workouts, a handful of races, group runs and solo runs. There could be new mileage milestones and hopefully some personal records. There will undoubtedly be good runs and not-so-good runs along the way. I am ready to start filling in the blanks and to see what happens. 

I keep my created-by-hubs training plan in a Google Spreadsheet - I like that I can access it from anywhere (and so can coach hubs) and I can plug in my data to keep ongoing tallies of distances/times/paces, etc. I keep my last training cycle in the same file on a separate tab so I can easily look back on it.

I'm following a very similar plan to the last one; I enjoyed it and it clearly worked, so I don't see the need for any drastic changes this time around.

Staying the same:

• running 6x per week
• rest days (from running) on Mondays
• recovery weeks every 4th or 5th week (scheduled around races where possible)
• 2x weekday workouts per week (except recovery weeks)
• mid-week medium-long runs (MWMLR) of 10-15 miles - often in two parts am/pm
• frequent MRP workouts during long runs
• 8+ long runs of 20 miles or more
• several "tune up" races, 5K through 30K distance

Changes:

• incorporating light cross-training, strength and core training*
• slightly higher overall training volume
• no "training run" marathon - I would love to do this again, but we can't find one that works with our schedule
• training with a faster pace group**

*I am really going to make an effort to stick with it this time. Realistically, I am not super confident that the cross-training (cycling) will continue once I get back to high volume, but I would like to maintain the strength and core routine. It's a simple program that I can easily complete at home 2-3x per week.

**Obviously I am hoping for faster training and race paces, however I know that training in the summer heat will inevitably lead to slowing down - initially. I will focus on the effort level(s) that I learned for various workouts over the winter, and accept that it may not yield the results I would like. I fully expect this to be demoralizing, but I have to remember that it will pay off in the fall when it cools down again. Here is a great (short) article on Competitor regarding the effects of heat and humidity on pace. At least I won't have to worry about running in snow drifts or slipping on ice for a while!


All that being said, I am looking forward to the weeks ahead. No more slacking off relaxing; my body and mind are ready to train again! Let the fun begin...