Back in September or October the bad influence that is Twitter and following other runners resulted in me registering for Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon because (1) running peer-pressure, and (2) I can’t say no to a ridiculously good deal. Basically, I paid just under $44 to register for the full marathon thanks to the New Orleans Saints demolishing the Indianapolis Colts – $55 off the normal price ($1 for each point they scored over the Colts).
Prior to my piriformis bull sh*t, I really had never gotten injured to the point where it was physically painful to run. So, I thought I was effing invincible! I had decided I would not only run Carlsbad full marathon, but also Palm Springs Half, the Tough Mudder in Temecula, AND RnR NOLA full. Yeaahhh, I managed to pull something out of my ass on Sunday and run better than I expected, but that won’t happen at NOLA again unless I plan out my next 6 weeks very carefully.
And by carefully, I mean this here piece of steno pad paper pinned to my cube wall:
Its looks may be deceiving but it is a well-engineered plan.
Six weeks allows for a full reverse 3-week taper all the way back up to 20 miles. I also decided there will be no half marathon racing business. No. Back away from the registration button (it’s like being an addict or something – it’s a daily thing I have to tell myself). I might allow a 5K, maaaaaybe a 10K, but anything more is dangerous (injury-wise). Nevermind I’ve already committed to that Tough Mudder business though I hope my team will accept that I won’t be killing myself in that race. Not with a marathon less than a week later. If it’s not acceptable, then I just won’t run it.
The other thing to note is the little scribble with the arrow pointing to the Wednesday column: “Informal tempo/speed work”. I am not scheduling tempos or speedwork because I don’t think, for a marathon, they are going to buy me any more than just plain old increasing my mileage. I had a tempo or speedwork every other week (not during back down weeks) for Carlsbad training. So not much speedwork. Result was a pretty significant improvement to my half marathon race time (4+ minutes), and I exceeded my marathon expectations even had I not missed my final 22 miler. So, if I feel like my hip and legs want to run a little faster, I might throw in some quicker miles in the scheduled easy pace run, or perhaps some 1-2 minute pickups/fartleks. But mileage is what I’ll be focusing on since the next 6 weeks is for RnR NOLA.
Very jealous that you got that deal on NOLA. I was about 24 hours too late when I found out, or I would be there. Work the plan!
ReplyDeleteI love that schedule. It's perfect. I agree that speed/tempo can be thrown in as needed. You're fast girl and with the base you have I know NOLA is going to be stellar. Can't wait to see you kill it!
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