My thoughts on marathon training so far....

I'm in my 4th week of official marathon training. This weeks long run is 11 miles, my farthest run in about ten years. I've been very cautious and a little nervous about the high mileage of marathon training. I've honestly never been a huge advocate of marathon training... seeing so many clients, friends, teammates, and students suffer from running related injuries. A lot of people lately have asked me, "Then why are you doing it?". Well I have several reasons for why I'm training for the 26.2 mile adventure in October. I have the typical "bucket list" reason, gotta cross if off my list of things to do in life. I also like working towards something, having a goal and training has pushed me out of my comfort zone. It's easy to fall into a routine, so it feels good to have a little fire under my ass to shake things up. Leaning out is another reason, obviously the extra calories burned will shed some poundage but most importantly I want to be able to learn from this experience and take in all that I can. I want the necessary tools to help future clients and friends with their running goals and training. When I take advice from someone, I find it hard to take them seriously if they lack the real experience. By going through the training and the entire race, I will have the knowledge, the empathy and experience to back me up.

So why am I nervous and training cautiously? You might guess, I'm worried about not being able to accomplish my goal of running 26.2 miles, but that's honestly not it. My biggest concerns are injury and overtraining. My job relies on my body... chronic injury is basically the death of my career. 8 out of 10 runners, fall victim to running injuries. It's the brutal truth, and I've seen many people suffer chronic back, knee, foot and hip pain for the rest of their lives from marathon training. I'm also trying to balance teaching Spin classes, strength training classes, boot camps, etc on top of the running mileage I've added to my weekly routine.

So not only is my goal to run 26.2 miles, but to do it injury free, without feeling completely physically exhausted. (I'd still like to be able to squeeze in a few sessions at the skatepark without my legs feeling like two blocks of concrete). So what's my plan of attack?

I will only be running three days per week, consisting of a short, medium and long run. Most marathon training programs call for at least four days of running, but with all my classes, my legs would be fried if I attempt four days.

I'm following the ten percent rule. This two-part rule specifies: (1) do not increase your weekly mileage by more than 10 percent nor (2) increase the distance of your long run by more than 10 percent per week.

I will have two days of rest per week, just light exercise like walking, tennis, skateboarding, mellow bike riding etc.

I will be Spinning twice a week, which will keep my quadriceps, (the muscles in the front of my thigh) strong. Running is very back of the leg, hamstring focused. Cross training is important to keep your body in balance.

I will include weight training and stretching, which is easy for me because I have to! I get paid to strength train and stretch.

I'm using the foam roller (These are so awesome, if you haven't discovered them, get one!) to help with the recovery process. Hot tub soaks after hard workouts also help fatigued muscles recover. I also plan to use ice baths, I absolutely hate these, but they work to speed up the recovery process by forcing more blood to your muscles.

I'm following the Hard/Easy concept with running. I'm not doing hard workouts on back to back days, and I'm using a sports periodization approach to training. Which in a nutshell, is the 18 week marathon program that I am following.

(These are the Nike 2011Air Maxes I'm training in)



And lastly, on my attempt to stave off injury, I will be swapping out my running shoes about every 400 miles. But can supportive and specially designed running shoes help prevent injury? This brings up a whole new tangent that has been recently brought to my attention. Over the past 30 years, with all of the latest technology and research, running injuries have not gone down. So those fancy, expensive, new shoobie doobies, haven't done much to aid with shin splints, plantar fasciitis, ankle sprains, runners knee (IT band syndrome)... My brother brought this up to me when we were discussing marathon training and he asked me if I had heard of the barefoot running movement. I told him I had heard a little about it, but I kinda scoffed at the idea of running on the pavement in my bare feet. He recommended the book, "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall, and I was intrigued when I read all of the reviews. I started reading it last night, and I can't wait to pick it back up and finish it. So far, I think this book may help my quest to run injury free and might change my position on long distance training. I guess we will wait and see. Cross your fingers for me being injury free this marathon season. And for all you former/current marathoners, if you have any tips, advice or suggestions on marathon training I'd love your feedback!