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August 4, 2004

The PLAN

So here’s the reason for this blog: I’d like to run under 3 hours at the Freescale (formerly Motorola) marathon in February. I have a broadly outlined plan that looks like this:

July-September: base building with lots of EZ running, strides, and hilly running. I’d like to have a few weeks at 85-90 mpw by the end of September. I am violating the 10% rule to get there.

October-November: adding tempos and hill workouts (as opposed to just running hilly courses.) Toward the end I’ll add a longer marathon-pace run.

December-January: fewer hill workouts and more interval/track work. More long marathon-pace runs.

February: taper and race!

I’ll probably do a few of Austin’s marathon buildup series races; there’s a 10K right at the end of my base period, in October, which will be perfect to get a starting point. And then in January, right before I start my taper we’ll head to Houston like we do every year and I’ll do the half to really get an idea of how far-fetched the goal is.

So here we go!

I’ve gotten through one three-week cycle of mileage buildup and am taking an easier week, although I feel more tired this week than I did during the peak week last week. Could be because on Saturday I ran 17, the longest I’ve run since Boston, on the hottest, muggiest day we’ve had this year, with some friends (and my husband!) who ran a little faster than I’d like to be running right now. And the route included Mt. Bonnell, which is never easy. And then on Monday I ran Ladera Norte – another one of Austin’s notorious hills. Maybe this weekend I’ll stick to the trail and run easy on my own. I hate missing out on company, though!

This morning I ran with some of “the girls” for an EZ 5 and then headed to the track for some strides.

Posted by jenandmats at August 4, 2004 9:11 PM