10 weeks to take-off and things are humming along quite smoothly. So smoothly, in fact, that I ran my first 20 miles this past Sunday instead of 5 weeks from now. Why far ahead of schedule? WELL . . . I told you I have a hard time sticking to a training plan, right? So I've decided to bump up my training a bit and run my first marathon on August 31st. Yes, you read that correctly. I'm now running a marathon midway through training for my marathon. Am I crazy? Yes. Yes I am. (And proud of it!)
Here's the deal. The Detroit Free Press Marathon was going to be my first. I figured why not run one marathon once in my life. Then I got it in my mind that I would try to qualify for Boston; however, I didn't think about registration deadlines. By the time I run in October, Boston 2014 will be full. I'm sure it will fill up faster than ever this year! So I resigned myself to the fact that I would just do Boston 2015. Oh well. Then when I was at GLR, I was talking about it with my teammates who suggested the Marquette Marathon on Labor Day weekend. That's when I got Boston Fever. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted it. So I signed up. It was only 6 weeks before the marathon. That meant 6 weeks to get from 13 to 20 miles, including 2 weeks of tapering.
I kept my weekly mileage about the same, maybe adding an extra mile here or there. The difference was on the weekends. I only had 3 Sundays so I did 14, 17, and 20. I felt great with the long runs! On the 20-miler I didn't lace my shoes tight enough and ended up with a wicked blister under one toe. (I get runner's toe regularly.) My quads are sore but nothing some extra foam rolling and stretching shouldn't take care of. Surprisingly enough, the last 2 miles were my fastest. I know I still have another 6 to face but if the first 20 can be as easy as they were on Sunday then I'm fairly confident that in the race environment I'll do alright.
For nutrition, I've been eating my version of this chia pudding before my long runs, just as I would before any race longer than a 10K. That keeps me going strong for the first 14 miles. From miles 14-15, I nurse a Clif Shot Energy Gel and then follow it with some water. I was worried because a lot of people say the gels bother their stomach but this works great for me. For the marathon, I'll have another gel around mile 20, making sure to finish it where there will be a water station. That should be good to get me through to the end but I might take 3 with me, just in case.
Now I'm following the end of my training plan. The taper weeks after the last 20-miler. When I'm done with this first marathon, I'll get right back into the training plan with 7 weeks left. With one exception. I could probably skip that first 20-miler that falls 2 weeks after Marquette. Maaaaaybe. (wink wink)
So there you have it. First marathon coming up August 31st. I'll keep you posted!
Read previous Detroit Marathon Countdown posts - 17 Weeks, 15 Weeks, 12 Weeks
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