I kind of wrote this post a few months ago and then left you hanging didn’t I? I mean I’ve briefly mentioned marathon training here and there, but never really got into it.
Well, prepare for me to get into it. Prepare to hear about my runs and my sore legs and my black toenails and my ice baths. Every day for 18 weeks. Remember when I was training for my first half-marathon? I flooded your readers with questions about running, shin splints, training, food and shoes.
Well, now that I’m training for a full-marathon, expect that same flood of questions, complaining and information x 2. Twice the distance, twice the complaining and uncertainty. Right?!
Marathon training officially started yesterday and so far all I’ve done is a 4-mile bike ride and some core work. Why do training plans always start you off with “x-train” on your very first day? You get all excited, marathon training is starting and then you don’t even start running until your second day.
Anyways, I’m on schedule to run 24 miles this week (38.4 km). That’s quite the jump considering in the past three weeks I maxed out at 16 miles (25.6 km) so we’ll see how it goes. Traveling around Europe, getting strep throat and graduating university kind of got in the way of my base training. Whoopsie!
I’m looking forward to this training cycle! I’m doing it virtually with Lisa so it will be nice to *kind of* have a training partner. Although, with our time difference she’ll be just finishing her LSD runs on the weekend as I’m rolling out of bed to start mine 
Oh, and here’s what my plan is looking like. I’m a firm believer of listening to my body so this will be my basic plan but if my body starts screaming at me too much (and I’m sure it will at some point) I will scale it back from five runs a week to four.
Cross-training will be biking on my new road bike, yoga and a bit of strength. I bought a punch card at the yoga studio where I did my hot yoga challenge and I’m also signed up for an 8-week yoga session starting in July. It was only $50 for an 8-week yoga session so I couldn’t pass it up!
So, I would love to hear your feedback on my training plan. It’s half Hal Higdon plan/half-me-plan. The weekly distances are from Hal Higdon’s Intermediate I Marathon Training Plan but the speed, trail etc. were added in by me.
Let me know what you think, I’m super excited for this journey and can’t wait to say I’m a marathoner 
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
I can’t wait to train for this race with you! I also think it’s funny how these training plans always start w/ x-training! I am kind of glad that I had to shift everything a day ahead. Tonight I will be doing 5 and it is supposed to rain ALL DAY. So it will likely be a wet 5 mile run. But I have told myself – no excuses. I can handle rain!
Good luck to us!
haha I hate how training plans always start with non-running activity! My last training plan began with a rest day – what!?
I can’t wait to follow along with your training, you’re going to do great!
Wahoo! So excited for you and Lisa! I’ll be cheering from the virtual sidelines!
my lord, best of luck to you and lisa! i look forward to reading all about your training experience. I’m much more into weight lifting now. I haven’t really run. but i’ve been biking and all that!
This is so amazing – and so impressive!! You’ll do amazingly!
Best of luck and how exciting to kick off marathon training!!! Yea!
We can complain together. I feel my time to start whining will be soon approaching.
Girl you are going to do awesome!!! Woo hoo!!!!
Five runs a week is more than I know body can handle, but as long as you take it easy and don’t push too hard I think you’ll get to the finish line injury free! Yay for training!
Woo hoo…you and Lisa are going to kick some marathon training ass!!
I’ll be cheering you on the whole way!
Good job on starting your training!! I hear that is half the battle.
Looking at your weekly activities to do, what do these mean?
- easy
- speed
- trail
- 5-930
-LSD
Just learning the lingo!
Have a great day Amber!!
Hehe, thanks for asking love because I’m sure other people are wondering the same thing!!
Easy = nice and slow run!
Speed = track workout or interval workout. i.e. run fast for 1-2 minutes and then take a rest and do it again. On the track it goes by laps, so the track is 400 m so I’ll usually do something like 6 x 400 m with 45 second rest in between each one!
Trail = running on the trails. My favourite!
5 – 9:30 = Tempo run, I’m going to try and run 5 miles and hold a 9:30/mile pace which is faster than my easy 10-10:30/mile pace.
LSD = Long, slow, distance. Those are my LONG runs and I want to do them at a slower pace then my marathon pace so I don’t injure or over exert myself. I’ll be doing my LSD at a pace of 10-11:00/mile!
I love it when you comment and I miss your face!! XO
Thanks Amber – that makes perfect sense!
I am going to do my best to follow your schedule! I have zero plans of entering a marathon, but I do want to get my body into shape and maintain it.
I am sure I am not going to be able to do it all. But I have to start somewhere!
Thanks again for the explanation.
I am slightly addicted to your blogs!!! And I am so tickled that you replied to me!!
xox Tam.
Well, I’ve not ever done a full marathon (obviously) but when i was running for my race, I listened to my body as much as I could. Pushed myself here and there but overall listened to myself. That’s the best advice I can give!
We’ll all be here rallying around both you and Lisa. No doubt you girls will rock the race
Looks like a great plan, Amber. The trails will be good for that hill training. I also like to do hill repeats in my marathon training once a week or every two weeks. Like 8-10 hills @ 90-120 sec each with a warm up and cool down of course.
I am in awe, lady friend. I could barely get out of bed this morning to do a half hour video. How do you do it?!
Good luck with the training!
Good Luck Ambular!!!
XOXOXO
You’re going to love this experience! I look back fondly on the days of training for my first marathon. It became an addiction (I went on to finish four more after my first). I think you have to ask yourself what is your goal with this race – to finish? to finish with a specific time? to have fun? etc. Once you answer that, you can put in place the best training schedule. You can’t go wrong with Hal – he’s a running guru. However, I might suggest going with the beginner’s schedule instead of the intermediate one. The difference won’t be in your weekend long runs, but in how much stress you put on your body during the week. If your goal is to merely finish the race, you want to be careful not to over-exhaust your body over the next 18 weeks. And sometimes, overdoing your workouts leaves you exhausted weeks later. Just something to think about… but, it sounds like you’re off to a great start!
good luck! i am excited to hear about the journey..
I think your plan looks great! Its good to keep it flexible and see how your body handles the mileage.
As for recovery for intervals/speed work – Lately I have been resting, which means no jogging just walking around recovering at the track finish line. Although sometimes I will do a recovery jog for certain planned workouts but if you do this then you should be running your intervals slower. I usually rest about the same amount of time that it took me to run the interval but it really depends on the person – I know a good rule is to use the ratio of 3:1, run for 1 minute, rest/jog for 3 but I think this applies mainly if you are NOT stopping to rest and want to continue to run for the whole workout. That would be for endurance and such. Any more questions, feel free to ask because this really is a tricky subject and depends on the person!
Good luck with training!
Way to go! I’m super impressed and cannot wait to hear more about your training! My mom is now training to run her first marathon in January but her plan looks nothing like yours. You are such an inspiration!
Congrads!!!! what a PLAN! well thought out! Good Luck
This is so exciting!!!! Good for you girl!!!!!
I used a super intense training plan with high mileage my first one and i regret it. i got my plantar fasciitis from doing too much too fast and i’ll forever regret doing it. many people told me but i did what i wanted and i should have listened. take it slow with #1… you’ll never get a first marathon ever again!
You cannot go wrong with Hal! Love him!!!
CONGRATULATIONS! I love my road bike —as a wanna be triathlete the biking is my favorite, the running is my least favorite.
I’m about to start training for my first 1/2 IronMan so hopefully we can share stories and encourage one another!
You MUST name your bike…it’s necessity since you will be spending so much time with her!!! DOLCE is my bike-baby