Marathon Monday

I've wanted to run a marathon for a long time. Six years ago, my first and only attempt at training for a marathon ended in a stress fracture. Today, I've made the decision that I'm ready to try again to meet my goal of completing a marathon. My one goal for the race? Getting across the finish line!

I've tentatively chosen the Umstead Trail Marathon in Raleigh, NC, on March 5, 2011. Umstead is a beautiful park where I did all of my long runs for my marathon attempt six years ago, so it seems fitting that I would return for my first marathon. Plus, it's close to my home town, so it will be a good opportunity to visit with my family. I say I've tentatively chosen the race because registration is limited to 200 runners, and I've heard all 200 spots go very quickly. So when registration opens on November 29 at 5am PST, I'll be at my computer, credit card in hand.

Behind all successful marathons is (usually) an effective training plan. I've decided to use the SmartCoach tool at RunnersWorld.com. Essentially, the tool asks you for various information - a time from a previous race, what intensity you want to train at, how many miles per week you are currently running - and produces a tailored training plan.

The information I entered into SmartCoach produced a plan that has me running only 3 times per week. This doesn't seem like much running, but if it gets me across the finish line, I'll take it.

I'll be making a few adjustments to my training plan:

1. I'll most likely be running more than the scheduled amount for my Tuesday runs; the training plan calls for very short runs on Tuesdays, but that is that day I meet with my running group, where we typically run between 4 and 8 miles. I think the low number of running days per week - only three - will allow for this additional mileage.

2. I won't be strictly following the speed work. I won't do speed work at all until after the new year, and when I do, it will most likely be with my running club's Thursday night track workouts. So, I will do speed work, but not necessarily the specific workout listed on my training plan. Also, I will eliminate speed work the second I feel the onset of an injury.

3. I'll be throwing in a half marathon race the third week of training, which is more than the scheduled mileage for that week. I've had this on the calendar for a few months now, so it's happening.

So, I'm excited to be working toward accomplishing my long-time goal, but I'm also wary of being disappointed again. I have a few things going for me that I didn't have six years ago: a year and a half of solid running base, wisdom to stop running at the first sign of pain, and the right pair of running shoes for my feet.

Good luck to me!!