Marathon Training - Week 6 of 30

Image by Tanel Peets via Flickr

I'm training for my first marathon, which will be the White Rock Marathon in Dallas on December 4, 2011.


My training week runs from Monday to Sunday. Today is Monday, which means the beginning of a new training week!

First, a quick review of last week (week 5).

Overall, things went pretty well last week. The temps are starting to really heat up now, and my pace is starting to slow a bit because of the heat. But I'm not too concerned about my pace. My focus is on covering the prescribed distance at whatever pace feels about right. Lately that's been roughly 10-10.5 min/mile. I'll be happy if I can keep that pace going. Besides, my goal is to finish the marathon regardless of time. Although I would like to finish under 5 hours. But if I finish over 5 I'll still be thrilled to have just finished. I'll worry about my time when I run my 2nd marathon some day.


One cool thing about Saturday's run was that it was my first chance to do a group run with Team Northwood, which is a running club that is just starting up at my church. There was only a handfull of us there, but I suspect the numbers will grow based on the level of interest in the group. Plus, to be honest, I probably would have missed my Saturday morning run if it hadn't been for the group. My wife and I had a late night on Friday night as we were attending a high school reunion. So getting up early on Saturday was tough, especially knowing that I was getting up to go run 6 miles. But I was committed to being there for the group run, and that commitment was the only reason I got up and got in my run. I guess it just goes to show how important accountability can be in our lives in helping us achieve our goals! 

Now on to this week.

This week is week 6 of my 30 week program. For those experienced marathoners who are used to 18 week programs, 30 weeks may seem unusually long. Well, since I'm training for my first marathon, I'm actually doing a 12-week build-up program, which is designed to prepare you for a marathon training program. The 12-week build-up is followed immediately by an 18-week marathon training program. So, together they make a 30 week training program, which is how I refer to it in order to keep things simple. But since this is week 6, that means that I'm at the half-way point of the 12-week build-up program this week! 


So here's what's on the schedule for this week:

• Monday - scheduled rest
• Tuesday - 3 mile run
• Wednesday - 4 mile run
• Thursday - 3 mile run
• Friday - scheduled rest
• Saturday - 7 mile run
• Sunday - 1 hour walking

Oh, and one more note - 

Way to go, Mavs!