The Challenge

It is clear that with every journey towards another marathon, comes a better understanding of what we are made of physically and mentally. Since my first post (Dec. 10) about the “LA/SF Challenge”, I have begun training using a new marathon-training plan. With attempting to tackle 3 marathons in a span of 13 weeks (Honda LA Marathon, Big Sur International Marathon, and The Wipro San Francisco Marathon), it is key to get a lot of miles through the week and running on tired legs, while finding ways to maintain speed and keeping myself injury free.

With nearly 2 weeks of training completed as I tackle what seems to be a pretty daunting task, I try to remind myself that every day is a different run and with that I need to continue to enjoy each moment training for a marathon has to offer. My current training plan has me running 7 days a week, with most of my recovery runs being at the 10 mile distance. Other training runs during the week consisting of some sort of speed, strength, tempo or long run. In fact the mileage is pretty high in that I only have 1 day a week where I am running less than 7 miles.  For many of those that know me beyond the blogs I share, I am one that does not like to stretch that often, so learning to incorporate some stretching into my post runs is going to be critical to help with injury prevention. I am taking this element of preventative injury care to another level for me, by incorporating yoga classes into my schedule at a local racquet club here in Sacramento.

While finding the time to run 7 days a week and with most runs being anywhere from 60 to 120 minutes, perhaps my biggest challenge at the moment is pacing.  During the first week of my training plan, I realized I was running my runs too fast and too hard. While talking to more seasoned runners and referring to different creditable sources, it is clear that running faster than goal marathon pace may prevent me from actually running my desired goal marathon come March 17, 2013. In my previous preparations for other marathons, I had the idea that running fast all the time would get me to where I needed. However, this isn’t the case when it comes to preparing the body for the 26.2 miles. Once I got into week 2 of training, I have been able to recognize and become more aware of the benefits of long and easy runs compared to harder tempo runs or speed intervals during the week.  Running as prescribed will be a critical part of my training as I train with the hopes of running a sub 3:05:00 to earn my place as a Boston Qualifier.

With less than 90 days until the Honda LA Marathon, the excitement is starting to build up with runners as more @LAMarathon tweets are being seen. For the SFM2013 Ambassadors, we have started talking about how we are excited to meet up and participate in the LA Marathon together, only to run another marathon on June 16 as we take on the Wipro San Francisco Marathon. If you haven’t considered running the “LA/SF Challenge” the timing is perfect to sign up for both marathons and see what California has to offer as you enjoy the scenic spots along each of the two courses. Take on the “LA/SF Challenge” and during this adventure make sure to follow myself and other SFM Ambassadors (Westly, Charlene, Meg, Courtney, Aletta, and Lauren) along the journey to stay motivated and informed, up to and beyond the LA/SF Challenge.