Pre-Marathon Strategy

I can’t believe the marathon is this Sunday. Toronto held their Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon last weekend, I ran my first marathon there in 2011. That was an amazing experience and during that time I learned a ton of things I wanted to repeat and even more things I knew I would need to change if I wanted to do another marathon.

Reflecting back on my last marathon training plan, I realize now it was just way too much mileage for the type of marathon runner I was (a beginner). It called for over 950 km in 18 weeks which averages to just over 50 km a week. During my taper last time I just slept and when I got to the start line I still felt tired, sore and just didn't possess that “fresh” feeling tapers are supposed to instill in you. I also was skipping a lot of runs towards the end because I just couldn't push myself to get out and run. This time around I picked a less intense mileage plan. This one calls for 770 km in 20 weeks, averaging to just over 40 km/week. This plan has been much more enjoyable for me and has even allowed me to incorporate tempo, interval and distance training at desired speeds. For my last program I just went out and ran the distance with little respect to time or pace because whatever pace I wanted to run, I couldn't maintain it. This time around has felt much more like a training period as opposed to a just doing it period. I am very curious to what results this training program will produce as compared to the previous one.

This time around I was also much more flexible in my training. Last time I tried to follow the training program to a T (including which days each run should be done on) this created stress because sometimes I just couldn't run when I needed to (other things took priority). This time around I adopted a relaxed attitude. If I had to do a long run on Tuesday instead of Sunday, I did. If family or friends were over I would skip the 5 km planned for Saturday and not feel guilty about it. I also forced myself to run my slow runs SLOW. This might sound easy, but trust me, it can be difficult at times.

The things I repeated this time around were – to keep a daily running journal. I would log the exact mileage I had ran, what I had eaten and the amount of sleep I had gotten. This helped me keep on top of myself to make sure I was looking after myself. Half way through marathon training the idea I was marathon training had worn off and I was getting lazy/messy with my eating habits including skipping meals. This really decreased my energy reserves and I was struggling to finish long runs. Bad habit!! I was also cheating myself out of sleep. I realized sleep has a MAJOR influence on my running ability. Not only physically but also mentally. You slack off and let yourself get away with more shortcuts because you are “tired”. Don’t give yourself that excuse, make sure you are well rested. I really did pay more attention to my body this time around and let myself rest if I felt I needed it and pushed through times I was just being lazy. I think that has resulted in an overall more enjoyable experience.

Overall I really feel I just had more fun with marathon training this time around. I did have a few brutal long runs where I had to walk but I realized why that was (lack of sleep and poor diet). I think there were a lot less surprises this time around.

Looking forward to Sunday I have decided to set 2 goals. One that I hope can be more or less achievable and one that if I obtain would be a huge cause of celebration for me!

Goal #1 – Like I stated awhile back, my first marathon goal was to finish in under 5 hours. This caused me to run it in 5:00.35. This time, I REALLY want to run this marathon in under 5 hours. I honestly believe this is possible (fingers crossed).

Goal #2 – I would be extremely happy if I could run it around 4:50. As I am writing this, I feel my time will be around 4:55-4:57 so if I could shave about 5 minutes off of that predicted time I would really be proud. 7:00 min/km pace would get me around 4:55 but I am hoping to maintain a 6:45 min/km pace for the majority of the race, possibly slowing down to 7:00 min/km in the final stretch.

Goals are now set, the only thing to do is enjoy the final taper week, eat carbs like crazy (not a single complaint from me on this one) and load up on sleep.

Good luck to everyone else running this weekend, we are going to ROCK IT !!!!