Marathon Prep Summary

In December, I scanned the list of spring marathons and found an ideal candidate: a late April marathon in Cottonwood, Arizona. The timing was right for 16-18 weeks of training, it was an out-and-back course (I don't like having to be bussed to the start), it sounded like a beautiful location, it was only a few hours drive away, and the temperatures would likely still be mild (Cottonwood, located in central Arizona between Prescott and Sedona, is higher elevation than Tucson).

To recap my short history with 26.2-mile runs:

• 2010: had only ever run 13.1 miles max, thought "what the heck, let's see what happens." What happened was I ended up walking 8 or 9 miles of it.
• 2011: bumped up my training, had done a 21-miler, but due to a combination of factors it was pretty much an instant replay.
• 2012: bumped up my training further, but still well below a typical marathoner, and didn't improve overall.

So, this time around I was determined to do better. I knew the most critical thing was getting a lot more volume, so planned out an 18-week training schedule, targeting 70 workouts and 700 total miles, and peaking with a 60-mile week (I'd only managed the low 40's previously). For each week, I planned the number of workouts (3-6) and what distance the long run for that week would be. This loosely followed what I'd seen of marathon plans online, but based on the advice of a couple of friends, made every third week an "easy" week where I'd cut back to my baseline going in, of 25-35 miles/week.

Also, at the same time I signed up for a training program with a local running shop (Fleet Feet Tucson) that went through the winter. I intended to use that to get a little bit faster for the series of local 5K and 10K runs put on by the Southern Arizona Roadrunners, but knew that it would help for the marathon as well. Ostensibly for people who were doing their first half-marathon, this program incorporated interval training at a local high school track, taught some very useful dynamic stretches and other warm-up routines, some running clinics and great advice by their coaches. Furthermore, I was in a bit better running form starting off, having done a few long trail runs.

Even so, there were a few set-backs along the way. First, I twisted my ankle stepping on the edge of rough pavement during a night run. Fortunately, it wasn't bad and I took only 4 days off from running. Second, in the middle of training I developed persistent pain in my heels. I thought it could be a fore-runner of plantar's fasciatis but was advised that it was likely just due to running with tight calf muscles. I took a few more days off and also started stretching & massaging my calves more frequently. It made for some extra "easy" weeks and threw off my schedule of gradually increasing long runs. So, ultimately, I cut back by 15% and ran around 600 training miles, peaking at a 56-mile week and 21.5-mile long run.

In addition to the track workouts, I ran a lot of trail miles and all my long runs were mixed road/trail. I figured this would be less wear-and-tear (the variation of trail running versus the repetitive strikes of road running), but it also simulated the Cottonwood course description.

I improved my 5K and 10K PRs by 4%; no doubt that could have been greater had I not been focused on ramping up my mileage so much. The best part was finally doing a 20+ mile run and not being terribly sore afterword, in fact just doing a 21-mile run and feeling like I could keep going. That told me I'd finally done enough work to actually be ready for a marathon.