The Training Never Ends, and the Planning Doesn't Stop!

Alright everyone! It's time to get our training back on the road! As you all know Mr. Marathon has two marathons that he is going to be training for! Ooh yeah and he gets a one day rest in between them!!! But any who that's none of my business...

With his performance at the Charleston Marathon he is now 2017 Boston Qualified, meaning he can run his little heart out at the Blue Ridge Marathon, and relax and enjoy Boston two days later (how can someone say "I'm just going to relax" when they are going to run a marathon???). Anyway Mr. Marathon has developed/created a training plan for himself!! YES, he made a 2016 training plan! After following a training plan for our most recent race, he's decided to make his own, and make it better and more detailed, and specifically tailored to his upcoming races. He has incorporated a more technical type of training, meaning harder work-outs, more cardio, better speed-work, some intervals, and even hill work (or should we say MOUNTAIN work??)! He is excited about this new adventure, and he wants to share his 12 week plan with you! This plan will take him through race day for the Blue Ridge Marathon which is on April 16. And if you have questions about any of the work outs, you can always ask US! **Remember: Mr. Marathon is not an official, certified trainer or professional in any way. This training plan was developed by training to run the Blue Ridge Marathon specifically for the past 6 years. He has taken all of his experience with just making up his training as he goes, analyzing his running patterns (when he does well, when he thinks he could run harder, etc.), and using the experience from following my training plans previously as well as his training plan in Charleston, and he has created the plan that he believes will work for him. This plan is for experienced runners who are comfortable running at least 35 miles a week already at baseline. If you do decide to follow this plan, please do so at your own discretion.**

Blue Ridge Marathon Training Plan (doesn't it look legit????)

As you may or may not know, I can't stay away from training plans. I feel like I need to be training for something and on a plan at any given time to train consistently. As we have mentioned in various posts, we like to do the Martinsville Half Marathon because it is a great hometown race in our area. I have decided to keep my momentum up this year and (hopefully)  not get caught up in post-marathon slump like last year. So, that means I am going to start an 8 week training plan to prepare me for the half on March 19. Most of the time, I find my plans on Pinterest or Facebook, and I just glance over it, look at the weekly mileage, how many days it requires, and I find one that's good enough and I stick to it. Well I was listening to a podcast about running (of course I would...) and they recommended Runner's World Smart Coach as a way to kind of "personalize" your training plan. Now, of course they have Smart Coach Plus which is apparently a lot fancier than the regular Smart Coach, but I only tried the free regular Smart Coach. All I had to do was log in through my Facebook page! Anyway, what it does is it asks you several questions about your current running: how many days a week, total mileage, current race pace, things like that. Then it asks the distance and date of the event you're training for, as well as the date you'd like to start your plan. I plugged in all my info and BAM just like that I had a personalized plan. It lays out different types of runs (easy, tempo, speed work, and long runs) and the suggested pace you should maintain during each run. It also predicts your race day finish time. Let's just say I hope mine will be accurate if I can follow this plan...! Keep in mind that I just stumbled upon this website and really like it. I'm not endorsed by Runner's World or anything. I just think it is a very useful resource, so try it out! You can find it at smartcoach.runnersworld.com .

My personalized 8 week half marathon training plan

Oh, and have we mentioned
that we're super excited to be
Official Bloggers for the Blue Ridge Marathon?
'Cause we are!

Clearly, we have a lot of training in our future. But here's a question for you guys- how do YOU train before a big race? Are you a training plan follower? Or are you a "make-it-up-as-you-go" kinda runner? Let us know! Leave us a comment here, on Facebook, on Instagram, or even in person. We'd love to hear from you! Happy training!