Blue Ridge Marathon: #throwbackthursday Edition

Here we are: 9 days out from my 7th consecutive running of the Blue Ridge Marathon. POP QUIZ! #1: Do you know how many Blue Ridge Marathons there have been? If so, you know why I do not want to miss this year's race! (HINT: the answer is 6. Making this year the 7th. Meaning I have run it every year. Just to clarify.) #2: Do you know when the Boston Marathon will occur this year? If you said 2 days after the Blue Ridge Marathon, then you'd be correct.

Regardless, this is not deterring me from running either one of these amazing races. As I have told many people, if I could only pick one race to run, it would be the Blue Ridge Marathon for many reasons: it's challenging, it's exciting, it's practically in my backyard, and oh- it's America's toughest road marathon. All great qualities in a race! So, we have decided to take a trip down memory lane and reminisce on all the uphills and downhills throughout my adventures running the BRM.

2010: THE YEAR THE STUPIDITY BEGAN
I decided in 2010 that I wanted to run my first ever marathon. And so I thought that running 10 miles as my longest run (like, as in my longest run EVER) was sufficient. You know, just 16.2 miles left after that. And then I stumbled upon this brand new race in Roanoke, VA (just an hour north of where I live) called the BLUE RIDGE MARATHON ON THE PARKWAY! Hey, on the parkway! Couldn't be that bad, right? I quickly learned that it could be that bad. And it was. I never wanted to do a marathon ever again!

4:24:00

2011: THE YEAR I LEARNED THAT NOT ALL MARATHONS ARE CREATED EQUALLY
Apparently, the BRM earned the title of "America's Toughest Road Marathon" which explained a lot about my experience the previous year at that race. Everyone told me, "If you survived BRM, you can do ANY marathon!!!" Other marathons wouldn't be as bad as BRM! So I did BRM again. Because that makes sense. 

4:16:03

2012: THE YEAR THE STREAK BEGAN
I did BRM its inaugural year in 2010 as well as the year after. So I decided that I would do BRM for as long as I could! All these three years, I got my shoes approximately 2 days before the race. Apparently, that's not a thing for runners. I always thought brand new shoes for the big race was a good thing! You know, after all I'd have 26.2 miles to break them in. 

4:02:20

2013: THE YEAR THAT I RAN BY THE SEAT OF MY... SHORTS?
2013 was an emotional year. This was the year that mere days before the BRM, the tragedy occurred on Patriots Day at the Boston Marathon. My goal at that point was to qualify for the Boston Marathon, and a bunch of people told me, "Do you still want to run Boston?" and my answer was: "Now more than ever." I had actually started training and running other marathons (you know, ones NOT on mountains) and I was bound and determined to get my Boston Qualifying time. My training was better than it had been, but not great. My increase in training led me to a surprising personal record, not only on this course, but in the marathon in general!

3:31:14

2014: THE YEAR I DECIDED TO DO 2 MARATHONS 6 DAYS APART
Me liking this race helps me to enjoy my runs despite me regretting my decisions. I ran the Raleigh Rock 'n' Roll Marathon with a friend just a few days before. But this was my 5th running of the race, so it was kind of a milestone year for me I guess you could say and so I obviously had to do it again. I finished the race and drank a lot of Vanilla Coke that year. That was a good year.

4:08:04

5 years' worth of medals and shoes: one pair of shoes per year

2015: THE YEAR I SLEPT NAKED ON THE LAWN IN ELMWOOD PARK
This brings us to just last year. Last year's race was intense. They decided to increase the elevation change because it wasn't hard enough before! Apparently, I was feeling pretty good and was able to finish in 10th place overall and finally place in my age group for the first time in Blue Ridge history!

3:32:44

Oh yeah, and here's the "sleeping naked on the lawn of Elmwood Park" part.
I realize I am not naked. I meant "naked-ish."

2016: THE YEAR I GO TO BOSTON
Stay tuned to find out how this year's running of the BRM goes, as I will be heading to Boston the day after BRM, then running the marathon the day after that. If it wasn't for this race, I probably never would have come up with the goal to qualify for Boston, so really our Bassett to Boston blog would have never been a thing. Anyway, I have been adhering to my training plan that I designed for this year's BRM and specifically with the intention of being able to survive both BRM and Boston successfully. So let's cross our fingers and hope for the best!

Martinsville Half Marathon 2016

In addition to the Blue Ridge Marathon, Mr. Marathon has another race that he has done every year since its inaugural running: the Martinsville Half Marathon! Since its first annual race in 2011, he has done it every single year! And I have done the 5K once, and the half marathon 3 times. (You can read about previous years' Martinsville Half Marathons here or here or here.) The best part of this race is that it falls near mister's birthday every year! And although every year, the weather has been less than desirable, he still keeps coming back for more.... Crazy!

Being the planner that I am, I was watching the forecast all last week. One day, it said that Saturday, March 19 (race day) was going to be a beautiful day- sunny and in the 60s. I then checked back the next day and it had changed to 60s and rainy. Then another day, it said 40s and rainy. Then it said 40s and rainy again the next day. And the next. Until race day was upon us, and the hour by hour forecast said it would be... in the 40s... and rainy... oh, and windy... officially. We were very nervous about that, but we knew we had to go and participate in our great hometown race.

One of the most exciting parts about this year's run besides the beautiful weather forecast was that we had an amazing guest speaker come to our little town: Dick Beardsley, who broke the word record for the marathon (!!!!) came in 2nd place (!!!!!!!!!!) at the 1982 Boston Marathon (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) with a time of 2:08:53 (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). Man, I'd be happy to have a 2:08 half... that dude is fast!!!!! It was so exciting to be in the presence of a real running legend! He spoke the day before the half marathon to talk about his triumphs, challenges, and motivation for running. Mr. Marathon and I got to attend his speech in the evening and it got us PUMPED UP!

So, we woke up on that beautiful (psych) 40-something degree morning, and it was cloudy and overcast. We made our way to uptown Martinsville to get ready to go. We took off, and we were on our way to knock out our 13.1 mile race-- him in the front, me towards the back. And as we took off, we noticed that it just kept getting colder and colder, and it had finally started raining. Apparently the temperature had dropped about 10 degrees over the course of the run! Yikes! Anyway, we got to run on our home turf, which we always love, and seeing running legend Dick Beardsley running our route was pretty cool! Yes, he actually ran with us common folk!!;)  Granted he was way in front of me, but whatevs. I can still say we ran together, right? Right! Moving on!

Mr. Marathon meeting running legend Dick Beardsley!

The run was a physical and mental struggle, which a half marathon generally always is, especially when it's run on hilly terrain with the last 3-4 miles being uphill. And because it was cold and rainy, it added an extra layer of challenge. But we both ended up finishing, luckily!

Starting line action shot!
Mr. Marathon is the shorty at the right side in the blue.
I am way in the back.

Let's start with Mr. Marathon because he obviously finished before me. He ran strong throughout the whole course, and he paced himself according to how he felt. He said that he did not want to look at his watch-- he just wanted to run by how he felt, and not feel the pressure of his pace. Little by little, he kept working his way closer to the front. After about 2.5 miles, he maintained 3rd place until around mile 11, when he caught up to the 2nd place runner. They both ran side by side until about mile 12.5, and that's when Mr. Marathon started inching away, closer and closer to 2nd place. He managed to secure his 2nd place spot on the last quarter of a mile and crossed the finish line: 2nd place overall with a time of 1:23:11!! Not only is it an amazing time and a great placing, but his time got him a PR of 4 minutes and 8 seconds! Not too shabby considering his standing PR was on a flat course and this course is super hilly! It's all those hills (ahem, mountains excuse me) that he's been running in preparation for the Blue Ridge Marathon! Oh, but don't worry, he didn't stop there. He had an additional 7 miles to complete his 20 mile long run for Saturday, half marathon or not! So of course he came back for me and helped run me in...

On the course

Victorious finish of 1:23:11!

With 1st place winner, celebrating a great run!

2nd place male overall!

With my 2 personal pacers (Mr. Marathon and another friend who was crazy enough to go back for more), I managed to finish ok. I was happy to finish, but I couldn't help but to feel a little disappointed inside. I had trained very hard through the winter with my marathon training for Charleston, then changing over and using my Smart Coach training plan, which had me predicted to finish at 2:17:43. Now, I realize that that time wasn't guaranteed. And I also realize that my current personal best for a half is 2:19:55 on a flat course, so I know it doesn't quite compare. However, I still felt that I could have come very close to that time because I completed most all of my runs (really all of my long runs) on the exact Martinsville Half Marathon course. Regardless, I finished in 2:22:33, which is my official Garmin time. I don't have an official chip time just yet due to technical timing difficulties of the event. I really do like my time only because of the fact that my birthday is February 22 (2-22), so my 2:22 was just a late birthday present! :) I hope to continue my training (for a flat half...) and continue to build/maintain my base.

Good times around mile 9 (ish??)

Coming up the hill... almost done!

I'm so fast, I'm blurry.
jk, the rain made it blurry.

Anywhooooooo, after the half marathon, we celebrated Mr. Marathon's birthday (a tad early... it's not really til March 26th). We wanted to have it right after the half so that all our runner friends who were going to participate in the Martinsville Half would be close by considering we were having his part like 2 minutes away. But, this wasn't just a birthday party. We decided to celebrate his 26th birthday and his upcoming 26.2 in Boston! So obvs it was Boston Marathon themed. We got to spend time hanging out with a bunch of our friends, and celebrating what our community is all about: inspiring one another to do great things! 

Wearing his Boston streamers

Alfredo's amazing Boston Marathon cake and cupcakes!
And yes, the logo was edible!
We have an amazingly talented baker friend!
We won't mention her name on here but it rhymes with Terri Cook... :)

What we have coming up is the Blue Ridge Marathon (for him), Star K 10K (for her), Boston Marathon (omg did we tell you Mr. Marathon is running that???? lol jk), and possibly some smaller 5Ks/10Ks (to be decided)! We hope to see some familiar faces at Blue Ridge! Remember there is the full marathon, half marathon, 10K, AND a 1 miler! There's something for everyone! Oh, and if you haven't registered yet, you can use the code TOUGHIS for 15% off any distance!!!!!! So do it, and be TOUGH! Grrr! See you there!

Nail the Rail 9 Miler

I'm pretty sure that we have mentioned just how much we love our small town races, right? If not, WE LOVE OUR SMALL TOWN RACES! Our local YMCA has a race series called Miles in Martinsville, and they put on quite a few races each year, from 5Ks, 10Ks, a mud run, (this year) a trail run, all the way through a half marathon! The first race on the 2016 calendar for Miles in Martinsville was the Nail the Rail 9 Miler. This race takes place on the Dick and Willie Trail, where we usually run, and it starts at one end at the 0 mile marker, goes out to the 4.5 mile marker (which is the end of the trail), and then back. This is a course that we frequently run when our training plan calls for 9 miles, and if it calls for more, then we'll veer off the trail for a bit to add the mileage. Either way, we run it all the time! It's also part of the course for the Martinsville Half Marathon. However, we have never run just a 9 mile race. And so, this concept is pretty cool. It's where we usually run, but not where we usually race. It also had the added challenge of finishing it in under an hour. Any runner who can finish the whole 9 miles in under and hour will have their name put on a plaque at the trail head. Now, I didn't stand a chance at achieving this, but we thought that Mr. Marathon might be up to the challenge. He wasn't all the way recovered from What's Your Wall? but he was going to try his best.


Race day was Saturday February 13. Now, I understand that people from Minnesota, Alaska, Canada, the North Pole and other places that are ridiculously cold in the winter are used to frigid temperatures. We are not. I cave in and use the treadmill for temperatures below 35 degrees usually. Mr. Marathon has braved colder temps, but he does not enjoy it. At the time of the race, it was a whopping 21 degrees with 20 mph winds, putting the windchill at 9 degrees. Um, ok that's really cold for us! Regardless, we bundled up and hit the trail because we sure do love our small town races!

Our YMCA was considerate enough to have their bus there at the starting line cranked up for heat pre/post-race. So that's where all the runners gathered before the run. When it was about 6 minutes to start, we had to venture out into the arctic conditions. Brrr! About 30 runners of varying ability levels hit the trail for the 9 chilly miles, Mr. Marathon being in the top of the pack, and me being closer to the middle. He wasn't sure that he'd be able to "Nail the Rail" in under an hour, seeing as he had just run 105 miles in a week, then picked right back up marathon training with only one rest day. He ended up rocking it out and finishing with a time of 58:40! He was one of 4 that nailed the rail, and he came in 3rd place overall. I ended up finishing with a time of 1:37:48, which means I beat my goal of finishing in under 1:40 (under 11:00 min/mile pace average)!

Race shirt + age group award for me!

Despite the freakishly cold weather, we both were pleased with our run. Also, this run fit perfectly in with training for the Martinsville Half Marathon (which will be March 19th). That run is on the docket, along with Blue Ridge and Boston. Those are the main events of Spring 2016, but hopefully I will be doing some 5Ks and 10Ks to not only supplement my training, but I'm also in pursuit of potential new PRs! Wish us luck in our training, and keep up with our weekly updates on our new Facebook page! Follow us here! 

And as we mentioned above- Miles in Martinsville has plenty of great races planned for this year, so check out the website. We'd love to see you (Yes you! Any of you! ALL OF YOU!) at any of their upcoming events!

What's Your Wall? 4

As many of you loyal readers may recall, last year we both participated in a 7 day endurance challenge. I ran 6.2 miles each day for 7 days, and he ran 15 miles a day each day for 7 days. (Read about it here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here!)

Anyway, this year, The Brick Running and Tri Store put on this challenge again! Last year, we used this as marathon training since it was the month before the Ft. Lauderdale Marathon. However, this year, it came after our marathon. Since I just came out of my training cycle, I figured I needed a break so I wouldn't become burned out. Of course, that didn't stop Mr. Marathon. He decided to tackle the What's Your Wall? challenge again this year. And since last year he completed the 15 mile distance, he had to do that again! Because that makes sense!

(the rest of this post is told from Mr. Marathon's perspective)

Each day I allotted 2 hours and 15 minutes (plus time to change and all that good stuff) for each day's run. My Monday/Wednesday/Friday class schedule was pretty tight, so I literally had 3 hours to change, run, swim, change, and eat lunch. On Tuesday and Thursday I was even more pressed for time because I only had 2 hours and 15 minutes in between classes. That meant I had to skip lunch those days and grab it after my 1:00 class, and then I got my swim in after that, then be ready to go into work at 3:00. Now, let me explain the swimming. Swimming was not part of the challenge, but I decided that in addition to my 15 miles a day, I wanted to find a way to keep my muscles loosey goosey and relaxed, and what better way to do that than to swim an easy 500 meters? I did my swim every day except Sunday (Day 7).  Anyway, this post is intended to give you the RUNdown (lol) of each day. So buckle up and away we go!

Day 1: MONDAY

After my morning classes ended at 12:00, the clock was ticking until my afternoon class. I had 3 hours to complete today's run and swim. So I headed on down to the Danville YMCA, got changed, and was out on the trail by 12:15. Now, I don't know exactly how long the Riverwalk Trail is, so I just headed out the way I knew first. It was a 4 mile loop one way, so I had to do an 11 mile loop the other way. And it turns out that it was niiiiiice and hilly!!! Yay!  But who doesn't like a challenge on top of a challenge???? (don't answer that) Oh, and by the way, the temperature was 70 degrees! So it was HOT! And by the time I was coming in to finish my run, I realized that I had been sweating and I was not taking in enough fluids, since my body was not used to that temperature anymore. I felt a little light headed, and my legs felt as if they were swollen and very tingly. But I swam it out after my run and felt a little better. So moving right along to....

Day 1 Elevation (green) and Pace (blue)

Day 2: TUESDAY

Tuesday's run was a little more stressful due to my time constraint: having exactly 2 hours and 15 minutes between classes meant I had no choice but to run from the school parking lot to the Riverwalk, but hey that gave me 3 miles there and 3 miles back, so I knew I would have 6 miles not even counting the trail, so all I had left to do on the Riverwalk was 9 miles! It was a nice downhill for the first 3 miles from the school to the Riverwalk.... However, this meant that I was going to have those same 3 miles uphill to the finish. And I was not excited. But as I ran, I said "Eh, future me can deal with that..." and kept on going. Fortunately for me I had a Honey Stinger gel with me (didn't have one on Monday) and took it at mile 10 when I was very tired and feeling drained, and by mile 12.5, I started running, yes, running up the hill and as I kept running, I felt weird because I was supposed to be walking, tired, defeated, out of juice, but instead, I had a great stride going up the hill and I felt strong all the way to the finish! And it was a good thing, because I had to get my bookbag out of my car and go straight into class. No time to stretch, no time to eat! (I did get time to hydrate though, learned by lesson from Day 1) After class, I ate lunch and headed over the Y to do my swimming. That's a wrap on Tuesday now....

Day 2 Elevation (green) and Pace (blue)

Day 3: WEDNESDAY

My flight instructor at school had scheduled another student during my scheduled time with him on Wednesday, so that meant I had all morning off until class at 3:00! Plenty of time to run! I had no worries, I just checked the temperature, got dressed, and headed out... and headed back inside the house to get a rain jacket, then headed back out. Womp womp, lots of rain. I figured I could do Wednesday's run on the Martinsville Half Marathon course (plus some obviously... I CAN MATH) since I got to run at home instead of in Danville since I didn't have class. So I headed over to the Martinsville Y to start my run there. It seemed to be just a little sprinkle coming down. I stepped into the Y to get myself ready to run, and when I stepped back out, it was POURING rain!!! And to top it off, we were under a severe weather warning as well as a flood warning! I had no choice but to do what I do. So I did. Another hilly course, but I knew what I was getting myself into with that. And to top it off, I got 15 miles FULL of HYDRATION! Hydration from the sky, that is. Yay? As cars were flying past me, I'm sure they had to think to themselves "What an idiot... does he not know it's raining?????" But I will be honest, that run was one of the best runs I had all week, simply because not many people would have been out otherwise, and I got to thinking about all the other participants in the What's Your Wall challenge and felt kind of proud of everybody. So I just took a bad situation and tried to turn it into a good situation. Fast forward, I had a great run, swam afterwards, and I headed to class on my merry way. NEXT!

Day 3 Elevation (green) and Pace (blue)

Day 4: THURSDAY

Thursday's run was the same course as Tuesday, with just a few additional challenges. Remember the rain from Day 3? Well, that completely flooded some parts of the Riverwalk! So during my run, I tried to avoid the flooding by jumping, prancing, inching, sliding, shuffling and even climbing over a fence! Yes, I climbed over a fence during my run. No, I did not get any kind of extra credit for it! But then, it occurred to me that I got very muddy trying to avoid the flood, so I sucked it up and ran through the flooded areas on the way back after the turnaround. So I ended up running through knee-high water that was pretty freezing cold and nasty and muddy! But whatever. Then after my swim, wait, I mean my run. Yeah that was just my run. Anyway I got my bookbag and went to class. As I was sitting in class, I was like "Man, my left shoe got really muddy! But it's like really red mud, not like normal mud color..." So when I went to do my INTENTIONAL swim, I took my shoe off and as it turns out it wasn't mud that had stained my shoe... it was blood. No big deal, I had no time to worry about that. I still had 3 more days to go! Moving on!

Day 4 Elevation (green) and Pace (blue)

Day 5: FRIDAY

Friday was similar to Monday, the only difference was that I was not looking at my watch. I didn't want to put any more stress on my body than I had to. Each day, I had unintentionally started the first hour of my runs at an easier pace to warm up. Then after that, typically around mile 7, I would begin to find my stride. Friday was no exception. I started easy, then fell into a rhythm, and finished feeling ok. And I got my swim in afterwards, and I was ready for the next day!

Day 5 Elevation (green) and Pace (blue)

Day 6: SATURDAY

This was work day. I was scheduled to work at 10:00 Saturday morning. This meant I could use my whole afternoon/evening to run after I got off. However, would I have done that? Don't know, and I didn't want to find out. All I knew was that I didn't want that run nagging at me all morning and most of the afternoon at work. So I got up at 5:30, left the house at 6:00, and arrived at the Danville Y at 7:00 (for those of you who don't know I work an hour away in Danville as well as go to school there). I took off on the Riverwalk and headed towards Main St through Downtown Danville and just kept running until my watch said 7.5 miles, then I turned around and did the exact same 7.5 back. I got to the Danville Y at 9:00, got my swim in, showered, and headed on to work. Without my run nagging at me! I must say, that was a great feeling! But not as great as....

Day 6 Elevation (green) and Pace (blue)

DAY 7: SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday was a great day for most of America. Not because of some football game, but because it was the last day of the What's Your Wall challenge! A few friends of mine were going for a long run on Sunday morning and extended the invite. And so I took them up on the offer and met with them at 7:00 am and ran the Dick and Willie Trail. They were going to run an hour and forty-five minutes, which gave us about 11 miles by the time they finished. The last 4, I was going to knock out by myself. However, I had great motivation because Sunday runs are BREAKFAST RUNS with our normal running buddies. So I knew at the end of today's run, there would be a joyous feast awaiting me. And by joyous feast, I mean BISCUITS!!!!!! So I finished successfully (with the motivation of biscuits of course) and the rest is history!
FYI- History is very hard to download from your watch. Especially when you haven't downloaded said history in over a year.... 

Enjoying my joyous feast! ALL THE BISCUITS!!!!!
IT WAS BO TIME!

Day 7 Elevation (green) and Pace (blue)

Day 8: THE AFTERMATH 

So, after 7 days, 105 miles, some blood, sweat, a few blisters, and a questionable-looking pinky toe, (I'll spare you the gory details...) I got to take today off! And I get to hop back onto my marathon training plan tomorrow! Woohoo! Man, this day feels like a whole week off! I'm rested and ready to get back at it! I think!

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!