How is the summer almost over?! Kids are going back to school, we are hearing about Halloween already, and pretty soon it will be cold and flu season (so guess what that means?!). I know I’m not the only one who feels a little lost with my training plan right now, so I’m going to write about it today. Of course I’ve had seasons where I don’t have races for 6 to 8 months so I get on a base building program and I’m just fine with that! This time around, though, with races NOT around the corner, base building feels a little different. I’m less motivated and, to be honest, find myself following a random style of training that has me feeling frustrated most of the time.
A couple of months ago I got into the attitude of believing there won’t even be racing next year, which was the wrong way to think because it only left me dragging every morning when it was time to run. I saw so many runners on Instagram keeping up with their Chicago, NYC and other marathon plans even though the races got canceled, so I felt I should have done the same. More recently I’ve switched my mindset into preparing for January’s Miami Marathon no matter what. If the race doesn’t happen, then oh well, at least I got into really good shape anyway!
What I’m Doing Now
I know I said my training style is “random” right now, but since I’m strict about having a schedule with everything I do, I still have a certain structure I follow. Months back I made it my goal to focus on my tempo runs, since it’s my biggest weakness, so I make sure that workout is on the schedule every week. I was running every day during the beginning of the pandemic, but then truly missed my Sundays of sleeping in and getting to do other things without having my run fall in the middle of the day. I call Sunday my lazy day! I now take Sundays off for the time being. Once I start increasing mileage closer to my race I may add a few miles on Sundays rather then adding them to other longer runs during the week.
Speed
Other than my tempo run, my running schedule is full of easy runs every day and an optional speed workout on Fridays. Lately I’ve been trying to focus on hill work, since it’s also a weakness of mine. For several weeks now, it gets put on the schedule on Fridays, and if I feel good and not too sore from previous workouts, then I go for it! I’ll be happy if I can get two hill workouts per month right now, so I’ll keep you all posted! I encourage runners to keep some sort of speed session on their plans even when they are just base building and are not necessarily training for a race. You don’t want your body to forget what fast running feels like! It not only will help maintain your current race paces, but it also burns more calories than steady miles, so it’s a great way to combat any weight gain you may experience in the off season.
Strength
If you have been following along through my running journey, you know I’m not the type of runner that JUST runs. My fitness-focused lifestyle started out way back in high school with weight lifting, so I have always been a fan of it. Even deep into marathon training, when most runners are barely doing much strength work, I still get my sessions in every week some way or another. I’m taking advantage whenever I can to get to the gym and lift heavy, which is what I love, but it’s been limited this year due to the pandemic and awful gym reservation systems I’ve had to deal with. I was really focused on my home workouts with very little equipment and learned how I am still able to stay in great shape, challenge my body, and get even stronger just with one medicine ball and some resistance bands! I aim for at least three strength sessions per week right now.
Marathon Training
Since I like to do a long(ish) training block for races, I will start my formal training on September 14th, to give myself a good 18 weeks of hard training and a two-week taper. Until then, which is only another three weeks, I’ll stick to my current mileage, around 60-65 miles per week, and keep practicing my tempo runs. I have a strong goal for myself to get to 60-minute tempo runs and actually feel somewhat comfortable with them. I’m at 30 minutes now and not feeling that great with it, so I have lots of work to do! Once my formal marathon training starts, I will go back to a more structured plan of one short, VO2 max speed session and one tempo session. The rest of my runs, as usual, will be easy and mileage will start increasing every week by 5 to 10%. I always take a “down” week every 4th or 5th week, where I cut my mileage by around 20% and prioritize recovery and sleep as much as I can. This is one reason why I like to plan a long training cycle for my races—I enjoy the high mileage but I increase gradually and schedule in those recovery weeks.
There’s no doubt 2020 has been stressful for most of us. Our work schedules have been all over the place, our travels and races have been canceled, and we feel limited with everything we do. As anxiety-driven these months have been, I’ve tried my best to remind myself that it is still possible to enjoy my days! I believe this time has taught us to be more grateful for everything outside of events and our nightlife—our health, planet, and boredom (something we forget to take advantage of this sometimes!). Since I can’t do anything about the situation right now, I’ve learned to enjoy what I AM ABLE to do, which is run, write, and inspire. Hopefully I can motivate you all to get up and MOVE as much as possible, so we can enter a brand new year feeling healthy and more energized for the better things to come once this situation is all under control!
