Running the Boston Marathon: My Training Plan

I hope everyone who celebrates had an amazing Christmas weekend! I celebrated early with my family in Costa Rica (travel recap post coming soon), and then a few days after getting back to the States, Joe and I drove down to New Jersey to celebrate with his family. It was a crazy-busy, but wonderful couple of weeks!

I wanted to put together this post weeks ago, but with all the travel it’s a little delayed. From here on out, I’ll be doing weekly recaps of my training for the Boston Marathon (probably on Sundays), and am starting it out by sharing my general plan. As you’ll see, it really is just that: a GENERAL training plan.

Major Considerations in Making My Marathon Training Plan

All the following considerations stem from this goal: I want the 2016 Boston Marathon to reignite my passion for running, not make me hate it. I used to love running and then following my first half marathon all but eliminated it completely from my life. I wrote more on that in this post. 

• When I ran my first half marathon, I definitely over-trained. I had no idea what I was doing when I trained for this a few years ago and just googled “half marathon training schedule” and went with whatever popped up. I was running 5-6 days a week training for that half and it was totally unnecessary. More so than the physical burnout was the mental burnout. I started to dread running by the end. I love variety in my workout routine so this time around I know better than to completely push other fitness to the side in place of running.
• I’m not trying to set any records. I’m competitive, so to be honest, I will be a little disappointed if I don’t finish in under 4 hours and 20 minutes. But besides that very reasonable goal (reasonable based on my current fitness level), I’m not worried about shattering records here. It’s my first marathon! I don’t want numbers to overshadow the fun of the experience.
• Being kind to my body and avoiding injury top my list of priorities. Recovery, foam rolling, stretching and yoga are going to be just as important to me these next few months as the actual running. I’m going to pay close attention to running form as well.

My Marathon Training Plan

This is the loose framework I’ll be following the next few months. In reaching a goal, I think it’s important to be both realistic and flexible, which is exactly what this plan is for me!

• Long runs every Monday following John Furey’s training schedule. One of the perks of running with a charity team is that I get access to a running coach! I’m following Team With A Vision’s coach-made schedule for long runs, with the only change being day of week. I’ve decided to do my long runs on Mondays because my work schedule allows it and I selfishly like to be flexible with my weekends. 🙂
• 2 additional shorter runs each week, one incorporating hills. So I’m running a total of three times a week. In talking to Boston vets, everyone seems to say the same thing: hill training is extremely helpful. So while I’m not trying to set any records and am not worrying too much about sprint and tempo workouts, I am going to incorporate regular hill workouts. 1/week is the goal.
• Yoga at least twice a week. I know how important foam rolling and stretching are following a run, but I also know my tendency to rush through these vital recovery and mobility sessions. Yoga has a slew of benefits, but I’m committing to two classes a week primarily for the forced stretching. I can’t rush through it in a group setting!
• Continuing my current strength-training regime. Slow-twitch-focused megaformer strength training is an amazing compliment to long distance running, so I’ll be continuing to take 2-3 Btone classes a week. I think it’s important to incorporate the slow with the explosive, so I’ll also continue to do 1-2 HIIT workout(s) each week (what I post on my blog) in addition to a high-intensity group fitness class of choice (you all know I love me some group fitness!).

And there it is! I’ll share specifics of my workouts each week in my recaps (first one summarizing weeks 1-3 coming Sunday), but the above is my general training guide for April 18^th. If you’ve run Boston before, I’d love your input! 

You can donate to my marathon fundraiser benefiting the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired here. I’m giving away awesome prizes over the course of the next few months as a thank you to donors! The winner of a Fitbit, Daniel Wellington watch & ToeSox gift package will be contacted via email today. 🙂 Thanks for your support!