Getting Back to Good Running

It was good to have a quiet day. Saturday was a 25-1/2 hour day of being awake, including the marathon and the drive! Followed by two hours of sleep, and then going to work on Sunday. I didn't even take a nap Sunday. Needless to say, I slept well last night!

I was resigned to struggle through the 3 difficult marathons in the last 5 weeks, and I did. Now it's time to plan for Chicago. It's a flat course, and unless it is very hot, there is no reason I can't get one of my better times. I would like to get back to the level of fitness I had for the Kentucky Derby Marathon last April. Of all the marathons I've done this year, that is the one that felt the best ~ in fact, it was the only one that felt really good. I was running strong throughout, got a good time (for me), and was not very sore afterward.

In order to recover that ability, I need to stick to a good training schedule. The long runs, as always, will be sacred. But I have to devote at least one run per week to speedwork. I don't do that enough ~ I think that will be the first key to feeling the way I did in Kentucky.

My usual practice is to schedule four runs per week: two short, one medium, and one long. If I allow myself to skip a run, it has to be one of the short ones. I'm going to try not to skip them very often in the next few weeks, though. That's easy to say ~ we'll see if real life cooperates.

I'm going to devote one short run to speed bursts (fartleks ~ I feel funny saying that word!), and another to a steady fast pace. The medium run will be a hill workout, and the long run does not have a special purpose other than just being long.

Here is the plan:
Aug 25-31 ~ Recovery week ~ 3, 5, & 3 ~ easy runs, no speed or hill work required
Sept 1-7 ~ 4, 6, 4, & 12
Sept 8-14 ~ 5, 8, 5, 16
Sept 15-21 ~ 5, 8, 5, 18
Sept 22-28 ~ 5, 8, 5, 9
Sept 29-Oct 5 ~ 3, 5, 3, 8
Oct 6-12 ~ 3, 3, W3, 26.2