Alright, I've made this declaration that I am making one last attempt at a sub-3 marathon, so now what? I've run plenty of marathons and I'm not interested in just "running" another one. This attempt will either be sub-3 or a total meltdown. No playing it safe in the early miles, to avoid the agony of mile 23 or 24. My last marathon was a respectable 3:07, and I even managed a negative split, but I didn't take a chance. I was at 1:34 at the half and never pushed myself much beyond my limits. Safe, safe, safe.
I've tried many running plans, Hal Higdon, Pfitzinger, Brain Training, run by feel, Chi Running and even some of my own creation. The problem isn't the plan, it's my head. I actually hate the marathon; I would much rather race 5, 8 AND 10k's. I'm much better at them and enjoy them more. However, there is this sub-3 hour monkey on my back and he doesn't smell very good.
There is about 24 weeks until the Twin Cities Marathon, so there is more than enough time to get ready, both physically and mentally. I'm thinking about 6 weeks or so of base/maintenance running with some races thrown in for fun, followed by 6 weeks of building up the mileage base, finishing off with 12 weeks of a focused and detailed training program. Which training program is the big question.
Lastly, I can't get over the fact that the winning time for the Boston Marathon was 2:03:02. There are many feats in sports that are remarkable, but running 26 consecutive 4:42 miles does not seem possible.
Happy Running!
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