Bean town 2017

Marathons are a different little animal from anything else.  There's the initial joy when you click the 'register' button, pain when the fee comes out of your bank account, self actualization when you realize how bad long runs can suck, and then the WTF feeling when you cross the finish line and get handed a medal.  Most of my marathon training has been a combination of relying on others for advice, reading articles, long runs, short runs, and eating.  A lot of eating.

In November of 2015 I ran my marathon PR of 3:12 (I tend to call it 3:10 since the course was more of 26.45 than 26.2) with just the basics of training.  At that time, I was doing long runs with some friends and other than that just running during the week on a treadmill.  No real plan other than the long runs, but still running decently long distances.  With a finishing time of 3:12, it seemed to work out fairly well, but this year, I have decided to actually do a full training plan (Hal Higdon's advanced marathon plan), up my nutritional game, and (gasp!!!) weight train.  I know that sounds like crazy talk, but it's time to break things up. 

As of today, January 1, 2017, there are 106 days until the Boston Marathon.  3 and a half months.  Hot Damn. 
After my last marathon in early December, the first thing I did during my week off was to write out my plans for each run on a variety of calendars- the huge desk calendar, my day planner, and calendar at home.  This way, at any given moment I can obsess about where my training is at.  Nothing is really all that crazy as far as training is concerned, but there is a purpose to each workout.

My training plan also requires that I scale back on some running during the week, which I am totally cool with since I mostly have to squeeze it in on the treadmill between washing dishes and washing children.  Weekends are going to be a little hectic with long runs on Sunday with pace runs on Saturday, but still totally do-able.

Nutritionally, I am well aware of what I need to accomplish.  A little less sugar and carbs and a little more planning for fuel and performance.  I am not a sweet eater for the most part, but bagels and other bread-ish foods are my total down fall.  A little better planning, a little more water, a little more veggies and I should be good to go here. 

The puzzle pieces are all flipped over and the corners in place, now let's just hope everything starts to come together.  Here's to 2017...cheers :)