Training is the Marathon

As I briefly mentioned in my last post I'm starting to understand that training for a marathon is really a marathon in itself and maybe a bigger challenge than race day (though I make no assumptions). It sounds kind of silly to say but here's the irony...during my training I will spend about 90 hours running 637 miles (1,024 km) preparing for a race that I hope will only take me 3.5 hours to complete 26.2 miles (42.2 km). That essentially means I'm putting about 25x more time and distance into preparing than I will for the marathon itself and that doesn't include any time spent strength training and stretching. Obviously the purpose of training is to be able to run your best race but it doesn't take away from the fact that preparing for the marathon is a really big commitment, I think more than I originally imagined. After more than five weeks of training there are two things that have really stood out for me.

#1 - Finding the Time to Run

My training program calls for me to run five days a week which based on my speed and distance targets takes 3 to 4 hours of time with addition time required for stretching and strength work. That doesn't sound like a lot but when you add that to 40 hours of work and time spent with my family and you quickly realize that finding the time in your schedule for training is not always easy. Initially I had intended to do most of my runs in the morning which, as it turns out, was pretty naive of me given I would need to wake up around 5 am to give myself enough time to finish and get ready to leave for work. So that has meant that the majority of my weekday runs are now happening in the evenings after 8 pm and ending after 9 pm. Weekends are a little more flexible so I usually slack and sleep in until just after 6 am and try and leave the house between 7 and 7:30 am. So while I'm managing so far it does require me to spend less time doing other things I enjoy and has made it hard to be as regular with my blog posts as I've wanted.

#2 - Staying Healthy

Making the time to run is one thing but staying healthy is another entirely. One of the reasons I chose the 80/20 program as my foundation is the desire to reduce my chance of injury allowing me to complete as much of my training plan as possible. The premise is that if you do most of your training at lower intensity that you will give your body more time to recover and reduce your chances of injury. Makes a lot of sense and I've bought in to the concept but its hard sometimes to keep my pace in check. After about 10 or 15 minutes I usually settle into a groove and inevitably find myself wanting to push harder so I do my best to restrain myself, not always as successfully as I want too.

Even though I'm running at a lower intensity my frequency and distance have definitely increased over the first five weeks of training. While I have designed a program that is progressively building up my distance I have still noticed that the increasing miles are wearing on my body a little. Generally I feel pretty good but I do find my calves and Achilles continue to be tight and I have noticed a few more aches and pains here and there. To make sure I stay injury free I'm trying to be as consistent as possible with my maintenance (stretching and treatment). I generally spending five minutes pre-race and 15 minutes post-race doing stretches as well as also rolling my legs with a Tiger Tail and rolling my feet with a lacrosse ball. I think its helping but I am definitely monitoring my body and have made some adjustments to my schedule as my body has required it. One area I need to be better at is getting the proper rest. I should probably be getting to bed around 10 pm but there are always things to do so I have yet to adjust my sleep schedule to make sure I get the extra rest I find myself needing.

In addition, most training programs also schedule at least one day of strength/cross training to continue to strengthen the muscles needed to effectively run a race. This is another area of the program that I have struggled to be consistent with so far. I like the concept of strength training and have done a bunch of research trying to find a plan that is easy for me to follow but inevitably when the times comes I find it hard to get motivated to spend the timing doing these workouts on a consistent basis...though I did do some work before sitting down to finish this post.

Reading all this you would think that I'm complaining or that the training schedule is wearing me down a bit but the truth is I feel really good so far about what I'm doing. Don't get me wrong there are days when I'm a bit more tired or the weather is crap and I'm not as motivated to run but so far I'm really enjoying the process. I imagine that running the marathon is going to be a tremendous challenge but I figure if I can consistently drag my ass out of bed at 5 am or head out for a run after a long day of work then regardless of my actual result, by the time the race starts I will already have accomplished something pretty awesome.