Oh crap.
4 months until my next marathon and not only have I not actually started training, but I’ve barely even thought about it!
The good news is the summer intensive class that consumed all of June for me ended today (perfect timing!), so with exactly 4 months to go it’s time to start training!
It’s pretty hard to find the “perfect” training plan, so awhile back I gathered some resources and sat down to put together a training plan that would work for me. I know “cutting & pasting” training plans probably isn’t the recommended method, but I wanted to take into consideration my summer plans and other races while incorporating speedwork and long distance runs to come up with something I would be confident I could stick to (which is really what matters!).
So, here are the resources I used and what I got from each:
- Run Less, Run Faster – I took the speed and tempo workouts from this book
- Runner’s World SmartCoach App – I used the long distance runs from this plan
- runDisney Jeff Galloway Dumbo & Dopey Training Plans – incorporated some back to back runs from this plan
…and of course I’m planning on incorporating lots of yoga into my training! (Check out my Yoga for Runners series to see why I love balancing yoga and running!)
So, with 4 months to go, I’m off and running!
(haha, oh man, I crack myself up!)
Live, Run, Grow 
Your yoga poses are always stunning. Good luck with your training. Making a plan that will work for you is most important. See you in CA soon!
Thanks Pam! Looking forward to meeting up in California!
Ha – I do cutting and pasting of training plans as well. You have to find what works for you. Good luck with training!
Thanks Emily, I’m getting a little nervous since I was hoping to be a little farther along with my training than I am, but I’ll get there (hopefully!).
I don’t know what it is about this year’s marathon training but I feel the same way.
Ugh, I know, I’m really struggling to get motivated!
I definitely do a cut and paste with my training plans…at least I usually do, unlike right now where I’m mostly panicking because I haven’t followed any training plan yet for Dumbo. Eek! Good luck with the training! 🙂
Don’t worry, you’ll be fine for Dumbo! You’ve done plenty of half marathons and adding in the 10k the day before isn’t that bad as long as you go easy!
I put together my own plans too, usually based on one plan with tweaks from another that I like. I think it’s way smarter than running a cookie cutter plan. Once you’ve been running a while, you know what works for you better than a blanked plan does. Good luck with training!
I totally agree, if the plan doesn’t work for me and my body no way I’m sticking to it!
Good luck with your marathon training Danielle, you are going to rock it! 🙂