Changing training plans for the LA marathon

So since I decided to run the LA marathon instead of focusing solely on the Surf City half marathon as I had originally thought of, that means training has to be mixed up big time. No more short runs for me, especially with all the non-running I’ve been doing lately, I need to up my mileage and get in some decent long runs so that when I’m at the starting line of LA, I’m not completely scared for my life. So starting up next weekend after Surf City, I have my first long run of my training cycle. I do feel that my long run paired with an intermediate run the next day works well for me and keeps my legs feeling fresher. Since picking up the tutoring part-time job my running is severely limited during the week, so I also like to do cross-training during the week.

Oh did I mention the marathon is 47 days away? 47? Yea, cool. So, I did some editing, some rearranging and tried to shove in as many miles as I think possible in the next few weeks. We’ll see how quickly I die.

So as you can tell I’m still implementing swimming and weights and I’m still the queen of giving myself options. I know that some days I just won’t want to run or I’ll need to rest. I also tried to hit it hard on the weekends with my long runs and with cross training. Hit it hard on the weekends? That’s what she said. Most Sundays, even after long runs, I have miles to get in, which I found works well for me as I have been doing long runs on Saturdays and then also doing some running on Sundays with the LA Marathon course preview we are doing. It is a little creaky to start, but once I get going things are okay and the miles tick away. They aren’t long mileage runs and will be done at a very slow pace, which I’m okay with. I am also quite worried about my toes though so we’ll see if that plays any role into the training. We shall post about those on Wednesday.

Then we have the standard runs on Tuesday, which are decently long, we have two eight milers but mostly it’s pretty basic. I will need to get those done as soon as I get home from work and then I can relax and eat dinner and just hang out. I know right now this plan is very overwhelming to me because that’s a lot of miles to cram in before it gets dark, but I also know I CAN do this, I just have to commit to it and get it done.

Then Wednesdays I tutor so most of the days I can fit in something after tutoring if I wanted too. So I can do cross training, or yoga, or rest. Thursdays are going to be my hardest days on the schedule. It says the paces in there, but it’s all up to my body and how I’m feeling that day and how I feel when I get home. If I can run those times great, but it’s not the end of the world if I can’t. I would like to yes, and I know I can. But after working all day and trying to do a tempo run, it’s not the easiest thing in the world. I’ve accepted that fact and I don’t want to run myself down. So I guess those are just guidelines of times I would like to hit in the perfect world.

Friday is another rest or easy mileage day. If I run hard on Thursdays I most likely am going to need a rest on Friday before the high mileage kicks in on Saturday, but we’ll see how it goes. I realized that with my schedule and my life, the most important thing to me is flexibility. I also was warned about overuse and pushing the miles up too quickly. I know that I must ice and take care of my body to the best of my ability in order to make it to the starting line on March 21st.

I know I can do this. I just have to DO it now. So let’s do this. Let’s run LA!

xoxo