The Training Plan

It was amazing to have a coach for 8 weeks and I told myself I have nothing to loose, so I would trust my coach blindly and see what happens. In those 8 weeks, so many things happened that I would have never done (change to zero drop shoes, increase weekly mileage from 27-37 and more, increase mileage AND speed), but it was my toughest AND best training cycle EVER!

On Mondays, I freaked out about the workouts but by Saturday night I felt like a hero! I did ALL my workouts and crushed all my paces. I was super motivated throughout this training cycle. My only goal was to finish the NYC marathon happy, but I also knew, the harder I work in training, the easier race day will be. This kept me really motivated! My 18 and 20 miler with sub 9 paces was AMAZING! My long run paces used to be between 10-10:30. I was dreaming of a sub 4 for a little but, but again, I had a cold, a tough week before the race and I just wanted to have fun. But it really gave me motivation for next year. I will get my sub 4 and then some - Chicago or Richmond, here I come!

	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY	SUNDAY	MILEAGE
	10-Sep	11-Sep	12-Sep	13-Sep	14-Sep	15-Sep	16-Sep
September 10 - 16	OFF	1M WU. 4x1M@8:25. 2min recovery. 1M CD.	EZ 4.	Midweek	OFF.	1M WU. 4M's@9:00/M, 6M's@9:45/M, 4M's@9:00/M.	EZ 4.
8 Weeks	0	6	4	8	0	15	4	37
	1hr Barre class, followed by visit to chiropractor. He did active release therapy on tight right hip flexor, tight adductors on both sides and tight right glute medius. I feel better, but still feel light lingering pain in right hip when running. Even though I can feel it while running, I'm totally fine doing a workout. It's just this little nagging pain since April.	I don't have a local track nearby, so I went to a flat part of my neighborhood. It was humid weather, but I felt good! WU 9:48 4x1mile: 8:28, 8:20, 8:14, 8:06 with 2 min run/walk in between (pace 11-12/M). CD 10:03 ->Total miles: 6.5	I ran this run on the treadmill, because it's easier for me to control the pace. Pace according to the treadmill was 10:30, my Garmin says 10:01. Which one do you think is more accurate?	First 6 miles were outside with avg pace of 9:34/M and the last 2 miles on the treadmill (treadmill pace 10:00/M, Garmin: 9:32/M) My legs were really tired afterwards, not sure if it's due to the high mileage or the fact I started to run with new shoes. I'm switching from a stability shoe to Altra because I recently developed a mild bunion. With my old shoes my toe hurts on the long runs, Altras have a big toe box and I hope this will help with the pain.		1M WU -> 9:25 4M's@9:00/M-> 8:51,8:46,8:41,9:15 6M's@9:45/M-> 9:21,9:10, 9:23,9:16,9:31,9:30 sorry, I really tried to slow down! 4M's@9:00/M-> 8:44, 8:49, 8:44, 8:52 I felt really good during this run, mentally and physically strong! My legs felt fully recovered from Wednesday. The rain and temps in the low 70s might have helped!	4 easy treadmill miles, felt great the whole run, no aches or pain! Treadmill pace 10:55, Garmin: 10:11
	17-Sep	18-Sep	19-Sep	20-Sep	21-Sep	22-Sep	23-Sep
September 17 - 23	OFF	1M WU. 4x3min (with 90sec EZ jog recovery), 4x2min (w/ 90sec EZ jog recovery), 4x1min (w/ 1min EZ jog recovery). 1M CD.	EZ 4.	Midweek	OFF.	LR. 16 miles - first 13 are conversational and comforotable, go fast the last 3!!!	EZ 4.
7 Weeks	0	7	4	8	0	16	4	39
		Sunny 75F, 100% humidity and 75 dew point, it was tough today! I tried my best, after the second 2 min I had to walk the recovery intervals. 1 mile WU 9:46 4x3min (7:36, 7:47, 7:48, 7:47 min/mile pace) 4x2min (7:37, 8:24, 7:51,7:53 min/mile pace) 4x1min (7:29, 7:35, 7:25, 7:27 min/mile pace) 1 mile CD 9:17 -> total 6.5 miles	Treadmill 4 easy @10:46 min/mile pace + 1 hr PIYO class. Feel good!	Woke up with the really bad stomach pain. I have a very sensitive stomach and I must have eaten something wrong. I do have some food intolerances. Luckily, I felt better by the afternoon and tried to run. I did it on the treadmill to be close to the bathroom and my goal was just to finish the 8 miles, I didn't try to speed it up. Treadmill 8 miles @ 10:23 avg pace		I didn't have time to do all 13 before the 5k race, so I did 8.5 miles with 9:19 avg pace. I ran the 5k in 24:44, my fastest 5k in 6 years and only 20 seconds off of my PR! I was very happy with this result! (paces: 7:51, 7:58, 7:57 and last 0.1 with a 7:02 min/mile pace) After the race I ran 4.5 miles to finish all 16 miles. Getting started again after the race was tough, but I got back into it and finished those .5 miles with a 9:47 avg pace. -> total 16 miles @ 9:04 avg pace	4 easy treadmill miles with avg pace of 10:31. Legs are a little tired, but feel good!	INFO: We will be going to Seattle for vacation from TUE October 9- WED October 17. I have signed up for 2 races there (HM + 10k) and will try my best to get all my runs in! Hope the change from East coast to West coast isn't too much. Any tipps?
	24-Sep	25-Sep	26-Sep	27-Sep	28-Sep	29-Sep	30-Sep
September 24 - 30	OFF	1M WU. 8x1K@8:10-:15 mile pace with 2min recovery between reps (you can just walk). 1M CD.	EZ 4.	Midweek	OFF	1M WU. 6M'S@moderate, 5M's@8:50/M, 1M@easy, 5M's@8:50/M,	EZ
6 Weeks	0	7	4	8	0	18	4	41
	1 hr Barre class	Another super humid day here, can't wait to see how my paces will be on a day when it's not 100% humidity :) WU: 9:43 8x1k: paces in mile/min: 8:05, 8:08, 8:00, 8:03, 8:07, 8:07, 8:08, 8:07 CD: 9:53 -> Total 8.1 mile, avg 9:20 pace	Treadmill 4 easy @ 10:25 pace	Finally some fall weather in VA, low 60s and low humidity made for an awesome run. Ran the first 5 miles with a friend chatting, the last 3 I ran alone and tackled 2 big hills. Feeling great! 8 miles @ 9:06 avg pace		This was my best long run EVER!! I did 18 miles @8:52 avg pace! I felt great!! WU: 9:44 6 moderate: 9:17,9:10,9:05,8:54,8:52,9:05 while chatting w/ friend 5 fast: 8:36,8:35,8:27,8:24,8:34 1 easy: 9:28 5 fast: 8:39,8:40,8:44,8:58,8:22 my last mile was the fastest! This is my highest weekly mileage EVER and also my highest monthly mileage ever by far! I'm feeling good and REALLY enjoy splitting my long runs in 5/6 mile blocks. It helps so much to just focus on a few miles rather than the whole 18 miles! I'm happy and so thankful to have you as my coach! At the beginning of this traning cycle I told myself to put all my fears aside and trust your training. And the results are amazing!!	4 easy miles on the treadmill avg pace 10:23. Feeling strong and fast and good!	Any tipps on post run recovery? I usually drink a Tailwind rebuild shake, shower, foam roll and wear compression socks after my long runs. Anything else? Other tipps?
October 1 - 7	OFF	1M WU. 4x12min. Active 2:30 recovery jog. 1M CD.	OFF	EZ	OFF	15M's at a conversatioal pace, 3M's fast!	EZ
5 Weeks		9	0	4	0	18	4	35
		30min strength workout at home	Did yesterday's workout today. WU 9:56, 4x12min @ 8:07, 8:07, 8:20, 7:56 avg pace min/mile and CD 10:11. I ran on a hilly route and not the usual neighborhood. I want to test some hills since NYC will be hilly. Very happy about this workout! Ran a new 10k PR of 51:38, a min faster than my PR in April! Also my watch showed me I ran a new half marathon PR last Saturday during my 18 miler. 1:54:30, 2 min faster than my pr!	4 easy miles on treadmill avg pace 10:15		Today my legs felt a little tired, and my mental game as well. But I did it and finished 18 miles with an avg pace of 9:05. I didn't think I was able to speed up for the last 3, but managed my last 3 miles in 8:21, 8:23 and 8:45.	Felt really good today, not sore at all from yesterday. 4 easy miles on the treadmill, avg pace 10:12
	8-Oct	9-Oct	10-Oct	11-Oct	12-Oct	13-Oct	14-Oct
October 8 - 14	OFF	1M WU. 8M Progression. Start conservative and pick it up 5-10sec/mile! 1M CD.	OFF	EZ	OFF	Long, hilly run!	EZ
4 Weeks		10	0	5		19	4	38
			Yesterday was travel day to Seattle from VA, so I did yesterday's workout today. It was on the treadmill and I increased the pace by 0.1 every mile but watch didn't see the pace. Overall I finished 10 miles with 9:37 pace.	Easy 5 on treadmill avg pace 10:30		Ran the Hayden Lakes Half marathon in Idaho. The race was long and I ran 13.5 miles with an avg 8:51 pace. My avg heart rate was 133 which surprised me how low it was. Goal was to enjoy this race, especially since I had food poisoning 2 nights before the race. But it felt harder than the heart rate shows. Maybe I should have pushed it more. Or maybe it was the higher altitude? Not sure. The elevation gain was 740. I didn't get the full 19 miles in, I only did 13.5	Ran a 10k today, the craziest race ever! They misdirected all runners! I finished the race in 6.5 miles with a 7:58 avg pace. My watch says the 10k was run in 49:25, a pr by 3 minutes! Official results show 51:30, which makes me so sad. I felt so good and getting lost was so frustrating! The last 3 miles were the fastest and I ran a 5k PR in 24:04.	Sorry, didn't get all miles in, did 35 of 38, but with vacation and racing, I did my best.
October 8 - 14	OFF	EZ	EZ	1M WU. 4M's@8:30/M, 4min EZ jog, 3M's@8:20/M, 3min EZ jog, 2M's@8:10/M! 1M CD.	OFF	2M WU, 8M's@9:10/M, 8M's@8:45/M, 2M CD	EZ
3 weeks!	0	4	4	11.5		20	4	43.5
		Easy 4 miles on the treadmill avg 10:15	Easy 4 miles on the treadmill avg 10:30	I was really scarred of this workout, especially since we flew back to the east coast yesterday, and had to drive 4 hours home today. We made it home by 3pm and I decided to at least do the first set and see how it goes. My only option today was the treadmill and usually paces there seem a lot tougher. But somehow the pace on my watch and treadmill matched and a 8:30 didn't feel that bad! I did the whole workout and feel really proud of myself! WU 9:30, 4*8:30 (8:33, 8:36,8:36,8:33), 3*8:20 (8:24,8:20,8:24) and 2*8:10 (8'12, 8:16), CD 9:57. For a total of 11.5 miles with 8:55 avg pace.		I can't believe I did it! I ran this workout today and felt good. A friend of mine joined me for the 8 miles - 8:45 pace, which was nice. I felt that good, that I kept that pace for the last 2 miles as well! I finished 20 miles with an avg pace of 8:58!! Super excited! WU: 9:53, 9:25 8@9:10: 9:06, 9:07, 9:06, 9:02, 8:58, 9:05, 9:08, 9:11 8@8:45: 8:52, 8:41, 8:40, 8:50, 8:34, 8:47, 8:33, 8:58 CD: 8:42, 8:36 I can't believe I'm so fast and still feel so good! Thank you so much for pushing me! When I saw this week's plan on MOnday, I was scared! But now I'm super freaking happy and feel very confident for NYC!!	Easy miles on treadmill 4 @10:30	Can you help me with race strategy? Any suggestions? THANKS!!
	22-Oct	23-Oct	24-Oct	25-Oct	26-Oct	27-Oct	28-Oct
Oct 22 - 28	OFF	1M WU. 2x( 1M@8:20, 1200@8:15Mpace, 1K@8:10Mpace). 400 meter jog between reps. Would rather you go off feel than exact paces. I want you to feel strong, so try and enjoy this one, you don't need to slam it! 1M CD.	EZ	OFF	1M WU. 3M's@101-102% MP, 3min recovery, 3M's of 1min ON, 1min MOD. 1M CD. Will feel like poop. Taper legs are real.	EZ 4.	EZ LR 9
Marathon Specific	0	8	4	0	8.5	4	9	33.5
		1M WU: 9:26 1M@8:20-> 8:14 and 8:05 pace 1200@8:15M -> 8:21 and 8:07 pace 1K@8:10M -> 8:03 and 7:58 pace 1M CD: 9:04 Total workout 8 miles @ 8:36 felt great!	Did 3 easy miles with the run club the night before (3 miles @ 9:33 avg pace)	Today I did tomorrow's workout, I cut the workout short, I only did 5 miles with 8:51 avg pace. For the last few days my calves are really tight and I feel my left ankle is a little off. It might just be the taper crazies, but I rather wanted to be safe than sorry. So I did a mile WU 9:33, then 3 miles fast 8:44,8:31,8:22 and a mile cool down 9:11.		I did my long run today with friends, kept it easy and conversational. 9 miles at 9:09 pace, feeling good! Interesting later saw in my stats that my HR was higher than usual, didn't notice that during the run though.	Easy 4 miles on the treadmill today, avg 9:57. Feeling ready! Wish race would be tomorrow! :)	29 instead of 33.5 miles My daughter cam down with a cold this weekend, let's hope I dont get it!
	29-Oct	30-Oct	31-Oct	1-Nov	2-Nov	3-Nov	4-Nov
Oct 29 - Nov 4th	OFF	EZ	1M WU. 3x2M@MP. 1M CD.	EZ	OFF	EZ +4x1min pick up	NYC MARATHON!
Marathon Specific	0	5	8	5	0	3	27	48
		Easy 5 @ 9:09, felt good. I do have a cold though :(	Easy 5 @ 9:03, felt good. still having a cold :(			hotel TM 3@9:21	4:12:24 - a 11 min PR! Felt great, ran a very consitent pace of around 9:30 throughout the whole race. THANK YOU!!