Moving Forward

Good progress, keep it up. You should see a difference probably in three weeks or so.

Sasha, I have run a few marathons, never as fast as I would have liked. I'm registered now for the Ogden. But I'm having second thoughts about being ready for it. Especially now that I have taken your challenge to run 6 miles a day six days a week. (I still don't think I will run on Fridays though, I need a rest before my long runs on Saturday) I'm almost 45 and I know that I need to increase my miles/speed slower, I had many injuries last year, mostly plantar fasciitis. I'm really getting concerned now that the marathon is getting closer. I'm thinking of maybe just running the half, if they let me switch. Hmmm I dont' know what to do.

If you have to rest for a long run, your long run is too long. A long run should be an ultra-race. At this point, I think going longer than 14 is not a good idea. Many runners believe that the key to running a good marathon is a long run. I think there is nothing more to that belief that the fact that is more convenient to do a long run on a weekend. If you look at how elites train, they hardly ever go more in one weekend run than they do total on any given day. From what I've seen, getting out 6 days a week and how far you go on average on those days contributes 70% of your ability to sustain your pace at the end of a marathon, with the long run being responsible only for about 30% of it. Over the years I've tried varying my long run anywhere from 20 to 26 miles, and have gotten the best results with 20, even though I've never run less than 80 miles a week during those periods. I think for those running less mileage the proportions apply. Going more than 25-30% of your weekly mileage in a long run is excessive and will only wear you out instead of building you up.

Switching to the half is not a bad idea. A marathon off low mileage can knock you out pretty bad. On the other hand, without backing off at all, I think you have a good shot for your best marathon, assuming that others were done off lower mileage. For an example of that happening, check out Josse's blog (http://josse.fastrunningblog.com/). Last week she PR'ed on a slower course with no significant pre-race taper, and hitting her life time mileage high the very week of the race. After she finished she had enough freshness to go back on the course and pace her mom.

Contrary to a popular belief it is not the high mileage that causes injuries. High mileage with improper recovery (lack of sleep, bad diet) can, if you push yourself too hard it can happen as well, but more often the cause is inconsistent training. Your body can adapt to large amounts of daily stress, but if that stress comes sporadically your body gets caught by surprise. After a couple of days off, you are more likely to be out of tune with your body and pay attention only to the strong parts while ignoring the weak. Also, from the mental aspect, the feeling that you now need to make up for the missed training makes you push harder than you should be.