It Is Time for the Pittsburgh Marathon!

It feels like forever ago that I even signed up for this race.

When I signed up for it, it was before I even decided I was running Boston, before I knew how crazy my spring would be! But I was happy none the less because well running marathons has become fun for me. So on Sunday I will do my 4th marathon this year at the Pittsburgh Marathon.

Am I nervous? Oddly, no. I mean, there is always some nerves but I am not like biting my nails in anticipation nervous.

In fact I find myself wondering why I am not more nervous than I usually am before a marathon....

Maybe it is due to the fact that I will be using it more of a training run than a "race" I will not be going for an over all time. I am doing the Run Less Run Faster plan and hoping to get a new PR at the Vermont Marathon at the end of the month. So on Sunday my training plan calls for 20 miles at an 8:04 pace. So my plan for this marathon is to go out and warm up for a mile around 9:00 and then crank out those next 20 miles at the 8:04.

Once I hit that then I will see how my body feels. If I am good maybe I will stick to the pace the rest of the race. If worse comes to worse I will slow it down to my happy pace of 9:00 and enjoy the last 5 miles. I will not know until race day when I get out there. Either way I am excited to get to run another race and have a good weekend.

I am excited to get away for the weekend and unwind. These past few months have been stressful and I need to escape for a bit. So that will be nice, and the fact that there is a shiny medal at the end of my long run on Sunday? Icing on the cake :)

So this brings me to a question for my runner friends.

Do you ever use a race as a training run? How does it go for you?

This will be my first time using a marathon to do so, I have done it for shorter distances.

Week 1 Training Program Run Less Run Faster

I read the book Run Less Run Faster and reviewed it here on the blog.

I made the decision to follow the plan as I gear up to run The Vermont City Marathon on Memorial Day Weekend. I decided I would go for time at this marathon after the heat of Boston and realizing that I may want a faster qualifying time than I already got in Hyannis earlier this year.

So in 4 weeks I will set out to attempt another marathon for time. My goal? 3:25 or bust!

So the plan calls for 3 runs and 2 days of cross training. Much different from my last marathon training plan that had me running 5 days a week.

I added in extra cross training. I felt like the plan in the book was just not enough for me ;) BUT I did stick to the runs and it felt good!

Monday - I went to the gym and did some cross training. I spun for 40 minutes and then did rowing for 20 minutes. After that I took a 30 minute circuit class.

Tuesday - I headed to the gym again for 30 minutes of spin, 20 minutes of rowing and then a 30 minute trx class.

Those 2 days of cross training felt great!

Wednesday morning I worked with my trainer. I plan to meet with her once a week for some training. My focus is to lose some weight and tone my muscles a little more ;)
Then it was time for the track. I did my speed workout as the plan called for: 3 of 1 mile repeats at 6:31. With a light jog of 400m in between each and a 10 minute warm up and cool down.

Honestly when I saw that I cringed, I did not know if I would be able to run a mile in 6:31, I have not been that fast yet. So I warmed up for a mile in 8 minutes on the track and then it was doom time hehe. I made it around the track for a mile in 6:31 exactly. I could not believe it! I jogged lightly for the 400m and then I ran my next mile in 6:37, I was a lil disappointed but I did another mile after that in 6:37 again. I was so happy to be done. I was happy to get close to the times that the plan called for. I ended with another mile and a half cool down and headed home to stretch!

Thursday - I spent the day traveling for work and got a hotel gym workout in at night. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and then 15 minutes of strength work with a medicine ball.

Friday -  Run number 2 for the week. This called for a tempo run of 10 miles at 7:49 pace. I struggled a bit to maintain my speed and ended up with a 10 mile run at 7:54 pace. Not too far off. I felt strong.

Saturday - I took a wait for it...
REST DAY.
Yes I needed it. Honestly I woke up with the intention of dropping peanut off with my sister so they could go to gymnastics and I was going to the gym. But she got all big eyed and asked me to go with her to gymnastics, and I contemplated and then decided to go.

Sunday - Long run day I had 15 miles at 8:04 pace scheduled. I headed to the Lexington bike path and knocked that run out. I felt so strong the whole time. I ended up doing it a little faster that the plan called for even :) I ended up doing 15 miles in 1:59 which meant I carried a 7:59 pace. It felt great I did not want to stop.

The plan left me feeling like I could run more. On Sunday I wanted to keep going. I would have kept going if I was not following a plan and testing it out :)

So we shall see if Run Less Run Faster leaves me with a faster marathon time in 4 weeks!