This past May I began looking for a marathon training plan to follow through the fall for my October marathon. I found a training plan on the Louisville Derby Festival marathon website, and "customized" it...I think this was my first mistake. I shifted things all around to fit in the spinning classes I attend on Monday and Wednesday morning, added miles here, added long runs there. There is a statistic somewhere that says you shouldn't increase your training miles by more than 10% of your total miles each week. Both in my half-marathon training and now in marathon training, I always seem to throw that wise adage out the window. Which of course is not good, and has lead to injury both times. My left knee has been bothering me for about two weeks now - I can't go for more than 6 miles without feeling like my knee is going to explode. So, I have decided to really cut back on heavy running and log some serious hours on the spinning bikes. Being five weeks out, I don't want to let my level of fitness slip any, but I also don't want to risk making the knee any worse. I am going to do a lot of cycling and slowly build my mileage back up to where I can do a 10 or 12 mile long run a few weeks before the race. I feel really good about my training plans from here on out, and I've already picked a training plan (ING New York City Marathon Basic Marathon plan) to follow for a spring marathon - no altering this one!
Now...I just need to figure out what I'm going to wear during the marathon.
6 comments:
i'm glad you're gonna lay off the knee for a bit. wise move. i hope the healing goes well! :)
What?!? You're straying from the blue shorts, gray tshirt, and white bandana? :) I'm a creature of habit, too, so you'll have to prepare me for what I'll see when we're standing there cheering you on.
Sorry -- the non-blogger accidently posted the same comment twice...so I deleted the repeat, not some crazed message that I regretted later or something.
Dru - no fear, I will defintiley be wearing the blue shorts and white bandana strip thingy, but my shirt options are perplexing me. The gray sleeveless tshirt is tried and true, but gets a little raggedy and loose from my profuse sweating. I want to look crisp when I cross the finish line! I have the perfect shirt pictured in my mind...but it is just a matter of finding one. Also, I want everyone to know that I actually deleted Dru's comment due to the profane language that was riddled throughout.
On the Run singlet!
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