I've spent the last two days writing up my workout plan for the next 12 weeks. After completion, I needed to get my mind off of it and do something else. I watched the first episode of "The Walking Dead" on Netflix. Whoa. Not sure if I can continue watching that series. Scared me to death and so violent. I felt like throwing up during one scene. Running was the last thing on my mind, so I guess it worked. Anyway, after some sleep I came back to my plan and began to put it into action with a few tweaks. My plan was derived from Greg McMillan's site using the information from his video's, articles, and pace calculator. I found it to be very insightful with evidenced based practices he uses for his own elite athletes and with much success. I don't believe there is one theory or plan that is the best, but so many depending on the type of runner you are and quite frankly, what makes sense to you. That being said, one theory Greg has tested out for the last few years is a theory he learned from one of his mentors. The article is about changing your approach to marathon training aside from the standard phases of: Base building, stamina, speed, and taper vs. base, speed, stamina, taper. Interesting article with benefits that made sense to me. So, figuring I have nothing to loose (since this is a hobby sport) why not try it out? My plan consists of 3 weeks of speed, 1 transitioning low week then 6 weeks of stamina and two weeks of taper. We'll see how it goes. The next 3 weeks of speed work I copied from the plan he made for one of his elite athletes, but adjusted the time to fit my scenario using the pace calculator. 1 mile wu with plyometrics Raised TM to 1% incline then12x1 min @ 5:53 (10.1 mph) with 1 min jog 1 mile cd 6 miles total The pace felt slightly more challenging than I would have liked at first, but fell into pace after the first few. After reading the site information, one major take away I gained was not pushing the workouts too hard and to stay within my range despite how good I felt. Every workout has a purpose, and not every time is it to go to 100%. It seems in the past that I have felt that my workouts weren't good enough if I didn't leave it all on the table each time. Races are meant for that, workouts are intended to get us ready to do that. I think this makes speed work less intimidating when I know I can walk away fatigued but knowing I could have done another interval or so. It seems Ed Eyestone is also a big believer in this model. Even thinking back, I have seen the effects of this in my own experience after running for two different Universities. I distinctly remember one type of coaching and workouts to be much more difficult than another, but had better results from less intense training. Don't get me wrong, both were challenging, but I remember being drained every single day after workouts and never getting the times I wanted in races compared to the the workouts under the other coach when I walked away tired, yet invigorated. Perhaps these are the workout I need to jump start me. **Skip this section to avoid my journal of thoughts about the marathon. I'm not going to lie. I want to back out of Ogden everyday because the distance scares me, flat out. I really love marathon training, but hate the thought of RACING the distance. So why am I doing it? I suppose the main reason is for the great feeling of accomplishing a PR. I am still so proud of my past PR's and trying to win a race or receive money for placing are no comparison to the extra skip in a step that a PR provides. There is nothing like giving it your all for a great run that you can look back on for the rest of your life. No one will care as much about a time I ran than I will. That is the payoff. Right? Accomplishment. The marathon is one of those races I have not felt accomplishment from yet for one reason or another. I guess that is why it is always on the (dreaded) calender. Am I wasting time doing a distance I don't love? Ugh, back and forth I go. I need spring to hit first before making any drastic moves. I'm going to blame this on the winter. | 
