I’ve been training for about 8 weeks now for the 2011 Chicago Marathon. The first 5 weeks were ramping up weeks where I just ran to build up some base miles. The past 3 weeks I’ve been doing 20+ miles at faster paces and I’ll max out at 34 miles the week of September 11. It’s been definitely quite the experience trying to stay committed to a running program while working 60+ hours a week. However, I can honestly say that the progress has been surprising and encouraging.
After I blew the San Dieguito Half Marathon in February with an abysmal 1:56:06 (20+ minutes slower than my PR of 1:35:44 at the Monumental Half Marathon), I kind of stopped running consistently for about 5 months. When I started running again, it was surprising to see how much endurance I had lost. I barely could do more than 3-4 miles at an 8:30+ pace and I just wasn’t feeling very good after any run. I’ve gotten now to the point where I can do 7 miles at an 8:00/mile pace and still have a decent amount of energy leftover. It’s definitely been a good experience so far in regards to training for this upcoming marathon.
Last year I ran the Chicago Marathon with a friend and clocked in a little under 5 hours. This year, hoping I stay healthy for the next 7 weeks, I hope to break a 3:30:00. If I end up doing that, I’ll probably register for the Monumental Half Marathon and really push to see if I can get close to breaking 1:30:00.
Tomorrow’s another long-run. 12 miles, my longest so far in my 10 week training program (first few weeks were just to get miles in) for the 10/9/11 race date. The goal is to stick to a 9:15/mile pace.