It feels like only yesterday when I received the email that I had been selected to participate in the 2022 Chicago Marathon. When I ran Chicago as my first ever marathon back in 2000, there was no lottery. All I needed to do was send in my application form and mail in my check. Actually, I didn’t have any checks. I sent a Money Order.
Since receiving my acceptance notice in December, my miles have been consistent but on the lower end. I haven’t held a rigid schedule or had much structure or even focused on pace. There has been some work on strength and stability, and increasing my run time using run/walk intervals, but overall, miles have been nice and slow. Ok, speed has never been my thing.
The last few months have been me trying to figure out what kind of training plan I want to follow, or what I should follow given my current life circumstances, and I’ve decided to go back to what has helped me in the past. It’s the Hal Higdon Novice 1 Training Plan.
It’s the plan that appears will work best with my current conditioning and life responsibilities.
While I’ve completed 26 marathons and numerous ultras in the past 22 years, I’d like to think I’ve learned a thing or two, and am not technically a beginner but it’s been three years since I’ve completed an official in-person marathon and I didn’t really sufficiently train for it either.
My training for the Philadelphia Marathon was less than stellar. 2019 was an extremely tough year for me to get in solid training, and while I enjoyed the experiences of the three races I did that weekend, I’d like to improve from that or at least feel more prepared in case a thunderstorm rolls into Chicago on race day. Dear Universe, please don’t let me manifest that.
However, no training plan works best for everyone. The Novice 1 Plan is easier for me to adjust. Extending shorter runs or cutting down longer ones including tweaking the long runs if need be, but for the most part, adhering to it the best I can.
In recent years, you could say I’ve taken a somewhat unconventional approach and with a few exceptions, I didn’t stick to any solid training plans.
I’ve mostly based my runs on how I felt and not on actual set mileage. For many years, I ran with a running club and completed whatever long mileage we had scheduled on Saturday mornings.
This year I’m wanting to go back to the beginnings of when I first started training for my first marathon and how much curiosity and excitement I had training for it. Of course, there are a few things differently now. For one, I’m 22 years older and my body knows it.
Being this is my last week before training officially kicks off on Monday, June 6th, I am still keeping my miles low and going all-in with carboloading now! I have worried the base building phase wasn’t substantial enough and I didn’t train hard enough before the actual training begins.
But I am where I am, and it is what it is. All I can do now is show up each day and focus on moving forward.
And I’m going to share it. The good, the bad, the ugly. The highs and lows. What works. What doesn’t? The relevant and random. The challenges, the struggles, and the victories.
Every day.
Here on this little ol’blog.
My goals for Chicago are simple. It is to show up to that start line healthy and uninjured, in relatively decent shape, finish strong no matter what the time, and have fun! That’s it. That’s all I could ask for, or want.
It’s time for the real training journey to begin!