Reflecting, Changing, Adapting, Transitioning... NOT Quitting

After two (one excellent and one not-so-much) weeks of following the Intermediate Plan of the Your Ultimate Marathon Training Plan from Runner's World magazine, I'm beginning to question the manageability of following through with this plan. This is not to say that the goal of running 3:30 in the Nissan Buffalo Marathon is changing, just that I need to re-evaluate the path to the "holy ground."

My current training plan, while the mileage is clearly “doable,” the number of days required for running (five of seven) just seems to be too much for me now given other responsibilities and the time of day that is often available to me (especially during the work week). So how am I to transition to something new? What is that something new?

There is no perfect plan, and all meaningful plans (those which will prepare me for success), will require some juggling of schedules, the best option at this point seems to be the F.I.R.S.T Training Program. Though subtitled “A Training Program for First-Time Marathoner,” I believe that the plan, if followed, will still allow me to meet the success I want to achieve.

The positives of this particular plan are the minimized number of running days and the larger emphasis on cross-training which can be achieved utilizing my bicycle. Some challenges inherent in the plan are the need to adhere to one day of speedwork, for which I will likely need to go to the YMCA to use the treadmill in order to accomplish the meter distances required, without benefit if a nice weather track, or my own treadmill.

I will wrap-up the thirteenth week of the Your Ultimate Marathon Training Plan on Sunday and move to the twelfth week (counting down to week one) of the FIRST plan on Monday with the hope of being able to share greater success in preparing as I move toward Buffalo...

Breathe in, breathe out… YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!