As previously mentioned, I'm training for the 2011 LA Marathon in March. My history with distance running has been relatively short, as I trained with Team in Training last fall/winter for the 2011 Rock and Roll Arizona Marathon. I finished that marathon in 4:53.12 after doing well for about 21 miles. While I told my friends and family that my goal was just to finish, my unspoken goal was to finish with a 10 min/mile average. Unfortunately, both of my quads completely cramped up at mile 21, which made the last 6 miles an absolute hell. Finishing more than 30 mins behind my goal time was dissapointing, but throughout the following 10 months, I'm finally beginning to understand the holes in my training that led me to that result.
The mistake I made while training for that marathon was a complete lack of knowledge of distance running and sport specific training. I was deeply involved with Crossfit back then and was of the belief that high intensity, short duration exercises, with sprint workouts and one long run a week was sufficient training for success at a marathon.
I'll probably get flamed to hell if Crossfitters find this post, but before I continue, let me just clarify that this is my experience and my belief of what didn't work and what does work for me. If whatever you do works for you. Great. I'm happy for you. Don't let what works for you, dictate what should work for others.
Ok, let's continue.
So what went wrong?
What I didn't understand then was that in the realm of endurance sports, training volume must be sufficient for the body to handle the expected stresses at the race. If the planned race is a marathon, it means getting in a high cumulative mileage week after week so that the body, come race time, can handle the stresses of not just running 26.2 miles, but doing it at a manageable pace.
I also didnt understand that many of the recommendations for speedwork, hill ascents, tempo runs, were recommendations for individuals who had already established a base or a foundation for their chosen sport. Throughout my first marathon training, my base wasn't running. My base was pullups, pushups, situps, squats, burpees, deadlifts, etc. In my head, I justified this by convincing myself that a really exceptional general fitness would help me get through the marathon. While my general fitness may have contributed to my finishing of the marathon, all the extra muscle and lack of running certainly did not help me meet my goal.
So what's different this time around?
This fall/winter, I'm focused on training for a marathon again. This time, I've realized that to run a marathon, not just for completion, but for a specific goal time, I'm going to have to put in some serious mileage and some strict pace adherence. I'm working off of a training plan designed by Barry Pollock (aka BarryP) here:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=1612485;search_string=runtraining;#1612485
The gist of the run plan is to accumulate mileage by running several days a week and by running at defined paces. The goal is to create a base and to prevent injury. Currently, I'm up to 35 miles a week and loving the progress in both my mileage acclimation as well as my speed improvements. My goal is to get up to a couple of 70 mile weeks with some 20+ mile long runs prior to the LA Marathon.
Stay tuned for updates on my progress!
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