Picking up marathon training when you fall behind #BeAmazing

I will be honest - when I signed up for the 2013 ING New York Marathon lottery, I was not expecting to get in. I had already signed up for two half marathons in November. I am running the 2013 Rock n Roll Savannah Half Marathon and the 2013 Womens Running Series half marathon in St. Pete. When the full marathon acceptance came over, I was a ball of emotions between ecstatic, excitement, panic and self doubt mode. I am my own worst enemy when it comes to running, and my self doubt has been at an extreme high over the past two months. This has interfered with my training and it needs to stop.

I sit here with a little more than 40 days away from my first full marathon and am no where near where I should be in training. If I only had New York on the schedule in November, I wouldn't be as panicked as I am today. It's the two halfs following the full that have me bug eyed. What if I over exert myself and get hurt? What if I lose my drive like I did earlier this year? I'm trying not to panic and keep telling myself that the goal is simply to finish the New York Marathon. I am not going to stress myself out over my time or the amount of walk breaks I will surely be taking. 

I was on a FitFluential chat last week for marathon training and heard some amazing tips and encouragement for runners who have fallen behind on training. I saw many marathon runners state that you should pick up where you left off - not where you should be if you missed several runs (guilty as charged). 

One training method I incorporated this week was two a days. On the days I would typically run 45 minutes, I am running 3 miles on the treadmill in the morning and using my nightly 45 minute run as a recovery run. This can enhance recovery and increase adaptation. While I do not particularly love this method, I am pushing through.

Another training method we started last week was interval training. Interval training has been shown to burn fat while preserving muscle mass. It greatly improves cardiovascular capacity which I need a lot of assistance with. Also, your metabolic rate can be increased for hours (even days). We are doing Interval training 3 times a week, 30 seconds at full speed, 4 minutes recovery x 8. The day following my first interval training, my body felt like I ran a half marathon the day before.  I realized very quickly that massive stretching, rolling and icing was very important following these session, regardless of the distance or length. The last thing I want to do is get hurt.

I found a study that showed six sessions of four to seven all-out thirty-second sprints (with four minutes of recovery between sprints) could be as effective at improving cardiovascular fitness as an hour of daily moderate-level aerobic exercise.

The most important thing I need to realize over the next few weeks is tapering. I will taper prior to the full marathon, then use the Rock n Roll Savannah as a recovery run. I have family running with me in Savannah and will not stress about my time. The week following Savannah, we have Run For Your Lives 5K and two weeks following the Rock n Roll Savannah, I will be running the Women's Running Series with my best friend Keri. My goal is to run the Women's Running Series strong and hopefully survive the Run for your Lives 5K as a non-zombie.

Meg & Keri 2012

I must be positive over the next 66 days. 66 is not the number away from the ING New York Marathon, it is the amount of days away from the Womens Running Series Half in St. Petersburg. After the WRS, I have a little over a month before the Dopey Challenge at Disney.

I do have discount code for runners interested in the Womens Running Series in St. Pete! Save $10 with the code FITFLMEG - Keep in mind, prices increase on September 30th, so make sure you register before then! The Women's Running Series will be in Nashville next week and you can follow along with the runners with the hashtag #beamazing.

What is the most amount of races you signed up for in one month?