It’s been a little over a week since I completed the Timberman 70.3, which means it’s time to have a chat about the next race on my calendar, the Chicago Marathon! I didn’t intend to do a marathon 8 weeks after a Half Ironman, but hey, these things happen. As you might remember, I initially signed up to do my Half Ironman in June, giving myself a nice amount of time between that and Chicago, but feeling unprepared in June, I swapped to a later race, and here we are, half iron completed and 7 weeks out from the marathon.
The good news is that the half iron training helped prep me for the marathon. While not exactly the same type of training, in that race I ran a half marathon after swimming for 45 minutes and biking for almost 3.5 hours. What I need to train for now is running a half marathon…well, right after another half marathon. With the help of my friend (hi Noa!) I put together a training plan and have edited a bit along the way. Here is the official Shapin’ Up 8 week training plan for the Chicago marathon (it’s printed out, hanging at my desk and not changing again):
[FYI: before this 8 week plan, I did a 14 mile and a 15 mile long run while training for the half iron.]
This schedule is very similar to what I used for my first marathon in 2013; it includes 3 runs per week, a speed workout, a mid-length run and a long run. When I did this in 2013 I made sure not to skip any long runs but definitely skipped a few short runs (probably skipped one a week, which isn’t great considering there are only 3!).
I’m going to do my best to get in all 3 runs each week. Compared with what I was supposed to do for my half iron training, this schedule looks like a breeze. If I’m being honest, my motivation isn’t sky high right now. I’m hoping that with each long run I get bit more excited and into the training. Unlike the half iron, I have a goal time in mind: under 4 hours. That was my goal in my first marathon and I missed it by a significant 7 minutes. This time around I want to do everything in my power to finish under 4 and hit that goal.
Because my motivation isn’t where I’d like it to be, do you have any words of wisdom to get me pumped up? Please share below and let me know what races you’re training for!
