Training officially begins!

Today is the first official marathon training day on the FIRST 18 week plan. The week shapes up like this:

Sunday Long Run: 8 miles at PMP of 8:45/mi
Monday Cross Train
Tuesday Tempo Run: 2 easy, 2 tempo, 2 easy
Wednesday Rest
Thursday Intervals: 10 minute warm up, 6x1 minute fast followed by 3 easy, 10 cool down
Friday Cross Train

It's supposed to be super cold this week, so the tempo and interval days will likely be on the treadmill. And, as always, I reserve the right to swap one of those for a bike day.

That's the week one plan! I took last week off, for the most part, to start fresh.

T-Minus 25 weeks...

Until the Bayshore Marathon. That is still about +7 weeks until the marathon training program I've been loosely following even begins. In other words, it starts 18 weeks out.

At my current fitness level, I can do the "12 weeks to go" workout without much trouble at all. So this is a good place to be. It's also a reason not to worry about my week off. Still, I don't think I'll have to do that again any time soon unless I get sick or something.

For those keeping score, my 18 week training program would begin on Sunday, January 20th. That's deep in the heart of winter here in lovely mid-Michigan, but a month past the solstice so at least the light will be getting better. I still plan to do a fair amount of biking when the weather is foul. No running on country roads in ankle-deep slush. As Ridolfo says, time to toughen up!