While I was on the stair master the other day I was reading the July issue of Runner’s World on my iPad (I’m a little behind). There was an article by Peter Sagal on how he ran a PR at the age of 46. He beat his marathon time by like 11 minutes. He basically just increased the miles he was running each week (from 25 miles up to about 50 miles), but in the end he says the reason he was able to do this was because he chose to do it. Basically, believing you can do something is the first and main step in achieving your goals. You CAN get out and run 5/10/21/42 km. It might take a lot of hard work, but if you really want it, you can do it.
John Stanton, the founder of The Running Room, also talks about positive visualization before a race. I was at a talk he gave once, and he said the night before a race (or even weeks/months before a race) you should visualize yourself running it. Visualize the crowds of spectators, the crowds of runnings, how you’ll feel tired, but you CAN push through it. Visualize how happy you’ll feel when you cross the finish line!
I’ve been trying to get motivated to start training for the Vancouver Marathon in January because I REALLY want to cut 10 minutes of my last years time (so I can qualify for Boston) I bought this inspirational necklace from ETSY:
A bit cheesy, I know. But I need all the help I can get. If you had told me when I first started running that within a few years I could qualify for Boston I woulda laughed. I thought for sure I would be in the 40-50 age group before I could be fast enough to run it. BUT hopefully with some hard work and optimism I can do it before I’m 30.
Here are some Rules of Success:
-summarized from the July 2012 issue of Runner’s World
by Jennifer Van Allen, Bart Yasso, and Amby Burfoot
1. Warm up for 5-10 minutes and cool down after a hard run
2. Increase weekly milage by no more than 10% each week
3. Make sure 80% of your runs are at a slower pace than your goal race pace (so you can breath mostly normal)
4. Incorporate hills once a week for the first half of your training period
5. Run easy the day after a hard run (i.e. speed, hills, or long run)
6. Cross train!
7. Monitor your heart rate or pace to make sure you’re running at the right intensity on easy or hard days
8. Speed work! Incorporating this into your training schedule WILL make you faster
9. Practice running at your goal race pace
10. TAPER. The last 3 weeks you should drop your milage by 25-50%. Trust it.
You can find marathon training plans all over the web, but here is one place: runners world.com/trainingplans
It’ll take practice to find out which one works best for you. I’m still trying to figure it out.
On a positive note, I ran 16.5km today without my achilles hurting. I hate when I have to go a full week without running, but it’s important to listen to your body. Especially when it’s a weird sharp pain somewhere you don’t usually hurt (my hips are always tight so it’s normal for them to hurt). It’s also important to take a rest day or 3 after running a race as hard as you can… regardless of the distance. I didn’t do that after the Fall Classic 10 mile run.
It was a balmy -11oC with the windchill… which means winter running tights, winter running long sleeve shirt, and HAT. I look sleepy… and my eyebrow looks very shapely.
Just a bit of snow on the ground…. a pretty nice day for a run
I ran with my lovely running friends Kate and Tammy and had a great time. And I got an early birthday gift.. The Beauty Detox Solution book! It talks about the same kinda stuff as in Fit For Life (proper food combining etc)…. but more updated. So excited to read it!
Enjoy my sweaty bangs!
What training plan do you follow when training for a race?
How many miles do you typically run per week when training for a marathon?
How do you push through when you hit THE WALL?
runningontempeh 
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