Marathon - The book and my thoughts

The Twin Cities marathon is exactly one-month away, which seems like an ideal time to talk about what I've been doing to train.   As you know, this will be my second marathon and a primary reason I'm doing this again has been to do it better.  I may also be addicted to running.  My desire for improvement partially comes from my thinly veiled perfectionism, but also because I went into the last marathon pretty naive.  I thought it would be like any other long race (hint: it's not), and while I walked away from the marathon very proud, and I still am, I was also walking away with a distinct hobble.  This year I want to finish strong (though the hobble part might be inevitable)

To improve my performance this year I first needed to gain some knowledge.  The easiest/cheapest way to gain knowledge is by reading.  Welcome: Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide: Advice, Plans, and Programs for Half and Full Marathons  by Hal Higdon

Marathon manages to deliver a bulk of marathon training information, while remaining an enjoyable and entertaining read.  Hal Higdon has both established himself as a reputable marathoner, with 111 marathons participated, as well as a great writer.  In addition, Hal Higdon does not just rely on his own personal experience but relies on research provided by various higher learning institutions as well as data from surveys of marathon finishers.

There are many touch-points that I could reflect on in the book, but I thought I would take five to reflect on discuss how I'm trying to implement those ideas.

1. Consistent Running
Higdon encourages running often; as often as is possible without injury.  With respect to that I've tried to maintain never going more than 72 hours without a run, a metric he recommends, and a doable one for me.  At one point this meant, throwing in a short 1.6 mile run on an otherwise very hectic day.

2. Nutrition
While nutrition cannot replace good training (read running itself), it is important, and carbs are the name of the game.  Increasing your carb intake hardly seems like an important mandate in our carb saturated American diet but with the popularity of such diets like Atkin's and low carb rhetoric - it's a statement worth making.  Carbohydrates are a source of fuel, and if you are about to be running 26.2 miles you are going to want some fuel.  However, consuming more carbs doesn't necessarily  mean indulging in endless pasta and cake.  Carbs should be complex.  This means not just whole wheat, but bananas, other fruits, lentils and sweet corn.  Though carb intake should be increasing fat intake should remain low.  So throw out the greasy pasta (or keep it to a minimum) and bring on the bananas!  

3. Rest
So Running a lot is good, but rest is still a part of the process.  Higdon talks about the many negatives of over training ranging from decreased running performance, increased chance of injury and lower libido.  He talks about warning signs of over-training and how to make adjustments.  I usually pretty happy to take a rest day, it is rest after all, but when I was training for both the tri an marathon at the same time I did experience some signs of fatigue. Luckily, I was usually able to find a way to recoup, sometimes that meant a full rest day, sometimes just toning down the workout.

4. Drop back week
The idea of a drop back week is well known among experienced marathoners, but I was unfamiliar it last year as I was training.  I ended up unwittingly instituting drop back weeks out of sheer exhaustion.  This year I had things planned out that way from the get go, which has consequently allowed me to have more and better long runs over all.

5. Speed Work
Higdon discusses many options for incorporating speed work into your marathon training regimen. He also warns that too much speed work or introducing speed work as a novice runner is not always a wise idea due to the possibility of injury.  While I've been slow to implement any sort of consistent speed work into my training, Marathon did give me a lot ideas about how to get started and things to try, and made the idea of speed work seem less daunting and mysterious.  

I recommend the book and enjoyed reading it cover to cover.  It also includes inspiring marathoner stories, thoughts from Olympic marathoners and logistical advice on how to prepare for race day.

Check out Hal Higdon's site for access to free training plans for many different race distances as well as forums where Hal himself gives training advice.  

I purchased the book Marathon by Hal Higdon myself and wrote this review completely of my own volition.