Finance and Fat

That isn’t a typo, I need to train just to prepare to begin ‘official’ marathon training. Yesterday I started day 1 of a 10 week plan with a goal of jogging for 30 minutes straight at the end.The plan for week 1 is 3 days of walking, for 30 minutes, at a pace of 17-20 minutes per mile. My wife and I have been walking for 30 minutes somewhat regularly, but we weren’t focused on the pace before. That made a huge difference as we walked the same distance we had been walking previously in 30 minutes versus the old pace of about 35 minutes. Doing that in 30 minutes made for a much better workout. We went 1.54 miles in 30 minutes, keeping us just under the upper limit of 20 minutes per mile. About half of our walk is uphill so that helps to add a little challenge to the walk as well.

I am following the Preliminary Training Program from The Non-Runner’s Marathon Trainer. The plan can be found on page 9. This plan is intended for those of us who aren’t running at all right now and really have a long way to go just to begin ‘normal’ marathon training. Here is what life is going to be like for the next 10 weeks:

• Week 1 - Moderate walking pace (17-20 min./mile), 3 days, 30 minutes per day
• Week 2 - Moderate walking pace (17-20 min./mile), 4 days, 30 minutes per day
• Week 3 - Fast walking pace (13-16 min./mile), 3 days, 30 minutes per day
• Week 4 - Fast walking pace (13-16 min./mile), 4 days, 45 minutes per day
• Week 5 - Jog 5 minutes, walk 5 minutes, repeat 2 times, 3 days, 30 minutes per day
• Week 6 - Jog 10 minutes, walk 5 minutes, repeat once, 3 days, 30 minutes per day
• Week 7 - Jog 15 minutes, walk 5 minutes, repeat once, 4 days, 40 minutes per day
• Week 8 - Jog 20 minutes, walk 5 minutes, repeat once, 4 days, 50 minutes per day
• Week 9 - Jog 25 minutes, walk 5 minutes, 4 days, 30 minutes per day
• Week 10 - Jog 30 minutes, 4 days, 30 minutes per day

It’s a long road to marathon day on December 7th, and we really couldn’t have started too soon. I will likely sign up for a smaller event (such as a 10K run) after this 10 week training plan in order to stay active before starting the real marathon training, which will go for 16 weeks prior to the marathon. I’ll be back with more updates as I work on this crazy plan.