2018 Chicago Marathon Training Plan
Well ladies and gents, here we go! Time for the Chicago Marathon training plan. This one has been on the list for a while. So it's an absolute treat to get to run it. The hope is to finally break that 3 hour marathon barrier. But I'm going to take everything in stride and see where the chips may lie come October 7th.
Pacing
As always, we start with the pacing which I find to be one of the most critical aspects of training plans. I'll have a set pace schedule, but honestly in the summer I just go by what feels right. Somedays will be slower or faster than others merely by the T+D.
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The ultimate key is making sure that easy stays easy, because if easy doesn't feel easy, then it isn't easy. So I can certainly go slower than 7:42 and 8:16, but I should never be going faster than it. If I want to run a 9:00, then I'll run a 9:00 if it feels right. Stay easy on the easy days, so you can do hard on the hard days.
The Plan
I've got 16 weeks to go starting from next week. I peaked in the last plan two weeks ago at 55 miles (7:42 duration). After 1.5 weeks of easier running and pulling back the training ahead of Hot2Trot, I'm now ready to build back up. Since I ran the HM hard, I need at least 7 days of easy running. So I'm going to go back up to 52 miles (6:45 duration) with almost exclusively easy running. The duration might be a touch longer, but ideally I'd rather have the mileage be lower and the mileage stay as is if it's necessary to slow down more.
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For this marathon cycle, I'm trying Daniels 4 week cycle for the first time. It focuses on 6 days running per week, only 2 hard days (but really hard), and peak weeks being exclusively easy. It's different than what I've used in the past and my hope is it mediates the injury risk of my previous plans.
Maximize gains and minimize risk.
Train smarter not necessarily harder.
Easy must be easy.
All things I plan to remind myself throughout this plan.
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So the next two weeks are focused on hitting that duration of around 7.5 hours. Daniels requests calculating the peak mileage and working from that. I wanted to peak at around 9 hours which worked out to 71 miles. Then Daniels schedules weeks at 90%, 80%, and 70% peak. The days marked in a black box are days I'm taking off work. I'm doing this for the second year in a row so that I can maximize my family time outside of running. So I chose days where I was going to be running greater than 1:45 as days I would take off. I'll also hopefully better be able to choose tolerable running temps. The plan starts off right out of the gate with a 6+6 MP workout. I've got some fireworks of my own on 7/4 with 8 total miles at T pace with some R mid-run. The week as a whole is relatively easy with only a LR on the weekend (no hybrid). The week of 7/9 represents peak mileage, but exclusively easy. This is an interesting concept to me, so I'm interested to see how it plays out in reality. Back when I reviewed Ian Williams paper on the new race equivalency calculator, I questioned a plan that peaked so early. But this is different because the peak is in almost all easy mileage. So possibly those who were in the Williams paper were doing the same. lastly, the week of 7/16 represents my first triple paced run (T to I to R) and then a MASSIVE 14 mile M Tempo run. I primarily chose this Daniels plan because of its extreme focus on marathon paced workouts. The goal is to really really drive home that pacing. I want it engrained in my brain come race start. Doing 90 min of M Tempo is far more than I've done in the past. I generally felt I struggled the most with M Tempo workouts, so I'm eager to give them the desired improvement they deserve.
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Another 14 miles M Tempo but split with an easy mile between. Then a weekend run with 9 miles at Daniels T! The key is the mileage is pulled way down. So all of the mid-week runs are only at 5 miles (no 7 milers or 12 milers). The week of 7/30 is an easy week from an intensity standpoint, but the mileage goes up a touch. The week of 8/6 represents the peak again, but this time with a little M Tempo workout in it (instead of exclusive easy). The week of 8/13 is up in the air for me. I haven't signed up for the Madison Mini HM yet, but I want to. But after this weekend's HM, I'm considering not signing up so I can focus on training. I've got some time to consider my options before the next price increase. I'm likely to opt out of the optional blue run.
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What happens the week of 8/20 will be dictated by whether I do actually race the Madison Mini. The cycle continues with another 9 mile T run, then 15 miles M Tempo, then a triple paced run, then lastly a 15 mile M Tempo run in the midst of the maximal 2.5 hr run. The peak of the plan is hit for the last time the week of 8/27 6 weeks out. Normally it's 3 weeks out, but Daniels does it earlier with a massive focus on intensity late in the plan.
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Now the true crux of the plan centers around the three 2.5 hour runs on 9/9, 9/12, and 9/16. We shall see about this. That 9/12 would be my longest training run ever at 21 miles (with 16 at MP). Then 12 miles at LT pacing. Seems quite insane and maybe needs to be toned down come actual week of. The plan starts its descent from there in a normal 21 day taper.
In total, only 2 weeks of 9+ hrs and 1 week of 8-9 hrs. The goal is to maximize training but keep the load small enough that my body can tolerate it. We will see whether it works in reality as much as I hope it does in theory.
The goal
To have an enjoyable Chicago marathon experience and to let the cards lie wherever they may land. It's just a matter of time.