But, I recognize that I am burned out and so I am really trying to train smarter. My goal is to finish the race, not to PR, so I want to try to do just enough training to get myself through the race but not so much that I risk injury and further burn out.
I am trying a new training plan- the Doug Kurtis Intermediate Plan.
Who is Doug Kurtis you ask?
I had never heard of him until I read the July issue of Runner's World. Kurtis has run 205 marathons in the last 40 years, finishing 200 of those in less than three hours. So you would think he would know a thing or two about marathon training.
Mostly though, he won me over because he is all about training smarter. He advocates running slowly most of the time, with just a single speedier session a week, and breaks some of his long runs up into 2 sessions run in the same day.
Here is his plan:
Luckily, he also recommended modifying his plan to meet your individual needs. I am certainly doing that! I don't like to run more than 4 times a week, so I will be doing the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday workouts, and substituting the rest with cross training. I also know that I need some built in off weeks, so I am inserting an off week every 3rd week.
I like the idea of having some races built into the schedule, that really helps keep my motivation up. I am really curious to see how well breaking the long run up into 2 sessions goes for me. Except for Reach the Beach, I've never run twice in a single day.
Have any of you tried this training plan? I'd love some feedback!
Also, I am desperate for some training buddies. If any of you are nearish to Portland, I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to run with you!
Yay! I am excited you are doing it! What an interesting plan - esp the LR split. Do you think you will follow the split?
ReplyDeleteI will try to do the splits when I can. I know though that some days I won't have the time to run, shower, wait around and then repeat later.
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