Training Plan - Week 13

Monday: rest
Tuesday: 4 mile run
Wednseday: 9 mile run
Thursday: 5 mile run
Friday: rest
Saturday: 18 mile run
Sunday: cross-train (~60 min.)

Monday: A little rest for ya. These next three weeks are the ones where you achieve the peak training toward which you've been building. You'll end this week with an 18-miler and Week 15 (in 2 weeks) with a 20-miler (with another stepback week between).

Tuesday: Four miles run comfortably. The pace for a "comfortable" run this day may be faster than the pace you did a "comfortable" run a dozen weeks ago when you began your marathon training (can you believe it, you've been at this for 3 months!). Or it may not. Everybody reacts differently to training. At peak training, fatigue can set in. You may need to remove some of the other stresses from your life. For instance, strength training normally is good for runners, but not toward the end of a marathon buildup. So save your time pumping iron and devote the extra minutes you save to stretching.

Wednesday: Nine miles. Your most difficult task will remain not going the distance--since you can handle this many miles easily now--but rather fitting a run that may last well past an hour into your work week. My best advice...get some more sleep. At least eight hours a night. Be more like your hubby...go to bed early. When you sleep, your body works overtime to repair itself (which makes it stronger), compared to when you are awake.

Thursday: Five easy miles. Eighteen miles in the last three days. After resting tomorrow, you'll have an 18-miler over the weekend to cap the week at 36 total miles. Whew! As we approach the peak of your training, those days when I do allow you to rest (such as tomorrow) become increasingly important.

Friday: A day of rest preparatory to some tough training on the weekend. Get some extra sleep tonight, so you're ready to run long. How is your nutrition? This is probably not a day to go out for burgers and beer.

Saturday: Eighteen miles. That's almost 30 kilometers, close to three-fourths of the full marathon distance. (Remember that when you fly past 18 in the race.) But for now, it's the longest run so far in your training program. Do you need to walk a bit to finish this run comfortably. Do so while taking fluids. That's good practice for the race, since you can take more water if you walk through water stops.

I can't stress enough how important it is that you take in fluids (preferably gatorade, since that's what will be on the course on race day) and calories (Gu) steadily throughout the race (and training).

Here's what you should be taking in: at least 20 oz. gatorade per hour (that's a little more than one of the Asics bottles). One Gu every 30 minutes. I BEG you to follow this advice. I have learned the hard way, and don't want you to have to.

When you finish today's workout, congratulate yourself for what will be you longest run ever (so far :).

Sunday: Cross-training remains an important part of your training. An hour-long spin on a bike might work well today. Notice that we said "spin." Don't train too hard, regardless of which cross-training discipline you select. When you finish today's workout, congratulate yourself for all the training it took to get you this far.