Training for the Boston Marathon

124 days until the Boston Marathon

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I started training this week.

I'm following the New York City Official Marathon Program, which worked well for me in the Loch Ness Marathon, and which I think I also followed when I did the New York Marathon 12 years ago.

For those of you who might be interested, this is what it looks like (sorry, the formatting is a bit of a mess):

.............................................Mon Tues Weds Thur Fri Sat Sun
Week 1 Dec. 13 - Dec. 19..6 mi. Rest 5 mi. 5 mi. Rest 13 mi. 3 mi.
Week 2 Dec. 20 - Dec. 26..Rest 5 mi. 4 mi. 5 mi. 3 mi. 13 mi. 3 mi.
Week 3 Dec. 27 - Jan. 2...Rest 5 mi. 5 mi. 4 mi. 4 mi. 15 mi. 3 mi.
Week 4 Jan. 3 - Jan. 9....Rest 5 mi. 6 mi. 5 mi. 4 mi. 13 mi. 5 mi.
Week 5 Jan. 10 - Jan. 16..5 mi.5 mi. 6 mi. 5 mi. Rest 15 mi. 4 mi.
Week 6 Jan. 17 - Jan. 23..6 mi.6 mi. 6 mi. 6 mi. Rest 13 mi. 6 mi.
Week 7 Jan. 24 - Jan. 30..Rest 6 mi. 6 mi. 6 mi. 6 mi. 18 mi. 5 mi.
Week 8 Jan. 31 - Feb. 6...6 mi.6 mi. 6 mi. 6 mi. Rest 15 mi. 4 mi.
Week 9 Feb. 7 - Feb. 13...Rest 6 mi. 6 mi. 8 mi. 5 mi. 20 mi. 5 mi.
Week 10 Feb. 14 - Feb. 20.Rest 6 mi. 6 mi. 8 mi. 6 mi. 15 mi. 5 mi.
Week 11 Feb. 21 - Feb. 27.Rest 6 mi. 6 mi. 8 mi. 6 mi. 20 mi. 4 mi.
Week 12 Feb. 28 - Mar. 6.Rest 6 mi. 6 mi. 8 mi. 6 mi. 13 mi. 6 mi.
Week 13 Mar. 7. - Mar. 13..Rest 6 mi. 6 mi. 8 mi. 4 mi. 22 mi. 4 mi.
Week 14 Mar. 14 - Mar. 20.Rest 6 mi. 6 mi. 8 mi. 6 mi. 15 mi. 4 mi.
Week 15 Mar. 21 - Mar. 27.Rest 5 mi. 6 mi. 5 mi. Rest 22 mi. 4 mi.
Week 16 Mar. 28 - Apr. 3.Rest 5 mi. 5 mi. 6 mi. 5 mi. 15 mi. 4 mi.
Week 17 Apr. 4. - Apr. 10.Rest 5 mi. 5 mi. 4 mi. 4 mi. 8 mi. 4 mi.
Week 18 Apr. 11 - Apr. 17.Rest 4 mi. 4 mi. 3 mi. Rest 3 mi. 26.2 mi.

So, it's 18 weeks all told. I use the RunWell tool in the New York Times to log my runs, and also to edit this schedule. I'll often move around runs, and sometimes I run on rest days, and sometimes, of course, I miss runs. Often, I do my long run on Sunday instead of Saturday.

What I like about the plan is the consistency. You get out 6 consecutive days on most weeks. For me, this seems to be key in preparing for the weekend long runs - I feel stronger if I've been out 5 times during the week.

Something I read in one of George Sheehan's books (How to feel great 24 hours a day) also informs my training. He argued that when you train, you are really training your legs. Your heart, of course, also gets stronger, but really only up until a point; the key is your other muscles - and by that I'm assuming leg muscles.

So, I'm just trying to strengthen my legs, and there's nothing for it but running lots.

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My first workout was a Yasso session on the track. The snow is still on the ground here, but someone had semi-plowed the track where I work. There were still a few inches of snow on it, but the snow was packed fairly hard.

It was a clear, cold night. Probably in the low 20s F (-5 or so C). The moon, and Mars, were bright. No one else was out. I wore two long-sleeve shirts, running trousers, socks, my Sauconys, a warm hat, and two pairs of gloves.

I did a mile warm up, and then Yassos: 7 x 800 meters, with a 400 meter recovery walk/jog between each interval.

My 800m times were as follows:

3:21
3:21
3:22
3:19
3:20
3:19
3:21

I was feeling tired at the end, so I think if I'd done 10 800s, my times would have slowed for the remaining 3.