I learned a valuable lesson when I was training for the
B&A Trail Marathon about the value of rest. I had turned 32 years old
when I asked one of my Radford University college professors that had competed in marathons for
decades for a training schedule.
Dr. Mick Stewart asked me what my goal was and I told him
that I would like to run the marathon and do it in a respectable time under
four hours. He then asked, “Can you run for an hour and a half straight?” I
asked, “How far?” and he replied that it didn’t matter, just whether I could
run for an hour and a half non-stop. “Sure, I can do that.”
Mick gave me a routine that that started four months out
from the race day. On Wednesdays I would run for an hour and a half. On Sundays
I would run for an hour and a half during the first week. However on Sundays my
runs would incrementally increase, with the longest run being four hours. As
race day drew closer those long Sunday runs began to taper back down to two
hours.
I could not believe how little Mick had me running?! Mick
told me the training plan had three purposes: “1) Reduce the pain of training. 2)
Reduce the pain during the race and 3) Reduce the pain after the race”.
I completed that marathon with a time just under four hours.
True to Mick’s plans I was never injured during training, I ran the race with
no issues and most importantly felt fantastic after the race was over. Mick
informed me that the key was giving my body the time to recover between
training sessions and not overuse my muscles.
Today I rested from lifting and took the dog on a 3 mile
walk wearing a 40 lbs. backpack.
Have a Great Day!
So, after some internet searching I was able to accurately refresh my memory. It was 2002 when I ran the B&A Trail Marathon just outside of Annapolis, Maryland. At 32 years old I ran the race in 3:56:35. Fifteen years later (almost to the day...), at 47 years old I would like to run at that pace, if not better in the Chattanooga Marathon. One thing that I did not do well in 2002 was monitor my nutrition prior to the race and I did not have a plan to maintain my energy during the race. I am hoping that by having a plan in place I can make a serious push to beat my old time. We will see.