You too can a run a marathon in just 15 weeks!

The traditional 18-week training plan was written, printed, posted at home and at work, and ready to be enacted. And then it withered and died when the cold that lingered for the first half of January became bronchitis right around the end of what would have been Week 1. (For the record, I did 2 of my runs that week.)

Week 2 passed with a massively stuffed up head and huge volumes of Kleenex (with lotion, my favorite kind, and one accidental foray into Kleenex scented with Vicks Vapo-Rub). Week 3 was spent coughing up phlegm, sucking down Robitussin and trusting in the powers of Azithromycin.

And on the bright side, I can say that this bought of illness is much better timed than than the last one. I got bronchitis in late September, in the weeks right before the Chicago Marathon. This time, I got it out of the way early. Nice planning!


Have you heard that Week 4 is the new Week 1?
The new training plan cuts out one of the three longest runs (I planned one 18-mile run and three 20s, now down to two 20s), and erases two of the weeks I had planned to take it easy. The only fudge room left in the schedule is the three-week taper, which could be shortened to two weeks if something gets off track along the way.

I ran a few miles in the cold, windy Las Vegas desert on Monday. I ran three miles on a treadmill inside a stuffy, hot gym on Tuesday. This afternoon, I'm planning three miles at Mission Trails, a canyon area in San Diego that I've wanted to check out for a awhile:

Mission Trails Regional Park

I should probably start training now...

I just realized it's mid-January. In November I thought, 'I'll start training after Thanksgiving.' In December I thought, 'Well, sure, if I had done that I'd be waaay ahead of the game. But starting now is just fine.' At New Year's, 'Ok, If I start soon I'll be right on track for normal training plan.' And today the calendar reads January 14. I ran 2 miles yesterday. I should probably write a training plan.

By the way, the forecast is for -30 degrees tomorrow. Yes, Fahrenheit.

It begins... again...

VCM 2009 registration is open!

I registered for Vermont City Marathon this week. I haven't run since the Chicago marathon about 4 weeks ago (except for a few sprints down the hallway at work on election night and up the stairs to the newsroom). I'm going to start running 10-15 miles/week again, and then start training in earnest over New Years.

I'm already feeling ambivalent about the declarations I made after Chicago about dedicating myself to training. I mean, that's a LOT of work.... See you at the starting line on Sunday, May 24, 2009.