Choosing a Training Schedule

A task that has taken me a couple of weeks is selecting the training schedule to use to get ready for the marathon. Turning to all the library books I'd checked out and had been reading before I made that final mouse click that put me in the Ogden Marathon I went back to the one that sounded most like me, The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer by Whitsett, Dolgener & Kole. It is a good book about over 200 people who signed up for marathon classes and finished a marathon. And one was actually my age. After a preliminary training program of walking and jogging, this program is 16 weeks, running 4 days a week, never over 18 miles. Their goal is my goal, FINISH! And they have a great answer to my question to myself, Why a marathon? "Running a marathon is a peak experience available to anyone that will take you to the brink of what you thought were your personal limits and beyond."

The next book, Run Your First Marathon by Grete Waitz, she also has a 16 week program after completing a walk to run beginning program. Her longest run is 20 miles. In her training schedule you run a certain number of miles each week. Also she has you run 4 days a week. I love her basic philosophy, "hurry slowly. Get there, but be patient. I want you to get there, but do it smart, do it right."

My next training option comes to me at work, my boss brings in his wife Kelli's book Runner's World Complete Book of Running. Of course I open this book too and begin reading and find something totally unexpected, Oprah finished a marathon in 1994?! Wow. And yes I was thinking like the books says, "she was the last person I would expect to run a marathon." Then my little voice, if she can you can. As long as I do my running homework. They have a beginner program in this book, 18 weeks, with 4 days running, one day cross-training. Longest run 20 miles.

Kelli also put in a copy of her training schedule in the book for the Salt Lake City Marathon. This training program comes right from the Salt Lake Running Company website, a 25 Week "To Finish" Training Program. I looked this program over carefully. Run for 3 days, cross-train for 2 days each week. This appealed to me because only 3 days running and then I could still prepare for triathlons with the cross-training days for biking and swimming. This training schedule also differs in that the 2 runs during the week are measured in time, not distance. Only the Saturday long run is for distance. The cross-training is also for time.

Last is the book, The Non Runner's Marathon Guide for Women: Get Off Your Butt And On With Your Training by Dawn Davis. First off, this book is funny. She has me laughing a lot. Her training schedule is 20 weeks. She uses the 4 days of running, one day cross-training. She says, "How does one go from being a couch potato to finishing a marathon? One consumes a lot of ibuprofen."

And the winner is, the Salt Lake Running Company program given to me by Kelli. I like the timed midweek runs, the timed cross-training and the fact I actually do have the 25 weeks before I run.
My official training starting day, November 29, 2010. Before I begin, I am working on and I quote from Dawn Davis "at least one valid reason to do something insane...the reason needs to hold up under your own scrutiny once the temporary effects of your spontaneity and/or pharmaceuticals wear off."

Click>>-------for my TRAINING SCHEDULE