At no point in my running career have I ever really had a "training plan." I run miles, I do speed work, I do hill work and I build at a rate that seems comfortable to me. I've never had the desire to actually map out month after month of running and what exactly I will be doing each day. I can see how this would be helpful to some people, but to not to me. I would only be frustrated by trying to stick to a plan, since I would inevitably have to stray from it due to time constraints and injury. I think the biggest draw of having a plan is that it gives you an obligation. On days when you really don't feel like running, you at least have the plan to fall back on for motivation. Maybe there are other reasons, I'm not really sure.
So between now and the Cleveland Marathon I will just be following a rough outline of a plan. Mainly I want to work on my aerobic base and get my legs used to running longer distances. I'll probably be doing lots of tempo work and hill work for the first month or two and then add speed work in mid March when the Case track club starts up again. During that time I hope to build my weekly mileage up into the 50's and get some long runs in as well. There'll also be some races thrown in there (probably Chili Bowl, Malachi, and the Hermes 10 Miler since I'm assuming those will all be in the race series). That's about as much detail as I have right now.
Now I just need to get healthy so I can actually start training!
I'm the type of person who needs a schedule to stay motivated and accountable. Plus I love planning. I think having a schedule helps prevent some injury as well, just run what you are supposed to and you get fitter progressively. But I also know a lot of people who just run on feel and do just fine! Cant wait to hear how it's going!
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