Erg Marathon

I never mentioned this before I guess because I never thought of it as part of my project, but I used the knowledge and experience I have gained to do it. For Row For Humanity, I erged(rowed) a marathon. That is 42,195m, and it took me 3h20m, for an average split of 2:20. I learned a lot.
First, it is easier at the start(Duh right?) As I started off, I decided I would take a minor break every 5k, for a quick drink and a bite of Luna bar, and at each 10k a major break, stand up and quick stretch. About halfway through, however, my body needed more fuel and more break so I shortened it to a drink every 2.5k and a stretch each 5k.
Second- it hurt.
Third- ii felt great to finish

The Recovery.
I took this as a chance to practice my recovery strategy. As I finished my body collapsed, I lay down and just tried to regain control, but when all I wanted to do was sleep, I knew I needed to walk around. This prevents your joints from feeling really bad and allows your body to cool down and slowly become normal. While walking I drank gatorade, to replenish my electrolytes and water, cherribundi to set my body up for less soreness, and some chocolate milk to give my some nutrients and carbs. Then once my heart rate and such had slowed I went to get some food. A lot of food. This morning when I woke up, I made myself pancakes to get my body full of sugars for today.

The one thing I forgot to do is stretch, which means that I am still quite sore. But I have been worse off than this and I will continue today like nothing is wrong.

Now I am looking foreword to my half marathon next weekend.

Katherine's Presentation

On May 22, Katherine was brave enough to kick off the WISE presentation season. We all attended and first I would like to say she did a great job!

I really liked her mixture of pictures, physical objects to show, and her great narrative through her project. I will borrow her mixture of showing pictures, and physical objects. As a future computer scientist, I will most likely hide behind technology more than she did, more powerpoint to have a more structured presentation, and I have fewer "things" to show off. One critique, going into the presentation I did not know her goal, and I only figured it out near the end of her presentation. I will up front admit my goal and how I have deviated from that track.

The Flow

I came home today, and I was just going to crash, I haven't been sleeping enough recently, but I was feeling the urge to run. So I went out for an 8 miler. In the bright sun. My iPod had no charge, so I got to a lot of thinking. To be honest it was a pretty bad run overall. Really hot and sweaty, the first 3 miles were terrible. But when I stopped for my water break halfway through I realized that the last mile hadn't been bad. I realized that I had gotten into the flow of the run. I start off with all my worries and concerns of the day, and am not focused on running. But a few miles in(and I've noticed this before, just didn't know how to say it) I hit my stride. I zone in, and tune out. My brain goes from a clutter of thoughts and emotions to the thump of my feet, maybe a single train of thought. But I have quit runs in the past because I was having trouble passing into the tuned in, zoned out state. So my race plan needs to be without stopping the first few miles. Anyway as I was running I saw a parallel between this and life. In life you start off slowly, learning new skills, in new places, and then you hit a zone where everything is going well. But all it takes is a loud car, or the adrenaline of a dog-chase to shake you from that zone, but if you persevere and continue on you can regain that zone.

Recover with Chocolate Milk

I have heard, from many different people, the great stuff about chocolate milk as a recovery drink. I was reading through RowingNews recently and found an article explaining why. Basically, it is way better than sports drink, as sports drinks are "sugar water with a dash of salt", whereas chocolate milk has many good thins, beyond tasting good and having sugar and salt, it has high-quality protein, riboflavin, calcium, and vitamin D. All of which help with the recovery process. Therefore, I shall drink chocolate milk from now on after workouts.

Thunder

Just now I was going to go for my weekly long run, today was going to be really hot, so I was going to go for an 8 mile hilly run, however things do not always go as planned. After having dropped off two water bottles (todays high is 93f) put on my running shoes, stepped outside and heard a huge clap of thunder and it started drizzling. So I called it off. but as I drove through the drizzle and building storm to collect my water bottles, I got to thinking about this project. I just read through some of my posts, and I realized I have done very few. This is not because I haven't been working, because I have been, and hard. But more out of a lack of time. I have been running and researching, but I've been doing it for myself, I lost sight of the goal. My goal is, now, to run a half marathon, but the goal of this project is to document the research and growth that goes on. So I will try to pull up my old research and post them here.

YOLO

First some pondering on rowing.
As you must know by now, I am first and foremost a rower. What is the goal of rowing? We strive for the "perfect stroke" yet everyone defines a perfect stroke differently. The real goal of rowing in an 8+ is rowing together. Then with less effort from the individual, the shell moves faster.
How do we achieve this?
Well, we row. A lot. but more than that. We strive for constant improvement, constantly fixing that slight overreach, that extra inch you can get. We have coaches, but we can see, granted not much as we are just looking that the back of a persons head. So we hear the boat?... somewhat, we can hear the clink of the oarlock, the splash of the blade entering and exiting, but it takes a back seat, so does vision.
We feel the boat. We feel the surge of the catch, the rush of the slide, the pop of the finish. But this feeling takes concentration and lack of concentration. It takes being in the moment. Not thinking of the next stroke, nor the last, just the current surge, as well as a feel for the tempo, to allow yourself to maybe be one moment in the future, to remain together.
Basically, rowing takes entering a mental place without any thought but the next piece of the stroke, the next step.
The same can be said for running. A marathon is run one step at a time, you just concentrate on everything and nothing. It is the moment. Isn't that part of the idea behind YOLO, you only live once, live in the moment, do what makes you happy.

Info on the Lake Placid Marathon

Background:
The Lake Placid Marathon & Half was recently ranked by a Runner's World Magazine survey as the #2 "Best Destination" race in the United States!! (Runner's World Magazine, January 2010 Issue, page 71) The Lake Placid Marathon & Half Marathon is a high quality premier early season race held in the charming Olympic Village of Lake Placid, New York USA home of the 1932 & 1980 Winter Games.
Roughly 2,500 runners partake between the half and full marathons.
Course 
Mostly road surface, with about a mile of dirt/gravel. An aid station every mile or so, the first four are water only, the rest have energy gel, sports drinks, and energy bars. 
Below is the elevation map of the full marathon(the half is just the first 13.1 miles)

Here is the course map:

Rules
Headphones ARE allowed(thankfuly)
Must always display the number bib.
Basically don't be stupid, have fun, don't ruin it for anyone else. 
(All found on http://lakeplacidmarathon.com/)

Prelim info.

From a registration email;
Race Day is Sunday, June 10, 2012 ( 8:00 AM Start).

Athlete Check-In will take place on Saturday, June 9, 2012 from 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM. Photo I.D. is required

I will look up more info about the specific race course and info on what to take an what not to take.

Registered for the Half Marathon

So I just realized today that I had never registered, so I just registered for the lake placid half marathon. Still in school so I will update on the course and information later.

Mile Run

More fitness testing today in gym, ran the mile. Time: 6:12. pretty decent, and I chose to not go for a run eighth period as I had a second crew practice after school. So tomorrow, if I don't have a second practice I am going to run Kline and/or Gun Hills during 8th period.

Pacer test

So today in gym we took the pacer test; sprint at increasing speeds. I got to 83. I probably could have done more, but at 80 I felt that little muscle in my foot that caused my injury, I felt it the same way you feel your muscles during a lift, but really severe so I thought it was best to stop.
So I did. I will be putting todays run off until tomorrow, to let it calm down. I can still feel the muscle 2 hours later. So I am going to row a single today after school.

AP Slump

I knew this would happen, but because of my AP exams and studying and stress and need to sleep and mental shutdowns that come around AP week, I haven't been running at all. In a sense it is good that it is this week, I still have time to reach my peak, and I would be taking this week off anyway, as states are this weekend. Looking forward and trying not to look back, at APs, missed questions, silly classes, regret and disdain, all in the past. Hope for the future. Looking at college and the few classes that I have left; Econ EDD and WISE. and still Physics until Monday. I really need to do more hills training, but right now I have no motivation to run because on top of everything, I got a cut on my foot that randomly throws a sharp pain that feels just like the pain I had from my Tendonitis. So I am taking a few days off. Will keep you posted as to my progress.

8 mi Sunny Run

Its been awhile since I last posted; and I have many excuses. My brother was visiting from California, I have AP testing looming, etc. But the main point is that while I haven't been posting, I have been running still. Today I went for my first warm sunny run. 8 mi, 70 degrees, 1hr16min ending with an average pace of 9m:20s, so a little slow. I think this was mainly because running uphill with the sun beating down on me dehydrated me more quickly than I was expecting which tired me out. So i need t prepare to drink more water. Also I am drawing up a training plan to work on the hills. I will post soon with that plan, and more research.

Happiness

Happiness Revisited

We read an article that seems to be the introduction to a book about the study of the flow theory and how it relates to happiness.

When do you feel most happy?

There are a few times when I feel most happy. When I am rowing, on the water, on a still sunny, warm day, working hard; feeling the pain of each stroke. When the pain is good because we are moving fast. Because we are moving together, as a boat we are one. We all pull together. We all hurt together. We all feel the thrill of the wind, the pain from the lungs. We hear the clink-splash-splash - clink of rolling up together, finishing together. The next best time, I guess was during winter training. The moments during a hard piece on an erg and it's just me and the monitor. Every bit harder I pull, I see the numbers go down. When the exhilaration of the numbers overshadows the pain of reaching them. Even when the pain becomes too much, seeing if I can keep the number longer, just a little longer. When there is no world outside of the erg and myself. That's happiness even during the worst pain I have ever felt. Running, with the sun beating down on my neck, when the only sound is the patter of my feet on the road, feeling the first urges to drink water, overcoming the desire to just stop. That's happiness too. I guess I have a fair amount of happiness in my life.

Response to the Article

I feel that whoever wrote this article hit the nail on the head. The explanation of happiness, really happiness, not being content, or joyful, or excited, but that real happiness is why we live our lives, and is the easiest thing to lose. I also feel that her point on internal involvement is important. That what is happiness for one can be true hell for another. That you need to search for happiness, and work for it consciously not just follow what others do to become happy. Also, I agree that certain sensations that occurred while happy, when you next feel them you become happy again. There are still songs from winter training that just make me happy every time I hear them.

Where am I on the flow chart?

Well it really depends on time of day. Right now I would say that I am near the flow channel on the edge of boredom, but that is really by choice. This is the end of my finals week, still have AP tests left, but I just finished my last final exam. So this past week I have been in the anxiety side of the chart. However now that I realize that what I do will not change my test grades, I am relaxing, which for me always starts off hitting the boredom for about a day before self-challenging(like this weekend I plan on starting to learn CSS)

How has my position changed throughout my project?

Well at first I was pretty near the flow channel, maybe on the boredom side, but then I got injured, so disregarding classes, I would have put myself really low on the challenge axis, yet my skill hadn't changed much. However as I recovered I could challenge myself more and more, and my skill was increasing, so I am just at the edge of the flow channel on the boredom side, because I still have to be careful how long I run.

How can you achieve flow

Well, as a youth, I find that it is often hard to add challenges into the daily routine. So if you are on the boredom side, I would suggest, obviously you can't lose skill, but try something new. Drive a stick shift, or a motorcycle, use the mouse with your left hand, little things can keep the mind aware that nothing is for granted, and you are adding new skills(like how to use the computer if you lost a hand). If you find yourself on the Anxiety side of the chart, I have found, that while you cannot decrease the challenges, you can decrease your need to be skilled at them. My example of this is I have been really stressed out about my AP classes, so I went up to Cornell(where I'm going to college next year) and sat in on some classes. Doing this I realized that my desire to do perfectly in Calc and ComSci is completely out of place, as I cannot really place out of the introductory classes next year. So I lowered my commitment, and I guess my challenge levels, in those classes. This brought me out of the Anxious zone, and into the Flow channel.

New Shoes

I got new shoes

They are New Balance running 1420

 

Why did I get them?

Mainly, my physical therapist, Joe, at Finger Lakes Physical Therapy suggested a more minimalist design for running. He really though just wants me to have two pairs of running shoes, so I can do longer distances more times per week. He feels that each shoe will use different control muscles, so I should use different shoes with each run.

Research

I did not just go out and buy these shoes, I did a fair amount of research, specifically on brands, and found that many runners feel that New Balance shoes hold up well to long distance running, as well as providing lasting support, found here.

What am I doing now?

I still have cross training daily, crew every day 6-8am. Then now, during 8th period I have been going for a 30-40 minute run Tuesday and Friday, and a longer run on Saturday or Sunday, roughly an hour. This would be and needs to be longer, but Joe feels that I should keep the building slow to avoid injury.

Future Plans

Over the next few weeks I will need to be increasing my mileage, especially on the weekend runs. I also will be continuing physical therapy, and working on intensifying my stretching before and after runs.

A Tired Week

Spring break

This week is supposed to be a break right?

With daily double crew practices, and tons of homework this week has been very tiring for me. However I have had some free time(just no energy to enjoy it)so I have been learning some html over at codecademy . So I am blogging this completely through the HTML input. But that is neither here nor there. Back to crew practice; we have been practicing out of Cornell, due to inclement weather conditions, thus I spent 5 hours a day at their boathouse(left).

We have been training for 1500m pieces, which take about 5 minutes. Right is a picture of the course.

So we have been training for short distances, it means that my continued commitment to distance is becoming harder.

This week's runs

On monday after crew (when I still had energy) I went for a 3 mile run after crew, from the Cornell Boathouse to CBC and back. Then on Friday we ran from CBC to Cornell twice, so another 3 mile run. Both felt fine, no flare-ups from my injury, but the control muscles behind my calves were worn out at the end of each.

Physical Therapy

I went in on Tuesday and Thursday, to see "Joe". He had me working on agility as it is still a weakness of mine, and it wears out the part of my foot he suspects to be the cause of my injury.

Please comment if this formats poorly in your browser or if something does not work

PT and run

Its been way too long since I have written. But that doesn't mean I haven't been working. Today I had physical therapy, besides some stretching, we have been working on building control muscles. The most stressing workout we did was sidestepping, on the balls of my feet, with Joe(the trainer) randomly telling me to sprint off. Joe noticed why my right foot got injured over my left foot, even when it means breaking stride, I launch with my right foot even when I try to think of launching with my left foot my right foot comes down. He said this is not too uncommon, it just means that my right foot comes under more stress when turning sharply or starting.
I then was out rowing for a total of 4 hours, and when I got home, even though I was really tired, I ran for about a mile and a half. On top of the fact that I only got 5 hours of sleep last night, I am completely fatigued.

In class NPR

Exiting my comfort zone... Well I love to leave my comfort zone, to the point where I feel my comfort zone is a very blurry zone. This is really cool because it allows me to grow in many different ways, and try many new things, challenge myself in a platitude of ways. A really problematic repercussion with this, though is that sometimes you, well I need a comfort zone. Like after I take a really bad calc test I need comforting, and with my zone in the way that it is, I have a really hard time retreating into my comfort zone.

On topic, I guess, this project has in fact taken me out of my comfort one as I knew it would, but in a very different way than I was expecting. I was expecting to be challenging used physically and mentally, learning new ways to cope with the pain of exhaustion. Instead I find myself dealing with the pain d being told not to do something, of meeting new doctors and learning how to speak ther language. Of self discovery, specifically discovering my limits an What happens when I overstep my limits.

Back to Running

It has been awhile since my last entry, I'll try to catch up. I went to see the sports doctor Monday morning, he gave me the OK to get back out and running, but he said that I need to start short and increase by 10% a week. Importantly, he said, I need to be really in tune with how my body reacts, so I have to ditch my iPod for awhile, but I can go out. So this morning I ran about 5k, not sure how many miles that is.

I still have physical therapy where I have been working my control muscles. I don't think i have explained that yet. The physical therapist has observed that from crew my power muscles are well developed, but the control/balance muscles are too weak in comparison, so I can go for a run without exhaustion but as I run the little control muscles just cope less and less and eventually they have issues, so I was likely to injure myself. So I have been stretching them, and working them in many different ways, from hip inductors, to contortion positions that are really tiring, I have been strengthening the small muscles to reduce my risk of injury.

Also, talking with the doctor and physical therapist, training for a full marathon in the time that I have would be really likely to cause another injury, so I am looking at running the Lake Placid Half Marathon.

Physical Therapy

I went to physical therapy on Friday, not fun. The lady never told me her name and she was very confused as to how my body musculature was developed; I have well developed main muscles in my legs, but not strong "weak" control muscles. This is because I row, which takes a lot of leg power and no control like side to side motion from the legs. She also was very unsatisfied with my flexibility, so she feels that if i had not injured myself in the way that I had, that i would've injured myself somehow. She feels that I will be running in a few weeks, but not able to complete a marathon safely. She likes the idea of an undertaking on the Erg; marathon or 100k. I will be going back to physical therapy twice a week to work on flexibility and control muscles. She also advised that in the meantime I can bike, which I did on my smexy Fuji Roubaix 2.0 from last year. pictured below:

I have a report on the ride, but I cannot access it on a school computer as I must log in through Facebook, which these computers do not allow.

Day Two of Medication

Besides a fairly upset stomach, I'm feeling pretty good right now. However, yesterday I made some dietary mess-ups; I forgot to eat lunch, because I was stressing and cramming for a Calc test. But I ended up eating my lunch just before bed last night. What I ate:
2 eggs - 199 cal
1 cup skim milk - 83 cal
2 servings grapes - 124 cal
2 slices of bread - 180 cal
1 serving Nutella - 200 cal
1 easymac - 240 cal
1 spinach salad w/ dressing - 120 cal
2 cups chocolate milk - 440 cal
a few oreos - 160 cal

total of 1746 cal
Well. Thats less that yesterday. And its about half of what I should be eating daily.

Does anyone have any tips on how to double my daily food intake?

Day One of Medcation

When the doctor goes over the symptoms, and says that they only happen to about 10%, there is a percent that has all the symptoms. I have been high-energy, irritable, and my stomach has hurt all day. Unfortunately this last symptom is the worst, as it has decreased my food intake, which needs to increase.

So what I ate,
2 eggs - 199 calories
3 servings of grapes - 186 calories
1 glass of skim milk - 83 calories
4 slices of bread - 360 calories
1 serving of nutella - 200 calories
3 slices ham - 135 calories
2 slices turkey - 80 calories
1 slices cheese - 80 calories
3 clif bars - 720 calories

Total - 2043 calories

So I think it goes without saying, but that is a few shy of the 3500 calories. So tomorrow I nned to go out of my way to eat more.

Inflamed Tendon

Dr. Veigel told me, today, that my injury to my foot is an inflamed tendon. He has me taking some anti- inflammatory for the next week. It is called Methylprednisolone, the literature that came with it says that it is a crtcosteroid, so it works by modifying the body's immune response to various conditions, and decreasing inflammation. Along with this, he suggested that I increase my daily caloric intake to about 3500-4000 calories each day. So this next week will really be blogs about my research into my injury, the medication, and keeping track of my food and drink. With this type of injury, the best case is that I will be running two weeks from now, with physical training. I am talking to the physical therapist tomorrow, but it looks like I may not be able to run a marathon in June, as a back-up I can train to erg either a marathoon or a 100k along with healing my foot, and running.

Foot Issues

It has been awhile. A lot has happened, and nothing has happened.

On Monday I went to a sports doctor at Island Fitness; Cayuga Sports Medicine, as my foot had still be paining me. They asked questions, poked prodded, x-rayed and the conclusion was inconclusive. Here is the print out of the visit:

I'm not sure if you'll be able to read these, but my diagnosis is a stress injury at the 5th metatarsal. This is one of the little bones in the foot, basically if you trace the bone structure from the small toe on my right foot, next to my arch is where the pain is.

     The doctor said that he cannot tell from the x-ray where it is coming from, but that if it is on the half of the bone closest to the heel, that would take a month or two in a cast/boot for it to heal, and if it is on the half closer to the toes, it'll heal within a week or so. So to get a better idea he ordered an MRI.

     I had the MRI on Tuesday morning. MRIs are not fun. You are laid down on a bed, and rolled into a tube where there are really loud repetitive noises for about 45 minutes. I left with such a splitting headache that I didn't go to school. 

     So I have another appointment at Cayuga Sports Medicine to hear the results of the MRI and talk over the next step with the Doctor. In the meantime I was told not to run, but that I could continue crew practice, as it is not an impact on the foot. However yesterday, Saturday, at crew we were playing two-hand touch rugby, and I... uh.. may have played with everyone else, and after about a half hour of running I was in pretty bad foot pain. 

     That doesn't bode well for my project. I have been talking to people, coaches and friends about alternatives to running a marathon, and it seems my next best option is to erg (rowing machine) a marathon. While I would prefer to run the marathon, I don't like foot pain, and I need to let my body heal.

    More to come after my appointment tomorrow, I will really know if I can continue with this project as is, or if I will have to change direction.

Researching a Marathon Plan

So I haven't posted much recently, because I haven't been on any runs since last sunday. This is not to say i haven't continued cross-training, but I haven't run. My foot has been in a bad way. About Thursday or Friday, it stopped being painful with each step, but it still hurt overall, and now it is closest too... sore... I am going in to see a sports doctor about it, and hopefully he will be able to tell me what happened, and what I can do to avoid it happening again.
So I just remembered that we are supposed to find the results of our research on our blog. Here are the links to the marathon training plans that I have found and will take to Mrs. Gray and we will work out a plan for me.
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244--6946-2-3X5X7-4,00.html

Week	M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Total
1*	Rest	4 miles, including 4:00 TUT	Rest	1-hour run	Rest	4 miles	6 miles	15-16 miles
2	Rest	4 miles, including 4:00 TUT	Rest	1-hour run	Rest	4 miles	7 miles	15-16 miles
3	Rest	4 miles, including 5:00 TUT	Rest	6 miles	Rest	Rest	8 miles	18-19 miles
4	Rest	4 miles, including 5:00 TUT	Rest	6 miles	Rest	Rest	9 miles	18-19 miles
5	Rest	4 miles, including 3x2:00 AI	Rest	4 miles	Rest	5-K race	6-8 miles	19-21 miles
6	Rest	5 miles, including 6:00 TUT	Rest	7 miles	Rest	Rest	10 miles	22-24 miles
7	Rest	5 miles, including 6:00 TUT	Rest	7 miles	Rest	Rest	12 miles	22-24 miles
8	Rest	5 miles, including 7:00 TUT	Rest	8 miles	Rest	Rest	12 miles	25-27 miles
9	Rest	5 miles, including 7:00UTUT	Rest	8 miles	Rest	Rest	14miles	25-27 miles
10	Rest	5 miles, including 3x3:00 AI	Rest	4 miles	Rest	10-K race	5 miles	24 miles
11	Rest	5 miles, including 8:00 TUT	Rest	9 miles	Rest	Rest	16 miles	30-32 miles
12	Rest	5 miles, including 8:00 TUT	Rest	9 miles	Rest	Rest	18 miles	30-32 miles
13	Rest	5 miles, including 9:00 TUT	Rest	10 miles	Rest	4 miles	20 miles	39 miles
14	Rest	5 miles, including 9:00 TUT	Rest	10 miles	Rest	4 miles	10 miles	29 miles
15	Rest	3 miles, including 3X3:00 AI	Rest	5 miles	Rest	3 miles, including 3x2:00 AI	5 miles	16 miles
16	Rest	3 miles, Including 3x2:00 AI	Rest	3-mile jog	Rest	2-mile jog	Marathon

Definitions

Aerobic Intervals (AI): Timed repetitions (of 2:00 to 3:00 minutes) slightly faster than your normal training pace--enough to make you breathe harder, but still not go anaerobic (panting, gasping, verge-of-out-of-breath). Jog slowly after each repetition until you are refreshed enough to run the next.

Total Uphill Time (TUT): The total number of minutes you spend running semivigorously up inclines--could be repeats up the same hill or total uphill time over a hilly loop.

Easy Runs: mean totally comfortable and controlled. If you're running with someone else, you should be able to converse easily. You'll likely feel as if you could go faster. Don't. Here's some incentive to take it easy: You'll still burn about 100 calories for every mile that you run.

Long Runs: are any steady run at or longer than race distance designed to enhance endurance, which enables you to run longer and longer and feel strong doing it. A great long-run tip: Find a weekly training partner for this one. You'll have time to talk about anything that comes up.

Speedwork: means bursts of running shorter than race distance, some at your race goal pace, some faster. This improves cardiac strength, biomechanical efficiency, running economy, and the psychological toughness that racing demands.

Race Day Rules: Run slower than you feel like you should be running over the first 12-13 miles. Look around, chat a bit with those around you. And walk through the aid stations, drink fluids, take a little break, then slowly resume your running. 

http://www.marathonguide.com/training/index.cfm

The biggest question most beginning (and many experienced) marathoners have is: how long should my training runs be and how many times per week should I run?

The answer, of course, varies for the individual person and their goals, but there are some general rules and suggestions. While an elite marathoner might run two workouts per day and over 100 miles per week while training for a marathon, the body of most mortals could not take such pounding (and who can find that time anyway?). In general, the important components in developing a marathon training program for most people are these:

• Gradually increase the overall weekly distance until two to three weeks before the marathon.
• Include two long runs spread across the week, perhaps one midweek, the other on the weekend.
• Include one day of faster running and/or integrate pickups into your regular runs.
• Try to run six days per week.
• The runs between your long runs do not need to be any longer than 3-6 miles.

Okay, that was a mouthful.

The longer runs:
The point is this: Your body won't get used to running long distances, unless it has run those distances on a regular basis. But, the body needs rest between those runs, which is why we suggest no more than two long runs per week and moderate distance on the other days. At the beginning of your training program, those long runs could be 6 miles each. Then, as the weeks go by, gradually increase them. Perhaps week two would see the long runs as 6 & 8 miles, week three 7 & 9, week four: 7 & 10, etc. Gradually increase these until your two runs are closer to 12 and 18 miles. At this point you have built an excellent base. And, remember, the other runs are there to serve a different purpose.

http://www.ameliaburton.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/16weekkm.jpg

unfortunately this one is in km:

http://www.chasingthenow.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/image2.png

http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/time_goal.html

TIME GOAL MARATHON TRAINING SCHEDULE

Week	Monday	Tuesday (CD/acg/p)	Wednesday	Thursday (h)	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
1	off	run 30 min	off	run 30 min	easy walk	off	7.5 miles
2	off	run 30 min	off	run 30 min	easy walk	off	9 miles
3	off	run 35 min	off	run 35 min	easy walk	off	5 miles MM
4	off	run 35 min	off	run 35 min	easy walk	off	11 miles
5	off	run 40 min	off	run 40 min	easy walk	off	5 miles
6	off	run 40 min	off	run 40 min	easy walk	off	13 miles
7	off	run 40 min	off	run 40 min	easy walk	off	5 mi MM
8	off	run 40 min	off	run 40 min	easy walk	off	15 miles
9	off	run 40 min	off	run 40 min	easy walk	off	4 x 1
10	off	run 40 min	off	run 40 min	easy walk	off	17 miles
11	off	run 40 min	off	run 40 min	easy walk	off	6 x 1
12	off	run 40 min	off	run 40 min	easy walk	off	6 mi MM
13	off	run 40 min	off	run 40 min	easy walk	off	20 miles
14	off	run 40 min	off	run 40 min	easy walk	off	8 x 1
15	off	run 45 min	off	run 45 min	easy walk	off	7 mi MM
16	off	run 45 min	off	run 45 min	easy walk	off	23 miles
17	off	run 45 min	off	run 45 min	easy walk	off	10 x 1
18	off	run 45 min	off	run 45 min	easy walk	off	6 mi MM
19	off	run 45 min	off	run 45 min	easy walk	off	26 miles
20	off	run 45 min	off	run 45 min	easy walk	off	6 miles
21	off	run 45 min	off	run 45 min	easy walk	off	12 x 1
22	off	run 45 min	off	run 45 min	easy walk	off	6 mi MM
23	off	run 45 min	off	run 45 min	easy walk	off	29 miles
24	off	run 45 min	off	run 45 min	easy walk	off	6 miles
25	off	run 45 min	off	run 45 min	easy walk	off	14 x 1
26	off	run 45 min	off	run 45 min	easy walk	off	7 miles
27	off	run 30 min	off	run 30 min	easy walk	off	MARATHON
28	off	run 30 min	off	run 30 min	easy walk	off	4 miles
29	off	run 30 min	off	run 30 min	easy walk	off	6 miles