Detroit Marathon: Week 1 training recap

DTWwk1

And cue the weekly shoe selfies again!

Welcome to week one of my training for the Detroit Marathon. As you know, I’m gearing up for race day on October 19 with a new plan: the Hansons Marathon Method.

It’s a so-called “renegade” approach to marathoning, in that the long training runs peak at 16 miles (as opposed to the usual 20-22 milers). Needless to say, as someone who struggles to stay injury-free while pounding the pavement, it piqued my interest.

This first week was a cake-walk compared to what’s coming down the pipeline — six days of running per week, yikes — so I’m enjoying it while it lasts.

DTWweek1

Another component of the program that will come into play later in training? Pacing.

When I run, I’m usually great at maintaining whatever pace feels good on that particular day…but the tricky part here is that now I’ll need to hit a specific one for each workout.

I’m aiming for a 3:50 marathon, so the book recommends the following paces as guidelines for my runs.

DTWpaces

Another wrench that I’m throwing into this training cycle is a bunch of travel and a move with Hubby during the first few weeks (not that I’m complaining…).

The upside is that I can run pretty much anywhere, although the challenge will be maintaining the schedule despite jet lag, time zone changes and what I anticipate will be many wine- and carb-fueled meals in Italy (yeah, yeah, I don’t expect any sympathy).

But there’s nothing like a little constant when your life is in upheaval, so I’m hoping my running will be a source of solace rather than stress…but we shall see, won’t we?

So far, so good…stay tuned for week two, which is the first full week of the program!

8 thoughts on “Detroit Marathon: Week 1 training recap

  1. Enjoy your travels!
    I’m looking forward to learning more about the Hansons method and seeing it practiced, so thanks for sharing! Have an awesome weekend!

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      • I loved loved loved it. It was really well written and definitely got me pumped to run. I’m laid up with a stress fracture right now, but I’m definitely going to follow that plan once I’m mended up for good.

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    • Thanks! And I’ll definitely delve deeper into the program once travels slow down and training ramps up from the initial five weeks of building base mileage (worked well with travel, thank goodness)…so stay tuned!

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