France 8: Paris Marathon

I've just signed my self up to the Paris Marathon on Sunday 10th April. This is the first step in a master plan. The first step is obvious. The next is to up the training (from up to 70 miles per week to up to 85 miles a week) and compete in the Berlin Marathon, Sept 2011. Berlin is a very flat course and is were the best times are set. This is so that I can run fast enough to get a championship place for the London Marathon 2012*. I will then run so fast that I will qualify for the Olympic marathon in London 2012 and win. ;-).

Obviously the last part of that was a joke. I'd have no chance of winning the Olympic marathon.

My training will go as followed: It will consist of 5 mesocycles focusing in on the following: body acclimatisation, endurance, lactate threshold & endurance, race preparation and tapering, respectively. I also have a 5 week post marathon recovery program as well ,which takes me to about 18 weeks before Berlin. The week is broken up as followed:

Monday: Rest or cross training - I will usually use this time to go to the gym and do the stretching session they have on a Monday night.

Tuesday: consists of one of the following runs ranging in distance from 7 miles up to 10, Lactate threshold, General aerobic, recovery or VO2 Max.

Wednesday: starts out as short recovery runs ~ 5m. Then on the longer distance weeks becomes a medium -long run, or one of the runs from Tuesday.

Thursday: starts out as General aerobic, which range from 8 up to 10 miles. But once the milage increases it becomes a recovery run day ~6m.

Friday: is Rest or recovery up until week 11 to go when it becomes alternate between a recovery run and a medium long run.

Saturday: starts as a recovery run day and at week 11 to go alternates with Friday being a General aerobic and a recovery.

Sunday is big mileage day. they are either Medium-long run(between 12 and 15 miles), long run (17 and above) and Marathon pace runs, where one does between 15 and 19 miles where you start slow and build up to marathon pace during the first quarter and hold that until the end.

The first mesocycle is body acclimatisation. This is getting my body to transfer my rowing fitness to running. Getting my joints ready. And loosing a bit of weight. I am currently around 87kg and I'd like to be about 10kg lower, which will take a lot of strain of my knees.

The second is endurance. In this 6 week cycle there are only 3 runs that are not Recovery, General aerobic, Medium-long, long or marathon pace. These different types of runs build up endurance.

The third is Lactate threshold and Endurance (5 weeks). Lactate threshold is the pace at which your body can work before it starts to produce lactate which you can not run far with. This is done by Lactate threshold or VO2 max runs. Which is where you will run at different speeds during your run.

The fourth is Race preparation (4 weeks). This is doing some tune up runs, some more VO2 max runs and strides.

The last is taper (3 weeks). This is maintaining fitness but reducing your training volume so that on race day you are as fresh as a fiddle.

Obviously this is all just a plan and I will have to see how it goes.

* the time required for a championship place for the London Marathon is 2h45.