Marathon training is about running, but in order to be successful you have to understand that is more than that.

Last year I ran my first…the Buffalo Marathon, which is held at the end of May.

(You can use this link here if you are interested in checking out the Buffalo Marathon)

I was hooked from the first mile, and after I ran it decided I wanted to fit two into my schedule for 2019.

Two Marathons in One Year

On Facebook, I kept seeing runners talk about Chicago close to the deadline for the lottery.

Knowing I was nowhere close to qualifying for Boston or New York…I didn’t even think to look into getting a guaranteed spot for Chicago.

About a week before the guaranteed entry was up, I looked at the time limits and discovered I qualified.

Being 51 does have its privileges!

I then had to decide if I would sign up.

The cost is about double the Buffalo Marathon, plus there is the plane fare and you have to stay somewhere other than the street.

Then there is food, how soon to get into town…so many things to consider.

I didn’t have a lot of time to figure that out, though. After Dave and I talked about it a bit I decided to take the plunge.

If anything, I was worried that if my first marathon was also my best…I wouldn’t time qualify ever again for anything in the future of the world so I better do it now!

Signing up for a guaranteed spot is a little different than registering for a race or entering a lottery, so I wrote a post on proving your race time through the Athlinks website for a marathon entry.

It is also covered it over on the YouTube channel.

Training

Now that I have made the commitment, I’m a little nervous about training for Chicago right after running Buffalo, since it took a good month last summer for me to feel like my “running self”.

I was so unhappy with my runs and felt like it was going to take forever (if at all) for me to get back into running shape.

Having a successful marathon training cycle right after another one (which I have yet to prove WAS successful) can be tricky. Injury…especially as I am in my 50’s…is a real concern.

Facebook has a LOT of running groups (join the Wrinkled Runner!) to choose from, and I joined the Chicago Marathon Runners as soon as I was accepted. Running groups online can really help you discover new resources.

You also can form a bond with people that understand your running life in a way that non-runners don’t.

Someone posted about the training book they were using, called Advanced Marathoning and based on what runners were saying about it I looked into it.

I did some research, and the book seems to be just what I need.

It included several different training plans, depending on how long I want to train and how many miles I want to put in a week. The book also included different running workouts, to help improve my time.

This past summer I was trying to break the 2-hour barrier for my half marathon, and adding speed work and other running drills/workouts helped me to do that.

I was hoping for a plan that incorporated some of that for the marathon.

Many plans just have you run a certain amount of mileage, which I think is good especially for a first marathon (this book is what I used to do just that, and I did a post last year on that training).

When you haven’t run one before, just getting across the finish line is an accomplishment. I don’t think I could have handled having to think about pace, how to do certain workouts I wasn’t familiar with, etc.

This time around I do want to improve on my time…like a lot of marathoners, my ultimate goal is to qualify for Boston and I want to run London and Tokyo at some point.

I guess I better get over thinking I will never qualify for anything ever again!

Since I am an older runner, the time qualifications for marathons get longer so at some point my future self should reach that goal…even if I’m 80 when I do.

The book  Advanced Marathoning is not as intimidating as it sounds.

It is full of good information for running the marathon. Nutrition is covered, the science behind how our bodies work, and all the workouts are explained that are used in the plan.

While I think the plans are aggressive, I think they are doable.

Adjusting the Training for Me

I am also better at tweaking my training when I need to.  After running most of last summer with a more aggressive training I HAD to.

I was able to read the book while on a two-week rest break from a medical procedure.

Which was great, because my schedule does not fit with a “normal” runners schedule.

I don’t work outside the home, so I can do my long run whenever I want.

Since my husband runs with me but doesn’t run marathons, I can do my long run when he is at work and medium long runs on the weekend with him while he is half-marathon training.

Most training schedules put the long run on Sunday (well ALL training schedules that I have ever seen do this).

This means a lot of picture taking and editing the schedules for the days I will do the long runs, etc. I was able to figure all that out while on the break, so when I started it was all ready to go.

And I was REALLY ready to go. The two-week break was the longest I haven’t run in well over a year.

There are two schedules that I am planning to use. One for Buffalo and one for Chicago.

They are both more aggressive than the one I used last year, so I may need to adjust some things as time goes on.

UPDATE SINCE I STARTED WRITING THIS POST:

I am DEFINITELY going to adjust for the Chicago race. I will see how Buffalo goes, but at this point (about 5 weeks before the Buffalo Marathon) I think my plan is to revert back to the training I used last year.

I love the training using Advanced Marathoning, but I think I need to scale back the mileage for the summer. We will see.

As we age, injury due to over-use and over-training is a danger. It also can take longer to heal and be ready to run again.

I need to make sure I am smart in the training, and really listen to my body.

I’m trying to incorporate some mindful running when I run alone to hone into my body and be aware of “niggles” that could turn into more serious injuries.

So far, getting back to training has been ok…just getting the legs used to being upright and moving again.

The training in the book uses what’s called “mesocycles” (also called periodization training) and breaks up the running weeks into 4 phases.

The cycles focus on one type of training (or body adaptation) at a time.

The four cycles are endurance, lactate threshold/endurance, race prep and tapering.

Running as We Age

One thing I have to keep in mind when I am in training is my age. Although I say a thousand times “running is running”, as I age I DO need to take into consideration that there are body changes I just can’t get away from.

As many of you know, I listen to podcasts when I run instead of music and one that I enjoy and learn from is the Running for Real show.

While out on a run, I listened to Tina Muir interview Pete Magill. He has the record for being the oldest person to run a 5k in under 15 minutes.

Pete addressed the idea of recovery in older runners, and how as we age we need more time to get there.

Super Compensation

In the podcast he talked about “super compensation”, which I had never heard of.

It is the idea that after your body recovers to the level of fitness you had before the last run, it also needs to advance to the next level of fitness…or be able to do an even more intense/difficult or faster run than the last one.

Super compensation is the recovery period that gets you to that point. As we age, we need more time to get to that fitness level.

If you would like to listen to him talk about this, you can find that session here.

If you are interested in reading more about Pete Magill, you can check out his website. I haven’t had a chance to dig deep, but I am certainly going to. I need all the wisdom I can get from older runners.

What was great about this particular information, is it gave me “permission” to adjust my training and use the book SMARTLY.

Since adjusting, I am doing so much better. Both mentally and my pacing is faster and easier.

Training Woes

I want so much to be able to follow the training to the letter, and sometimes that means I am not very smart about what my body can do.

Over the last week or so, I have had to skip some runs because of life…wakes, funerals, grandkids.

All those things came before the training, and rightfully so.

What I noticed when I had a few days of no running, was when I got back to it I was flying through whatever mileage or intensity I was supposed to do.

Before this, I ran every training run at the mileage I was “supposed” to…I was struggling.

Pacing was getting impossible, I was getting slower and getting through the run was getting depressing.

None of which you want in training. Granted, some are just going to be like that. It’s part of the sport.

But…when you feel like each and every one is a slog and you start to question if you can even run one marathon again, let alone two…you start to DREAD going out there.

Listening to the wisdom of someone in their 50’s who is also an “expert” was not only eye-opening, but freeing.

Instead of running a “recovery” run the day before my long run, I am using that day as a rest/cross training day.

I have some piriformis issues (basically pain in the sciatic area) that have been helped when I do some exercises specifically to target that area.

In this Runners Connect article, there is a very long explanation of what piriformis syndrome is and some of the ways to treat it.

While I am still feeling the pain when I run, it is so much better when I have been consistent with working them out on rest days.

Training is More Than Just Running

Whew! This post covered a lot…but successful marathon training is so much more than having a calendar with some miles to run written on it.

A lot of what goes into the training happens OFF the road!

Nutrition is super important, and finding what works for you is part of it. Taking note of not feeling great on a run and going back to what you’ve eaten can help you formulate a plan for the race.

The book Finish Line Fueling has been helpful to me. Learning about macronutrients and how they come together to help fuel my body was an eye-opener.

There are recipes included, and the Honey Bites are a great snack or on the run real food option.

Next post I am going to talk about my running “slump” and how I felt (spoiler alert: depressed/irritable/fatigued).

I seem to be coming out of it and have the joy back, and I think it has to do with stepping back and adjusting the training.

If you are over 50, are there any great resources for the “masters” runner that you turn to? Any good tips that you can share? Comment down below.