Pre-Season and Increasing Mileage

This weekend started what I am calling my “pre-season” to the Carmel Marathon training cycle. My actual training will begin on Dec. 31st.

Following the IMM Half Marathon in early November I had decided to take some time off following a very active year. I was going to use the month of November to relax, take it easy, drink a bunch of beer, gain some weight, and just rest.

It was quite a successful month. I still exercised through out the time-off but nothing serious and just really to keep my mind free of clutter. I successfully got called “soft” by Lindsey…so the food and beer did its job as well.

But now that the calendar has turned the page to December, it is time to get serious about Carmel and that is where my “pre-season” comes in.

Given that I am a little rusty on the old running legs I need to take some time and build up a little for the real training. I mean I know it sound kind of crazy to train to train but you wouldn’t want to jump into full blown marathon training with no base. That would be recipe for disaster.

I am currently planning on running about 40 to 55  miles a week for the next four weeks….with the focus on slowly building from 40 to 55 in that time. No speed training, no tempo runs, just steady state running. I need to feel what it is like to run six days a week again. I have not trained for a marathon proper in about a year, given that my last marathon I raced was Mercedes in Feb. 2011. I want to hit Dec. 31st ready to roll and a little build up seems like the way to do it as I plan on putting in my highest mileage weeks to date with this training cycle and this ‘Micro Build’ session will help me do that.

Here is a list of easy to follow tips when increasing your weekly mileage that I will be applying to my Pre-Season. I’d like to thank Pete Pfitzinger and his book Advanced Marathoning for the ideas.

Ways to Effectively Increase your Mileage

1. Bite off small chunks: Start slow and build over time. Adding too much too soon is a recipe for disaster.

2. Avoid any Speed or Tempo work during your mileage build

3. Throttle down the intensity of running. This will help increase your miles while not adding too much stress on your body.

4. Have a goal. More miles should have a purpose…don’t just log them to log them. Keeping focus on the bigger picture will help keep you in check and under control while building.

For a true mileage build one would need a longer time horizon but the same principles hold true even in my “Micro Build” Session.  The key like anything running related is to be patient and consistent and over time you will see the result you desire.

One thing is for sure though Dec. 31st can’t get here soon enough. I am itching to tackle that 2:45 marathon head on.

Happy Training!

Glenn