Marathon Training -- It All Comes Down To Math

I’ve always loved math.  As a kid I used to steal my older brother’s math books and do his homework (and Adam, if you’re reading this, you’re welcome for those straight A’s).  I rarely get a math problem wrong.  I’ve even corrected my teachers (and lesson learned, they don’t like that).  I don’t know what to say; math has just always made sense to me.  It’s logical, it has a specific order to it, and it’s organized.  If math had a personality, it would be – well, me.

Being the math whiz that I am, I was absolutely shocked at the recent math error I just made.  And it was a doozy.  I miscalculated how many weeks I need to train for the NYC Marathon in November.  I had in my head that I didn’t need to start training until mid-July.  That’s what I had remembered doing last year.  Well, sometimes in math you have to think about other variables that might affect the equation, and that’s exactly what I forgot to do.

Last year I did start training for the marathon in July.  But, the training plan I used started much earlier.  The reason why I didn’t start at the beginning is that I was basically ahead of it.  The plan started with a 2 mile long run.  However, at that time I was training for an Olympic distance triathlon (1 mile swim, 26 mile bike ride, 10K run) that ended up taking me 4 hours and 20 minutes; I was a bit past a 2 mile long run.  By mid-July I had completed 2 half marathons, four 10K races and 3 triathlons.  That’s when I easily transitioned into the marathon training plan that at that point was up to a 15 mile long run.

This past weekend was supposed to be the apex of my race season.  I was going to run the Brooklyn Half Marathon on Saturday and then complete my first triathlon of the season, a Sprint distance one (1/2 mile swim, 17 mile bike ride, 5K run), on Sunday.  I was going to be fit enough to do two 2+ hour races back to back and still have enough energy to brag about it in my blog.

But, I didn’t do the Brooklyn Half Marathon, or the Sprint distance triathlon.  As most of you know, I’m 5 weeks into the healing process of a stress fracture in my foot.  It’s at the point where it feels good enough to want to get back into my old training routines, but it still hurts enough that I know that I’m not even close to that.

Since I couldn’t exercise my body much this weekend, I decided to work out my mind by figuring out my marathon training schedule.  So, I looked up my old training plan and had a huge head-slapper moment when I realized that the plan I had used last year started – last week.  This plan starts earlier than most because on it you only run 3 days per week.  So, you have to start earlier, and the runs build up faster.  I had chosen this plan because, umm, well it seemed like running less would keep me from getting injured (no, the irony is not lost on me).  Last week I was supposed to do that first 2 mile long run.  But last weekend was my first one off crutches.  I hope to be starting up running again by the end of June.  Per this training plan, I should be running 14 mile long runs by then.  Yup, huge math error.

I looked at my training plan, and I have to admit that I was completely defeated.  I have been trying to stay positive and even humorous about my injury.  But that’s when it beat me.  I wouldn’t be healed quickly enough to train for the marathon, especially given that I was already a week behind schedule.

I got up from my computer with my head down and a little dark cloud hanging over me.  That’s when I ran into my husband Wil.  He looked at me and asked, “What’s wrong?”  I replied, “I calculated my training plan wrong.  It doesn’t start in two months.  I’m already a week behind.  By the time I can run, it will be too far along for me to be able to catch up.”

Wil and I met in 1995 (remind me one day to tell you the story how I figured out he liked me when he was looking at me and walked straight into a large standing fan).  There are few people in this world who know me as well as this man, well, at least when it comes to my moods.  Let me explain that last sentence: when I was on crutches, Wil had to do the food shopping.  This past weekend was my first trip back to Trader Joe’s in over a month, and the first thing I did was return a jar of jam.  As the folks at Trader Joe’s refunded my money, they asked, “Was there anything wrong?”  My answer: “yes, there is.  After over 15 years of marriage, my husband doesn’t know what flavor jam I like.”  OK, enough of the digression; back to my moods.  Nobody can read me better than Wil, and nobody is better at turning me from rain back to sun.  He said, “You're right, you won’t be able to train – with THAT plan.  Are there some shorter plans online that you can use, or do all 50,000 people who run the New York Marathon start training in mid-May for a race in early November?”  And that’s exactly why I married him. I can even live with him not knowing my favorite flavor jam (if you run into him, tell him it’s strawberry).

I “ran” (as best I could in a medical boot) back to my computer, and within 15 minutes I had three new training plans, that take anywhere from 15 to 18 weeks to complete.  And they all culminate in a marathon.  They’re beginner plans, so they start small, which is what I’ll need.  They all require 4 – 5 days of running per week, which will be new for me, but something I’m happy to try.  They won’t help improve my time, but they have already improved my outlook, so there has to be some merit to them.

Yes, he's really that much taller than me

I can’t run right now.  Hell, I can’t walk right now.  I didn’t accomplish my goal of completing a half marathon and a Sprint triathlon in one weekend, which would have been either really cool or completely insane depending on your perspective.  But I will be running the New York City Marathon on November 3^rd.  I have to; it just all adds up.