50k to Marathon Plan

Not to be confused with the Couch to Marathon plan!

After much contemplation and prayer, I tacked the Tobacco Road Marathon onto the end of my training cycle for the Frisco Railroad Run 50k (more details here).  Though I went primarily by how I felt during the first week after my 50k, I outlined a rough plan for the 3 weeks between the two races to keep myself from over-doing it and to boost my confidence for the second race.  I've been self-coaching this season, so any and all mistakes I made were my own.  Here is what I did:

April 24 - Frisco Railroad Run 50k

April 25 - Walked 2.3 miles with my dad, who is 80 years old and walks 2+ miles every day along with attending Silver Sneakers classes at the YMCA 2-3 times a week. #prouddaughter  The day after the 50k I was mostly just tired/depleted and, thanks to post-race insomnia, sleep deprived.  My body felt much like it did after I ran the T-Town Half during a 25.7 mile Saturday followed by a 15.3 mile Sunday.  I was amazed at how much less beat up my legs felt after the 50k on gravel compared to every road marathon I've run.

April 26 - Easy Elliptigo for 12.8 miles, which is probably equivalent to running about half the distance.  It was very difficult not to run on this day, because my legs felt okay and I was dying to see my running group, but I made a non-negotiable commitment to two days of no running after the 50k no matter what.  I never want time off after races but I am getting better at setting firm standards on this, although I understand that two days off wasn't exactly a recovery block.

April 27 - 6.2 miles easy.  I rejoined my running buddies for a short easy run.  My legs felt fine but I felt somewhat depleted.

April 28 - 7.1 miles easy.  Similar to April 27, my legs felt fine but I felt depleted, but less than the day before.

April 29 - 6 miles easy a.m. and 4.2 miles easy p.m.  I felt pretty great on the morning run, which is why I ended up bringing a double back in, which I also felt strong on - plus it was gorgeous weather!

April 30 - 8 miles easy plus 5 x strides. My body felt completely back to normal, but the strides felt sloppy, like I hadn't run fast for awhile (probably because I hadn't).

May 1 - 14.2 miles - 8.6 easy, 3 x 1 mile at MP/1 mile easy, easy to the end.  I was going to do a 2 mile fast finish on this long run, but Christian was doing 6 x 1 mile at HMP/1 mile easy so it made more sense for me to do the second half of her workout with her.  I was very consistent on this one, with splits of 6:14, 6:13, 6:14 on a rolling course.  The first minute or so of the first fast mile my body was like, "whhhhhaaaat are we doing?!" but once I got going I felt better and better.

May 2 - 10.1 miles easy a.m. and 4.2 miles easy p.m.  These runs felt great, and I figured it was smarter to run twice than to run another 14 miler.  I am used to Saturday + Sunday long runs!

May 3 - 7 miles easy a.m. and 4.1 miles easy p.m.  I started feeling like I was almost back to real training for a few days!

May 4 - 7 miles easy + strides a.m. and 4 miles easy p.m.  Same as May 3.

May 5 - 16.2 miles with 3.6 warm up, 4/3/2/1 mile progressive tempos on a rolling route with 0.5 recoveries in 6:21, 6:20, 6:17, 6:11/6:18, 6:15, 6:14/6:12, 6:21/6:06.  This was my big intended confidence-boosting workout between races, and it did not disappoint.  I intentionally also made it the longest run between the races, smack dab in the middle of the 3 weeks.  This is one of my favorite marathon workouts, and it wasn't easy but the paces came comfortably, except for the second mile of the 2 mile tempo, but I maintain that it was all uphill!  This was a workout PR (better than I ran in my build for Indy Monumental), which was more than I'd even hoped for.

May 6 - 8.1 miles easy a.m. and 4 miles easy p.m.  I think I was trying to only run 6 miles on this morning but our running group made a route calculation error.

May 7 - 7.3 miles easy, for a normal nice and easy Friday morning run.

May 8 - 12.2 miles with 11 x 0:30 pickups (one during each mile after mile 1).  Whenever I incorporate short pickups like this into an easy long run, I end up running the entire run faster and often feeling better doing it, which was the case here. Efficiency for the win!

May 9 - 7.4 miles easy, which started feeling like tapering again.

May 10 - 8 miles easy + 4 x strides a.m. and 3 miles p.m.  Running 3 miles is really difficult to justify the laundry for!

May 11 - 9.2 miles with the classic final workout of 4 x 1 mile at marathon pace with 1:30 jogs in 6:10, 6:10, 6:05, 6:05 - so not actually at marathon pace, but there was great weather, great company, and tapered legs, plus everyone always runs this workout too fast!

Celebrating a successful final workout!

May 12 - 3 miles easy.  I don't respond well to days completely off, so this was my day "off" pre-marathon. 

May 13 - 5 miles easy plus 4 x strides that felt fantastic!

May 14 - 4 miles easy plus 4 x strides in North Carolina!

May 15 - Tobacco Road Marathon in 2:48:51, which I think was probably my best marathon to date based on the gravel and elevation, including my fastest final mile ever in a marathon.