#HouMarathon Countdown

33 Days until Race Day:

I’ve had a lot of people ask me what my training will look like with just a six-week window in between marathons, and since I received my corral assignment for the Chevron Houston Marathon today it seemed like a pretty timely post. I’ve run 12 marathons, two a year for the last six years. Typically I’ve run a fall and a winter race or winter and spring, so I’ve had closer to two or three months in between. This year, with the California International Marathon (CIM) being in December, its a little shorter.

To be honest, it’s hard to know how your body is going to feel after a marathon. The better I’ve trained, the better I feel afterwards (funny how that actually works). So this week I’ve felt pretty good. My training plan last week (one week after CIM) looked something like this:

• Monday – yoga
• Tuesday – yoga
• Wednesday – yoga
• Thursday – spin + yoga
• Friday – rest
• Saturday – easy run + yoga

This week, I’m still taking it pretty easy–adding in some additional run and spin days along with my regular yoga practice. Yoga has made a big difference in my recovery, too. My practice allows me to bring awareness to the areas I need to focus on and stretch out, especially following a tough race.

Leading up to the Chevron Houston Marathon, I will work to maintain my health and start focusing on speed and longer runs again. I’ll build up to one 18 or 20 miler before Houston, starting with an easy 9 or 10-miler this weekend. While it’s so exciting to have another marathon on the horizon, it’s important to remember that recovery can make a huge difference, too.