Hanson's Way or the Highway

I am 33 days out from marathon 10. I have been here plenty of times before, but I have never trained as hard. This marathon cycle I decided to follow a plan that I have been considering for years, but I have been too scared or let's be honest lazy to commit to. After Desi crossed the line at Boston in first place this year, ending the 33 year drought for American women, I decided I am all in for the Hanson's marathon plan.

To understand the training plan I chose, here is a little background on the Hanson Bros and their marathon method: 

Kevin and Keith Hanson are brothers from Michigan who have designed a marathon training program based on the philosophy that no one workout is more important than the another. The Hanson method also does not call for any 20 mile runs because it puts too much emphasis on one workout. They believe a runner shouldn't do 40% of their mileage in one run.The brothers' plan has proven to be successful through their elite program the Hanson-Brooks Project. See Desi Linden who just won Boston this past April. 

For more on the plan check out this link: https://www.runnersworld.com/advanced/a20820524/marathoning-the-hansons-way/  

Ready to Work:

I chose to follow Hanson's because I have missed the 50-60 mile weeks I used to do in college. My average weekly mileage during marathon training has been 35 miles. Last year I put in a few 40-50 mileage weeks and I could feel the difference. I was finally ready to get back to my college days of running harder and longer so I can run faster. I am doing the advanced marathon plan, but I have made a few adjustments to fit my schedule. The base to the plan I am following can be found here: Hanson's Advanced

How has it gone so far: 

The higher mileage has been a time commitment and it was definitely a struggle at the start because I was still on my 2 and half month honeymoon in Europe(more on running in Europe on another post). It is hard to put in a lot of mileage when you are traveling, but it is doable. I was able to follow the plan pretty well and build the base I needed for when the training really got hard. 

I am now a month out from New York. The interval and tempo workouts have gotten longer which is mentally more challenging. but thankfully I have a fantastic group of runners I train with who help keep me motivated and focused. This past Wednesday I had my longest interval workout thus far in the training cycle (3x 2 miles at Marathon Pace) and I would NOT have been able to do it without MC there. 

The end of this week I got to test my fitness in my favorite local race, the Virginia 10 miler. I was honestly not sure how my legs were going to respond. I ran my first 60 mile week since college two weeks ago. I have not rested and this course is tough. Hills on top of hills with a nice one and a half mile climb at the end. I went out slower than the past two years, but ran more consistent than I ever have. I managed a PR by 1 minute and 20 seconds finishing at 1 hour 6 minutes and 20 seconds. Maybe those Hanson guys are on to something.

My finish line photo really summarizes how I have felt this training cycle: tired but strong and fast (see time in the background)

So I may be tired, I may be consistently hungry, but I am loving the grind. There is still a lot of work to do before the big day. This week calls for 2 x 3 mile workout and I am running the High Bridge Half Marathon this Saturday. It may not be easy, but I know I can get by with a little help from my Hill City friends. 

My takeaway from today's musings: Don't be afraid to do the work. 

Also I am still far from reaching my fundraising with a month until the race, please help me hit my goal by going here: https://fundraise.michaeljfox.org/tcs-nyc-marathon-2018/brookespencer