Not Too Early

The idea is to return to the Akron Marathon in 2014. After seeing Jamoosh's post about planning a year ahead, copying him seemed like an unlikely good idea. Before I knew it, I was crafting the framework for a training plan for next year that starts now.

With a new baby at home, my focus for these remaining months of 2013 is running at least twice a week to get my legs back into some kind of groove. I'm also going to try harder to lose some of this sympathy weight. As Mrs. Viper tries to shed her own pregnancy weight gain, she has started tracking her calories, and so I'm copying her too.

By mid-November I'm hoping Baby Viper will be sturdy enough to try running with him in the stroller. Maybe by that time, we'll have decided on whether we'll enter a winter race.

Next year's plan shepherds me through winter with minimal mileage, but then begins to get more intense with slow and methodical base building in the spring, and finally concludes with an 18-week marathon training regimen that begins in the summer.

My goal is another sub-four marathon finish. Considering how little I've run these past two years and how slow my recent runs have been, my goal may be a bit ambitious. Looking at training paces, such as those found at the always unreliable McMillan Running Calculator, my easy runs should average between nine and 10 minutes per mile. That would require me to shave up to a minute and a half from my current pacing. No sweat!

Thankfully, I've never put too much stock into such rigorous calculations. Besides, even if you do it all right, the marathon can still kick you in the ass. Right, Josh?

If nothing else, it feels good to think about running with purpose again. I don't want to be stuck on the sidelines next year.