jason.defay.org | you're grounded, chicken!

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I started training for the 2008 Carlsbad Marathon in June of 2007 with two goals.  First, I wanted to run the entire 26.2 miles without having to stop and walk.  My second goal was to complete the marathon in 4 hours or less. 

I'm happy to report that I met my first goal & had a strong run, stopping only long enough to drink at the aid stations.  I came very close to achieving my second goal, coming in with a total time of 4:06:03.  This was my fourth marathon & I beat my personal record of 4:43:37 by a significant margin.  Overall I placed 317 out of 911 finishers; I was 37th in my age division and 240th place by gender (all my historical race results here).

For this marathon I decided to train with my friends at InMotionFit using the 16 week Furman Institute of Running & Scientific Training (FIRST) Marathon Training Program.  The Furman program is an aggressive 3 day / week program that consists of fast tempo runs, complex interval workouts that I do on my treadmill, and weekly long runs.

The FIRST program was a great choice because it only requires 3 days/week of running.  With a new baby, that's about all the time I can devote to running (though I should really be spending a 4th day doing strength training).  The other reason I chose FIRST was because it includes five 20 mile training runs.  Having so many 20 mile runs was good for me because I would often run out of steam at about mile 18 to 20 of my marathons.  By doing more 20 mile runs, I figured I would build my endurance.  It really paid off!

Unfortunately I got injured three weeks before the day of the marathon and stopped training for 1.5 weeks so I could heal.  I healed well but I think the break in training was the main reason I wasn't able to meet my 4:00 marathon goal.

Despite only meeting one of my two goals, I'm still very happy with my time and am now trying to decide if I should try running the San Diego Rock & Roll Marathon in June.  I'm planning on joining InMotionFit again for their off-season Fit Plus running group and looking forward to staying fit in 2008.