Never did an official marathon (I only did Half Marathons and Ultra) or followed any specific training plan, but this year, everything changed. Including my determination – I want to finish the ”Baltimore Running Festival Marathon” in a sub 3 hours time frame.
Why the Baltimore Marathon?
The Baltimore Marathon is the main event of the Baltimore Running Festival, a collection of races conducted in Baltimore, Maryland. The competition used to be one of the American marathons with the fastest growth. I came up with a marathon training plan just 5 weeks before the event.
The marathon mile 16–20 stretch has been likened to Boston’s fabled “Heartbreak Hill,” (elevation of 1050 ft.), although the runners are rewarded with a loop around Lake Montebello, which offers some reprieve and level ground.
Being a USA Track and Field event(meaning that the organizers will send the results to Boston Athletics Association), i want to have a sub 3 hours result in Baltimore and qualify for the next year to Boston Marathon. You can find here more details over the event.
Marathon Training plan – My 5 weeks plan.
In order to make sure that I do not cross the barrier of the time required for the qualification – under 3 hours, I decided to train, on average, about 50 minutes a day at an accelerated pace and having variability 7 days out of 7 (on the seventh day I I’ll do some exercises with weights or Peloton) and then at the end of the 4 tougher weeks I’ll reduce the engines for the 5th week, the week in which I’ll run the marathon. (You can see below my last 3 weeks. I have planned everything on the free Final Surge App)
Bottom Line
Having variability, available time and digital resources, I will try to enjoy every run, get a good time in Baltimore, improve my overall fitness and test a few products in long runs, products such as shoes, carbohydrates or caffeine gels. I’ll be back with a Specific Nutrition Plan and maybe with some videos about my marathon training.
