Here We Go Again...

It's coming.  Another 17 weeks of busting my butt for 26.2.  I've been enjoying these "lazy days" in between.  Not running if I don't want to, or, only running as far as I want to but I've got to say,  I'm kind of looking forward to getting back on plan.  Over the years I've learned that I don't really do well without a plan.  I need the structure or else I just get lazy.  Speaking of a plan, I haven't quite finished working out all the details of this one yet.  I'm thinking that I might actually try to get away with only running 3 days a week and supplementing my Saturday run with a ride.  I'm going to have to do a bit more research on that though.  It's still endurance cardio and who knows, the cycling may actually benefit my running.  Plus I just got fancy new shoes that match my bike so I'm excited to get out and ride.  Hey, don't judge!

This next block of training should help me get a bit more focused on my late season races as well.  There's been a lot of hemming and hawing about what races I'm going to do, lots of thinking and talking but no doing (i.e forking over the dough) just yet.   Once I put pen to paper (or turn pixels into words in this case) I'll probably have a clearer idea of what I'm going to do when.   I do know that I'm going to New York with no time solid time goal.  When I filled out my application they asked me what I thought my finishing time would be and I said 3:30.  I figure that's a bit of an easier pace than I ran Mississauga and if I'm slower than that, who cares.  I'm heading to the Big Apple for the experience.  That's not to say that I won't work on my speed over the summer.  Nope.  There is one thing I have decided to try and do.  3 weeks before New York, on my last long-ish run, I'm going to run the Scotiabank Half and try to break 1:30.  That is the big goal for the second half of the year.  New York will just be the icing on the cake.

Have you ever trained for a marathon on 3 days a week?  If so did you supplement with any other cross training like riding?


Are you able to just go and workout, run or whatever on a regular basis, even if you aren't training for anything or do you need to have a goal and follow a plan to stay on track?