Thrilled with the 100 Day Marathon Plan

by Deanna
(Wisconsin, USA)

Hi Dave,

Just wanted to update you on my training. I am in week 3 and I am thrilled with the 100 Day Marathon Plan! It is COMPLETELY different than the way I trained 3 years ago. I actually look forward to my training days! The heart rate monitor is the way to go! The plan says you can go by effort or by heart rate using a monitor. The first week of the 100 day plan I went by my effort. I have now invested in a HR monitor and it makes all the difference in the world. What I think my level 3 or 4 effort is completely different than what my heart rate 3 or 4 effort is. As I told you previously, my time for my marathon in 2007 was 4:38. I had the attitude at that time of just completing the marathon never walking. It was a great accomplishment for me since I really don't even enjoy running. I know weird, right? But I LOVE the feeling of accomplishment after running a long distance.

This time I am shooting for under 4. I do believe I can do this following the training schedule I have now. I actually looked up the Boston qualifying times just for fun and for my age group it is 3:50.....do I dare???? No, probably not but fun to think that it really could be a possibility. I appreciate so much your website tips4running.com and telling me about the 100 Day Marathon Plan. I will run a half marathon race during week 11 of training. This will be the first week of September. I will let you know how I do which will be a great indicator of how I will actually do in the full marathon.

Again, thank you for your time and help. I will probably have some questions as I get farther into training. I hope you don't mind me bugging you.

Enjoy your summer!

Deanna

Of course I don't mind you bugging me Deanna. Keep up the good work! I'm glad you like the 100 Day Marathon Plan. It's the best plan there is for training and running a great race.

Take care - Dave