Hanson training schedules

Recent weeks have been difficult to say the least and most of my runs until very recently have been a minutes per mile slower than usual. While it was very beautiful at times, especially in the Phoenix park, I was glad of the thaw when it came.
The uncertainty concerning both my employment prospects and residency have rendered it very difficult to commit to any spring marathon. Consequently there might be no marathon this spring.
However, while this undermines motivation I remain determined to build on the progress achieved in 2010. Recently I stumbled upon a training approach outlined in a recent edition of Runner's World that I think largely reflects my approach to marathon training throughout last summer and autumn. More information is available from the January 2011 edition of Runner's World. The schedule on the final page does look rather short on miles but it does not include warm up and warm down miles during marathon paced workouts and interval sessions. It's primary premise is that too much emphasis is ascribed to the long slow run. I think that while the emphasis on the long run is sometimes too much I would be reticent to embark on a programme with that many short 'long' runs. Perhaps any adaption/adoption of this plan would be practicable provided there was an incorporation of more sixteen mile runs? I was somewhat reassured that the runner profiled averaged sixty-five to seventy miles per week. Adopting a definitive schedule would allow me to reincorporate 'periodisation' into my training and provide a framework to sour my training.

December

Back from three weeks in the US today. The respective mileage for each week was twenty-nine, fifty-one and thirty-nine, with a tempo session in each week and a marathon pace session in the second week. I am reasonably happy with this considering the first week involved work and a sore left knee, which seems to have largely sorted itself out.
Similar to Ireland the weather was really cold but drier. Additionally, in America they have encountered the revelation that pre-treating roads with salt and taking the necessary modest steps to prevent ice build up on pavements ensures people can go about their daily business without fear of injury or worse.
Last Tuesday was especially brutal. The air temperature was -5 heading out the door and the strong wind chill must have taken it down to double digits. It was so cold I completed the last two miles of the scheduled ten at marathon pace so I could be done quicker and warm up a little in the meantime. Chastened by this experience, and following enquiries concerning my sanity, I elected to stay indoors the following day when less extreme but not entirely dissimilar conditions prevailed.
To prepare myself for the vagaries of Irish 'ah, sure it's grand' syndrome when water begins to freeze, I got the devices below from the in-laws as a Christmas present. I think I will be using them sooner rather than later.



In other news I have managed to put on nine pounds in three weeks in the US! This was quite a shock as I did not feel as though I had put any weight on and do not look as though I have. However, multiple weighing scales all tell the same story; and this all before Christmas!! I will have to watch my diet for a while to ensure I get back down towards the more usual 160-163lbs.