Saturday, October 17, 2009

How to train for a marathon in 2 weeks

By the end of this blog the title will make perfect sense to you. Let me begin by saying that my husband has a great deal of raw talent and this fact, and only this fact, allowes him to conquer such feats as running 88 miles in a row and completing his 3rd marathon in 30 days in a blistering time of 3:01. I say this with love and admiration...and a little bit of jealosy. Let me explain....

For months before a marathon I am rising at the crack of dawn, logging 50 miles per week, analyzing my training log, comparing race stats with fellow runners, analyzing my log again, googling "how to run your best marathon", and then repeating. Meanwhile, my husband is in full taper mode. He sleeps in, endulges in tasty treats and thinks outloud how my training (50 miles per week) is far inferior to his training which includes:

1. periodic breath holding (to increase his cardiovascular endurance) and
2. contracting his abdominals (to work on his six pack...obviously!)

Hhumph!

However, as marathon day approaches the tables begin to turn. As I enter my much needed taper mode my husband starts to panic. I can hear it in his voice as he states, "the marathon is only 2 weeks away. I need to start training." And so the madness begins. He attempts to squeeze 4 months of running into 2 weeks. Here come the track workouts and the hill repeats and the long runs. While the rest of the running world is sitting back with their feet up my husband is on full tilt. He crammed 4 months into 2 weeks!

And what about race nutrition? His fastest marathon happened after 12 beers , a steak sub and instead of the standard GU during the race....he chose breath mints.

Raw talent.

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