Yahtzee! Danny's way to train for a marathon

I recently signed up for the Rock N Roll Savannah Marathon in November and decided that after my less than optimal performance in Vermont, that I better change up my training plan. So I'm planning Yahtzee. Those of you not familiar with Yahtzee it's a dice game where you roll for certain hands(like a full house or 4 of a kind) but it involves a certain level of strategy because you only have a set number of rolls and if you shoot for a full house and don't get it, you end up having to score poorly on another hand option(I'd recommend scoring low on ones if you have a choice).

The Yahtzee Score sheet

So back to marathon training. Instead of full houses and straights, I have come up with the minimal number and type of runs I need to accomplish between now and the November 9th marathon.

Here is what my game plan looks like:

• Long Runs(18-20 miles): Planned number of runs: 2
• Middle Distance runs(12-15 miles): Planned number of runs: 5
• Tempo Runs(8-12 miles) at marathon race pace: Planned number of runs: 5
• Short Speed work(5-8 miles): Planned number of runs: 8
• Miscellaneous Runs: Planned number of runs: 10

There is no set days or times that I need to get these runs in but I will try to get the prescribed number of each in between now and the marathon. I did the same thing for my Ironman training and it (somewhat)worked. But it sometimes ends up like playing Yahtzee in that I end up using all of my miscellaneous runs early in the training process and I'm stuck with doing the long and hard runs all at the end. For example yesterday I was planning on doing a tempo run but ended up only running seven with three of them slow because my parents dog pooped out at the end. Darn, chihuahua. Because of that, it doesn't count towards my tempo run checklist so I have to throw it under the miscellaneous run category. I often will also run my speed too slow so that also gets lumped into the miscellaneous category.  So it starts out being all fast and ends half-fast.
So as of now I have a little over a month to train for Savannah. Either way it should be a fun race and I hope that if I can play my cards(or dice) right, I will have given myself enough good workouts to come out with a good result. If not, I will blame it on Yahtzee.

Up Next? Amber is doing the Kearsarge Hill Climb this Saturday and Danny will be joining his brothers in Atlanta for the weekend.

PS: No dogs were injured in this story-my parents' dog is actually a husky.