Hey Guys. I could really use some advice regarding the last 3 weeks of a Daniels Plan that I am using for the Austin Marathon on February 20th. Things aren't looking quite right.
This is my first marathon and the plan has me doing more mileage than I have ever done before. I have been running for 4 years mainly focusing on middle to short distance triathlons. I had to take the last week of December completely off and half of the fist week of January due to achilles issues which are now gone. Aside from that, I have literally not missed a single run in the 18 week program and I have hit all the time standards that he suggests for the Q1 and Q2 runs.
I have written out what he suggests for the last 3 weeks and it looks like a bit much. Not that it is too hard for me to do, it just looks like I won't be rested enough if I follow this plan exactly to the end. I have 3 main concerns:
1. I was running 5 days a week, now it looks like I will only be running four due to the way he works out the weekly mileage and Q1 and Q2 runs. The Q1 and Q2 runs suck up almost the entire suggested mileage for the week. I could run 5 days if I change the two 3 mile runs to three 2 mile runs.
2. He is telling me to run a really hard 19 miler around 2 weeks out from the race with 15 miles at race pace.
3. The final week looks like a bit much and is longer than the previous week.
Daniels Marathon Plan A
Vdot = 44.5
Max week = 50 miles
Marathon Goal Time at Austin - 3:30
E pace = 9:22
M pace = 8:00
T pace = 7:29
22 mile run @ 9:00 pace on Saturday, January 29th
Week 16 (21-15 days out of race) - Jan 30-Feb 5
Suggested mileage - 35 miles
Tuesday - Speed run (Q2) - 2 x (2 miles @ E pace, then 2 miles @ T pace), then 2 miles @ E pace - total 10 miles
Wednesday - 3 miles @ E pace
Thursday - 3 miles @ E pace
Saturday - Long run (Q1) - 2 miles @ E pace, 15 miles @ M pace, 2 miles @ E pace (really????) - total 19 miles
Week 17 (14-8 days out of race) - Feb 6-12
Suggested mileage - 30 miles
Tuesday -Speed Run (Q1) - 2 x (4 miles @ E pace, 2 miles @ T pace), then 2 miles @ E pace - total 14 miles
Wednesday - 3 miles @ E pace
Thursday - 3 miles @ E pace
Saturday - Long Run (Q2) - 2 miles E pace, then 2 x (2 miles @ T pace with 3 min rests), then 4 miles @ E pace - total 10 miles
Final Week - Feb 13-19
Sunday - 9 miles @ E pace
Monday - 6 miles @ E pace plus 4-6 strides
Tuesday - 2 miles @ E pace, then 4 x (1200m at T pace with 2 min rests), then 2 miles at E pace - total 7.5 miles
Wednesday - 4 miles @ E pace plus 4-6 strides
Thursday - 3 miles @ E pace plus 4 strides
Friday - 0 to 3 miles @ E pace
Saturday - 3 miles @ E pace
Total miles for final week - 32.5 to 35.5 miles (really???)
Any advice would be appreciated!