At the end of October, I am going to race in my first marathon in awhile and am considering using 9-day training cycles. One of the reasons I'd like to use a 9-day cycle is for additional recovery (I'm 46) and a training buddy of mine is a police officer in Mexico who works 24 hour shifts every three days (if Monday he has a shift, then his next work day is on Thursday, then Sunday, and so on until infinity...).
How many 9-day cycles does one usually do during a marathon buildup?
What should I do before starting the marathon training (5k/10k races + training?)
At the moment, I'm doing a lot of mountain running on the weekends, along with an interval day during the week, and sporadic days where I incorporate strides.