The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 9 Training
For The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 9 Training sessions I am giving myself another cutback week. So far, I’ve been hitting some fairly decent volume weeks, but I know in the weeks coming, this will be ramping up. It’s time to give my body some recovery in order to be fit for these higher volumes to come. I’m generally positive with where I am at and want to give myself a great chance of hitting the goal of running a 2:49 finish in the Valencia Marathon in December. Although the temperatures have begun to cool off here, it has still hit the low 30’s (mid 80’s F) on the odd day. This has meant that I still don’t have a great indication of my pace just yet. However, I have started running my sessions a little smarter, (not easy for me 😂). On my pacier runs, I’m trying to finish strong and it is far more enjoyable than blowing up, that’s for sure.
Later on in this blog post, I’ll talk about the importance of having more than one race plan come marathon morning. I also go into how even when training goes perfectly, there are other things that we can’t control. The most important thing is to keep things in perspective.
I have broken down my upcoming 2:49 Marathon Project Week 9 into the training sessions and what the goals are for the week.
The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 9 Running Sessions
The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 9 running sessions has 5 days of workouts. Two rest days and Friday is a light day. The total volume for this week is 39 miles (64 km). Obviously, this is a huge drop in volume and there is only one day with any kind of real intensity and even that one is a progression run.
Monday: No Running Day
No running, but possibly a short hike or a few miles on the bike today.
Tuesday: 6 miles (10k) hilly run
Tuesday’s 6 miler (10k) is going to be run over a hilly course. This is not a problem here as everywhere is a hilly run. But I will probably hit the mountains for this one.
Wednesday: No running day
Wednesday is another no running day and will be treated exactly like Monday.
Thursday: 6 mile (16k) – progression run
This 6 miler, (10 k), will be run with each mile progressively faster than the previous. The goal is to run the final mile at 6:35 or faster.
Friday: 3 miles (5k) easy social run
My usual Friday morning Social run is something I’ll be keeping on a weekly basis, and this week I will not be extending that to an evening run. This is another light day this week.
Saturday: 10 miles (16k) easy run
This run is once again at a comfortable effort.
Sunday: 14 miles (23 k) easy run
This Sunday will be another easy run. A much shorter distance than I’ve been doing on my Sunday runs. With the distance being so short, I’ll not start moving the Sunday run to Saturday just yet, as I discussed in the Week 7 update on YouTube. If it continues to be an issue after week 9, it is something I will do.
Strength & Conditioning
For the 2:49 Project Week 9 training strength and conditioning routine I am maintaining 50 reps per exercise.
50 reps push ups
50 crunches
90 second plank
50 squats
50 dead bugs (each side)
50 bicycle crunches (each side)
50 lunges
I repeat these until I hit 20 minutes. This is almost always 2 sets of each exercise. I then finish the routine off with:
50 reps close hands push ups
Yoga
I perform a 20 minute yoga for runners routine from YouTube 3 days per week. This is a very welcome stretch after all the running during the week.
A Few Minutes With the Coach
Each week I will take the opportunity to discuss something that strikes me during the course of the training block. Hopefully, we can all take something away from this section based on my experience or from those I coach. This week I’d like to just chat about executing a plan on race day. We always go into a race with a plan, most of the time, three plans, A, B, and C.
- Plan A is what can I achieve if everything falls into place
- Plan B is what am I currently training for and what is the initial target
- Plan C is what will I come away happy with, if things don’t go my way
The idea is to be confident in the training and know what we are capable of. Even if things don’t go the way we anticipate, we can still be happy with the result. Because here is the brutally honest truth…even after putting in all the weeks and months of hard work, we may not hit our target. Here is a short list of things that we can’t control that may affect the outcome:
- The weather
- Other runners (congestion)
- A poorly measured course
- Ill health (getting sick just before our race)
- Emergency toilet stops required
- Running with a bad pacer
- Kit malfunction (watch, shoes, nutrition belt, etc…)
Control the Controllables
What does this mean? Well, we are in control of only those things that we can influence.
- Our training
- Nutrition & Hydration
- Good mental preparation
- Contingency planning
- Race-day organisation
If we do everything right and according to our plan, we are more likely to be successful. That’s the best we can hope for. The target race is probably something that we’ve put so much time and effort into. The race is the celebration of all the hard work. I know that if I do everything I possibly can, I won’t be disappointed with any result. I will have done my best, and therefore, no amount of second guessing will change my result. Whatever the outcome, relative to my goal, I will learn something and continue to improve in the next race.
How Does This Relate to the 2:49 Marathon Project?
Well, here’s the thing. I’m not exactly sure where I am at the minute with my training. I take some time to compare my performance relative to my previous training blocks. Sometimes it feels bang-on target, other times it feels like I’m behind while other times it feels like I’m ahead of the game. It is a long process and only time will tell. But I will be proud of my result no matter what.
The 2:49 Marathon Project Week 9 Training Summary
In summary, the 2:49 Marathon Project Week 9 Training is without question one of the lightest weeks on the 16 week plan. Not since week 1 have I had fewer miles and there most likely won’t be another opportunity to cut-back this much. This is my best opportunity to take onboard all the hard work and let my body adapt. In week 10, I can evaluate my progress and have a much clearer picture of where I am at physically.
Where Can You Follow the 2:49 Marathon Project?
I accidentally pushed out the week 1 video on the wrong YouTube channel. The correct channel is this one here: JMRunCoach
Daily updates will be shared on my Instagram account and Tiktok account. Weekly updates will be in longer form on YouTube, my Facebook page, and here on the A Heart for Running blog. Also, for anyone who wishes to get email updates, please subscribe to the mailing list at the bottom of this page and the weekly updates will be delivered directly to your inbox. Ensure to check your junk box and allow the emails from here through.
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