Rocky II: From Osaka With Love

I hinted at something in the weeks prior to this post, something big, and now that I have confirmation on both events I can reveal my next act, like the reincarnation of Houdini himself, with great aplomb and prestige. Ladies & gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that I can inform you, both contributing writers to the Vegan Marathon Runner blog are going marathoning once again! Though this time around we've thrown a slight curveball into the game by adding a half marathon race into the training schedule, a mere 2 weeks before the actual marathon takes place.

First up, thanks to Juergen at Running in Tokyo/Japan, the Turtle Half Marathon in Tokyo takes place in Arakawa on October 16th, which fits into the 12 mile run that Hal Higdon calls for in that week's LSD. Technically it's a taper week, so with the reality of the full marathon looming, like a gilded edge of a guillotine blade dangling precariously by a frayed & weathered rope above our sweat beaded necks, I doubt we'll be setting any major time records on this one.

Next up, the Osaka Marathon in, well, Osaka, takes place on October 30th, which fits into the marathon run that Hal Higdon calls for at the end of his 18 week training program. This being my second marathon, I decided to go with an Intermediate 1 training program to give me a better shot at the title during this rematch. While with my first marathon I merely wanted to cross the finish line, with this one I'd like to not only do that again, but do it a little quicker than the last outing. I have my mind set on a sub 4 hour race, and my heart set on a 3.5 hour time. I figure that the intermediate schedule will put me in better shape to accomplish this goal by the time October rolls around. Starting at an intermediate level also gives me the option to hopscotch back to one of the novice programs, should it prove too many miles too quickly. I obviously need to walk that tightrope of getting back into marathon shape without sacrificing myself to injury by failing off due to overtraining. The novice schedules are thus, the net below me.

I've already made the potentially damning mistake of miscalculating the timeframe I have until race day. I've been slacking off this past week, staying out of the heat & eating lots of vegan treats, giving my body a bit of a rest before the commencement of training. Then today, I realized my schedule was supposed to start LAST Monday, not this one. Sigh...Hal Higdon's 18 week Intermediate I training schedule just became a 17 week program. Let's hope that's not as detrimental as it seems.   

So, here we go again...