Training Schedule Update

A peak at my training calendar...

Today marked the end of Week 12 of my training for the Dumbo Double Dare.  At officially 2/3 of the way through, I am starting to make my first official changes to the schedule. 

I said when I started this, it was an experiment for me.  I used to be a 3 day a week runner, but this schedule was significantly more.  I did run this much when I was training for Dublin, but I was working with a coach at the time who could make adjustments when needed to my schedule.

It's not that the Hanson's plan doesn't work.  In the 12 weeks I've been running on it, I have definitely gotten stronger and faster.  In all honesty, if Dumbo Double Dare was the only race I was running, I don't know if I would be making as many changes to the schedule.  But it's not and I need to think long term.  I've got Dopey in January and I don't want to be injured.  I am starting to feel some of the signs of overtraining (fatigue, easy runs feeling hard, aches I don't normally get) and I need to adjust accordingly.

To start, I am going to be switching my Monday runs to either cross training or rest days.  I am also going to go to back to back weekend runs every other weekend (an idea I got from Hal Higdon's Dopey plan, more on that to come).  This will give me some time to recover and not over due it.

I have 6 weeks until Dumbo (cannot wait!) and I think this plan is the way to get to the finish line.  I'll keep you posted as I recap my training each week.

Hope you all had good weekends and runs!