Training Plan - Focused on San Francisco Marathon!

After my last race I felt a bit dejected, but after a while I bounced back looking at the big picture and counting my blessings. I wasn't injured, I wasn't alone, I have a ton of support from friends and family, and most of all - I've got more races and more time to improve on everything that made me unhappy. I've found a training plan, I'm mixing up my training, and I'm in a positive mental state now!

I'm excited to announce I have found a race plan that works for me (so far!) and is kicking my butt but will get me where I need to go. I'm doing the Runner's World Intermediate Marathon Plan, and I love it! It only gives me two rest days but two weeks in -I'm feeling great. I also feel great knowing I'm really putting in some miles and really improving on my quest to get negative splits on longer runs. If you are on my Dailymile, you know that this has been a thorn in my side come race day. I'm on Week 6 of the training plan, have missed a mile or two here and there, and have shifted days around, but using this as a guide is so much more effective than leapfrogging from one plan to another like I did for CIM.

To mix things up I'm also running barefoot on the treadmill, swimming and walking during the week. The barefoot treadmill runs are the shortest ones, 3-5 miles or so. It's helping me with my stride and for years I've gone barefoot at home so really it's not that big of a deal.  The swimming helps me stretch out and helps me do a bit of an upper body workout, and the walking also helps stretch during the week and sometimes we just need to push on our desk and get away from our computers don't we? Well I know that I do.

My PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) is also due to a lot of good things happening. I have had numerous friends return from Big Sur - some as their first marathon, some as their second, but all happy with the memories. Their stories  rekindled my love for the journey ahead and got me excited to really dive back into training after the bumout of the Shamrock'n. My wife has been very supportive of me and is training for her first half this fall, which is awesome! I've also had some great runs leading up to this stage of training; trail running with a friend in Auburn, running up the steps to the Coit tower in San Francisco, and of course  seeing wildlife along the American River Parkway. Lastly, I've gotten a ton of great information, tips, and advice from other blogs, twitter amigos, and dailymile posters. You know who you are!
Thanks for reading! More updates soon!

The photos show my recent running routes. The top trail is my Davis 3 miler ,  the hilly one is a run I did in Auburn, CA, the bottom image is on the American River Parkway (The Sac State Aquatic center is to the elft of the trail ) right after the Nimbus Fish Hatchery.