Marathon Plan for Ogden 2011

[gscho]

I'm 48 soon to be 49.  Last year I ran Ogden in 3:50.  My goal was 3:40 but I fell short.  I'd like to run 3:40 in 2011. Below is the plan I have devised to accomplish this goal.  I will start this schedule 18 weeks out.  Until then I'm running 5 days a week between 5-6 miles a day.  I will start a mini long run this week of 8-10 miles.  I'm also doing a 5 mile tempo run once a week and a one hour spin bike session once a week.

My plan:
Mon 8-10 miles
Tues 6-8 miles
Wed 5-6 Tempo
Thurs 1 hour spin
Fri 6 miles
Sat 10-20 miles
Sun Rest

Avg 42 - 50 miles per week plus spin.

Also I'm curious in running miles how much a 1 hour spin is worth?  I'll be doing 7 minute warm up 33 minutes of hills/intervals and 10 minute cool down.

Thank you in advance.

[Colby]

I would suggest building up your base at this point. Giving yourself 18 weeks may be giving yourself the short end of the stick. If you are doing 5-6 miles a day already then add another 2-3 miles and keep your pace slow to build up more aerobic fitness. Maybe with 18 weeks out, you will be able to add more miles to your week and make those tempo runs longer. An important key for me is to run as many miles as I can at my Goal Marathon Pace, so I started at 5 miles and increase one mile a week until I reach 10 miles. Then that tempo run will move to Saturday and I will alternate with a longer slower run every other Saturday. I will continue to add to that 10 mile tempo run until it becomes 15 and stop it there.
I know that sounds like a lot, but I would just focus on building more of an aerobic base and hit a little bit longer on your tempo runs. You want your body to be able to maintain that speed as long as you can.