Training, Twin Cities Marathon & Ragnar

I've come to the realization that I need to put in a solid training effort for Twin Cities Marathon this year. My first marathon I did almost all my training runs and while it was incredibly difficult and I had to take breaks, but the work got done. From October 2011 to June 2012 I improved my marathon time by about 45 minutes and this was because I put in all the effort. 

Of the seven marathon's I've done, I am not proud of Twin Cities 2014 or Fargo 2015. Both of these runs I finished but it was a lack of commitment to get it done. Sure I can use work or school, or even a personal life as an excuse but in all reality I didn't make the time to get it done. 

This year I am doing a Ragnar, Ragnar is a team event that I'm signed up through JDRF MinnDakota's. We have two teams and we start in Winona MN and head 201ish miles up to Minneapolis. I can give up on myself and finish slow on my own personal races but I can't let my team down. 

So many people have different training programs available, it is difficult to decide which plan to use. In the end Hal Higdon's plans have never failed me so I'm going to use him again. He runs 18 week training programs for people who are new to running as well as folks that are seasoned vets. For this event the goal is to finish, and not let my team down. Ragnar falls on Week 11 of training and 18 miles that day. Ragnar will require me to run 15.4 total in three legs. Leg 1 is 6.2 miles, Leg 2 4.4, and Leg 3 is 4.8 miles. 

Don't cross your figures in hopes of another blog post before the next 18 weeks is up, I'll consider logging my training and keeping people in the loop.