This week officially begins my 2020 Chicago Marathon training! To be honest, it seems like I have been training for awhile now, but here we are, 18 weeks out from the big day. I was scheduled to run the Indy Mini Half Marathon this spring. It was postponed in March due to COVID-19 concerns. My training was progressing nicely as I worked towards a fast half. After the cancellation, I tapered my training down to let me body recover. The past couple months I have been slowly building my training back up to get ready for the fall marathon season to kick off.
Chicago is going to be my first World Marathon Major, a big bucket list achievement. My most recent race was the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon in November. I broke the 3-hour barrier for the first time in that race and hope to do it again soon! I am working hard towards another PR and also obtaining an NYC Marathon Qualifying Time. A time under 2:53 is needed to automatically qualify to run the NYC marathon.
There is general apprehension about whether the Chicago Marathon will even go on as planned. Dealing with a change in plans is always tough, especially when planning months ahead. The mid-September Boston Marathon, that was already postponed from the spring, was recently canceled. There are a few backup ideas in my mind if Chicago ends up canceling. I could pick up another smaller marathon in the region if needed. One of the hardest parts of training so far has been having to train individually. Most of my runs during the week are typically solo. However, I do miss my weekend long runs with my running club.
I plan to use the same training plan that I used in my buildup last fall. It will consist of 6 days of running per week, with 2 days of speed work during the week. As I continue to build my endurance base, I plan to reach a weekly maximum volume of 60 miles/week. You can check out a more in-depth look at my training philosophy in this article here. Training in the summer heat will be difficult, but hopefully it will pay off come October when the cooler weather returns.
I’m excited to see how these next 18 weeks shake out. It’s time to put in the work so that I can reap the benefits come October. I hope that you enjoy following me on my journey!
