2015 Boston Marathon training plan

It's December 20, 2014.  This puts us at exactly four months away from the 2015 Boston Marathon, and four months is typically when I begin a marathon training plan.

I'll mention first that I'm not planning to PR at Boston.  The goal is to train hard this winter and arrive at the starting line fit, healthy and confident, and to enjoy race day and its atmosphere. Training intensely through a dark and cold winter with a baby at home, and racing on a more difficult course than Philly, all add up to more stress than I'd like over the coming months.

Here is the plan for the next four months, which will be pretty similar to my usual marathon routine:

• I will continue the streak for as long as I am healthy and able.
• Sundays will be my long run day, and Mondays will be my rest day in which I will only run a mile.
• I used to do sprint work on the track every Thursday, but because I am not attempting a PR, I may not do this as much.  I hate sprinting.
• I will definitely scale back on the alcohol, but probably not cut it out completely.  Can't give up on my Wednesday night running buddies, can I?
• I am toying with the idea of running a 100 mile week.  This was one of my goals while training for the Philly Marathon last year, but I only made it to 73 before I developed shin splints in one leg.  This time I'll build up to it a lot more slowly.
• I'm going to do my best to become a morning runner.  This is something I've typically struggled with over the years.  I've just never been good at getting up earlier than I have to.
• As usual, I will concentrate on refining my diet and reigning in my appetite.

It's been over a year since my last marathon (though I did do a 50k last May), and I'm looking forward to having a physical goal to work towards again.  It helps that it's the Boston Freaking Marathon that I'm working towards.  So much of my time and energy over the past several years have gone into this one goal, so all the pain and misery of marathon training become secondary in the mind to the thought of race day glory (<-- new band name).  This makes it so much easier to get out the door on a cold morning, or to do that extra lap of sprinting on the track, or to avoid the extra donuts in the teachers' lounge, or to get to sleep early when I want to stay out later.

All told, it's going to be an excellent few months around these parts.

Take us off, Shalane.