Reality Bites . . .

. . . but it's time to face it.

Last weekend, with 13 days until the Soldier Field 10 Mile and 5 miles as my longest (recent) run, it hit me. Why am I stressing myself out? Life (and laziness) got in the way of training for the SF 10 and I didn't do a good job about making time to run. So instead of ramping up the mileage way too fast (and subjecting myself to likely injury) I'm pulling out of the SF 10.

Call it a wimpy move if you like, I'm calling it a safe move. My ultimate goal is to finish the Chicago Marathon in October and the last thing I need to do is to run a race (or two) I'm not ready for, only to risk stress fracture. I said hello (well, it was more like WTF) to a stress fracture in my ankle two months before the Marathon last year and it nearly kept me from the starting line.

So, to live up to the promise my sister and I made to ourselves to not train like assholes, I'm going to play it safe. My new (and more realistic) race schedule is below on the right.

I've also dusted off my marathon training bible, The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer. The Non-Runner's Guide is a 16 week program, there are 21 weeks until the Marathon. I figure this gives me some cushion for injury or illness.

So, without further ado, here is my "Let's Not Train Like An Asshole This Year" Training Schedule: (while this will make me seem like I have the maturity of a 12-year-old, did you know that if you typed "3704559" into a calculator and turned it upside down it spells . . .well, you try it.)

(Mondays kick off my training weeks)

Week 1:
Week of May 19
3, 4, 3, 5 (15 miles weekly total)

Week 2:
Week of May 26
3, 4, 3, 6 (16)

Week 3:
Week of June 2
3, 4, 3, 7 (17)

Week 4:
Week of June 9
3, 4, 3, 7 (17)

Week 5:
Week of June 16
3, 5, 3, 8 (19)

Week 6:
Week of June 23
3, 5, 3, 8 (19)

Week 7:
Week of June 30
3, 5, 3, 9 (20)

Week 8:
Week of July 7
3, 5, 3, 10 (21)

Week 9:
Week of July 14
3, 5, 3, 6.2 (21)

Week 10:
Week of July 21
4, 5, 4, 11 (24)

Week 11:
Week of July 28
4, 5, 4, 11 (24)

Week 12:
Week of August 4
4, 6, 4, Half-Marathon (Chicago Distance Classic) (27)

Week 13:
Week of August 11
4, 6, 4, 14 (28)

Week 14:
Week of August 18
4, 7, 4, 16 (31)

Week 15:
Week of August 25
5, 8, 6.2, 16 (34)

Week 16:
Week of September 1
5, 8, 5, 16 (34)

Week 17:
Week of September 8
5, 8, 5, 18 (36)

Week 18:
Week of September 15
5, 8, 5, 20 (CARA Ready to Run 20 Miler) (38)

Week 19:
Week of September 22
5, 8, 5, 9 (27)

Week 20:
Week of September 29
3, 5, 3, 8 (19)

Week 21:
Week of October 6 - - Happy Birthday to me and Marathon Week!
3, 3, walk 3, 26.2 (35.2)