Fall Marathon

After Swarthmore I started thinking what I wanted to do with running. With track season over and the fall being too far away to start seriously training for, I found myself in limbo. I started thinking about race options. I realized that, with my working schedule, it makes more sense to try and focus on big races that are few and far between so that I can minimize time off from work due to traveling. Once I started thinking about my circumstances, I realized that perhaps now is the time to plan for a fall marathon. 

My first thought was to stay close to home and run Philly on November 23. It's convenient, basically no travel, a good field for someone of my level, and I would be able to get at the very least free entry due to my performances in the half marathon and 10 miler in the last 9 months. November 23 is very far away though, and I would have to find something between now and then to focus on. I decided to look for another marathon a bit less deep into the fall. 

My next thought was Chicago. It's 5 weeks earlier than Philly and has arguably (with NYC) the best field in the USA. It's also an extremely fast course with good weather most years. I figured out how far away this race is, and although it's still almost 6 months away it's better than Philly. I decided to sit down and map out a training schedule for it:

Tentative Marathon Schedule - 2014 Chicago Marathon (10/12/2014)
Week #	Date Ending	Workout 1 (Midweek, no doubles)			Workout 2 (Weekend, try for doubles when reasonable)
		Type	Specifics	Total Mileage	Type	Specifics	Total Mileage
1	8-Jun	Tempo	9 mi @ 100% MP	14	Long Fartlek	8 x [1k @ 100-105% MP / 1k @ 85-90% MP]	15+5
2	15-Jun	Short Fartlek	20 x 1:00 on / 1:00 off	12	Long run	16 - 18 mi	16-18+5
3	22-Jun	Medium Intervals	6-8 x mi @ 105-110% MP	13	BLOCK	6-7 x [5:00 on, 5:00 off] + 8-10k @ 100% MP	17+8
4	29-Jun	Tempo	11 mi @ 100% MP	16	Long run	18 - 20 mi	18-20+4
5	6-Jul	Short Fartlek	12-15k of 75/85 on track	15	Long Fartlek	6 x [2k @ 100-105% MP / 1k @ 85-90% MP]	16+5
6	13-Jul	Medium Intervals	6-8 x 1.5 mi @ 105-110% MP	15	RACE	Boilermaker 15k	15+5
7	20-Jul	Short Fartlek	15-20 x 2:00 on / 2:00 off	17	Long run	20 - 22 mi	20-22+4
8	27-Jul	Tempo	12 miles @ 100% MP	16	Long Fartlek	5 x [3k @ 100-105% MP / 1k @ 85-90% MP]	17+5
9	3-Aug	Medium Intervals	4-5 x 2mile @ 100-105% MP	16	Long run	20 mi @ 90% MP	20+4
10	10-Aug	Tempo	13 miles @ 100% MP	17	BLOCK	4 x [10:00 on, 10:00 off] + 8-10k @ 100% MP	18+7
11	17-Aug	Short Fartlek	25-30 x 400 w/ 200j on track	15	Long run	22 mi @ 90% MP	22+4
12	24-Aug	Medium Intervals	4-5 x 2mi @ 105-110% MP	17	Long Fartlek	6 x [2k @ 100-105% MP / 1k @ 90-95% MP]	17+5
13	31-Aug	Tempo	14 mi @ 95-100% MP	17	Overdistance	26-28 mi	26-28
14	7-Sep	Short Fartlek	15-20 x 2:00 on / 2:00 off	16	Long run	24 mi @ 85-90% MP	24+4
15	14-Sep	Medium Intervals	3 x 3 mile @ 105% MP	15	RACE	Philly RNR half marathon	17
16	21-Sep	Short Fartlek	15 - 20 x 1:00 on / 1:00 off	13	Long run	22 mi @ 90-95% MP	22
17	28-Sep	Tempo	12 mi @ 100% MP	17	Long Fartlek	10-12 x [1k @ 100%-105% MP / 1k @ 90% MP)	18-20+4
18	5-Oct	Taper workout	6 x mile @ 100-105% MP	12	Taper	12-15 mi	12-15
19	12-Oct	Taper workout	5-8 x 1k @ 105-110% MP	10	RACE	Chicago	27

This is written for to begin serious training at the beginning of June. It is pretty daunting to look at in this condensed form, and this is a fairly detailed outline that I am not binding myself to, but it is a good start. 

If I hear back from the people at Chicago and I can get some sort of special treatment that incentivizes me enough to go, I will most likely do this and see where it shakes out. As of now, I am calling MP = 5:30 pace but that is a shot in the dark and I need to get a more exact handle on that when I gauge the difficulty of these workouts.