The Road To Chicago Marathon
18 weeks out. Marathon number 7. And big goals ahead.
I’ve never felt this much excitement about getting back into marathon training, until now. This past week marked the start of my 18-week training block for the Chicago Marathon. It’s been weeks and weeks of preparing and planning for the training, so I’m looking forward to finally kicking it off!
The Background:
Growing up, I was always an athlete, but never a runner. You can read more about my background here. My first marathon was the 2022 Chicago Marathon, so this moment feels full-circle. I’m coming back to the marathon that started it all. Little did I know, that marathon would ignite a fire within me to pursue six more after that.
My goals for marathons are specifically performance-related. I’m aware many of you train for fun or simply to finish, but my mindset is this — if I’m going to spend 4 months of dedicated, consistent training, I’m going in with the intention of giving it my all — to see what my body, mind, and soul is capable of achieving out there.
The Focus:
I have 3 main areas I’m focusing on in this training cycle.
1. SAME (BUT DIFFERENT) TRAINING CYCLE:
Last summer’s NYC Marathon prep was my strongest training cycle yet. This spring’s half marathons (United NYC Half + Jersey City Half) gave me a solid read on where my fitness stands, and I’ve got a clear sense of what I can bring to the table come October. Mileage will be similar to last year, but with overall faster paces. I’ll reassess and adjust about a month out, if needed, and give it about 6 weeks to evaluate where I’m at, fitness wise.
This training cycle is structured into three key phases:
Phase 1 — BASE BUILDING
Phase 2 — SPEED
Phase 3 — MARATHON SPECIFIC — STRENGTH (my favorite)
Each phase will span at least 4 weeks, with Phase 3 being the longest. The goal is to build cumulative fatigue — essentially training my body to run the last 16 miles of the marathon, not the first.
2. NUTRITION:
My VO2 Max test gave me key insights into how many carbs + calories I burn per hour. So I’m switching things up — increasing my carb intake and experimenting with a new gel (@bpnsupps Go Gels) to see how my stomach handles the change.
As you can already see, BPN Go Gels are already smaller in size. (Peep the first shot for reference — I have a pretty small hand, so these are much more compact than UCAN gels). One UCAN gel has 19g of carbs vs. one BPN Go Gel has 24g carbs.
The goal is to test out this gel early enough to see how it feels in my stomach, starting this weekend for my 10-mile long run (my first double digit run since the Jersey City Half in April!)
Energy chews might even make a comeback… 👀. Yep, you read that right. I’m testing out these Skratch energy chews, and raspberry seems to be a fan favorite according to the reviews. I’m also seeing if my stomach can handle them after taking two gels per hour. The goal is to boost my carb intake without overloading on gels, because let’s be real — by hour three, those gels get a lot harder to stomach.
3. NAILING THE STRATEGY:
With new fueling in the mix and the goal of reconditioning both body and mind for a marathon distance again, I’ll be sticking to flat roads all summer. West Side Highway and JC waterfront will be my primary spots. Since Chicago is pretty much a flat course, I won’t need to focus on incorporating hills this time around. They’re both perfect training grounds for simulating Chicago’s course, and I’m excited to build up the mileage again.
Let me know if you’re running the Chicago Marathon this Fall, and what your focus looks like!