I Think I've made a decision.......

I've had my training plan set for over a month now. I decided to use Hal Higdon's Intermediate II program and have been steadily building up my mileage so that I would be ready to start that program tomorrow. Then I started doing some reading in one of Hal's books and on his web site/forums. Everything that I was reading was that you should start with the Novice program even if you don't consider yourself a novice runner. If it is your first marathon - use the novice program.

I saw it so many times, I started to worry if I was being too aggressive. I don't want to get injured while training for this race. So I sent some notes off to some friends (thanks Julie B. and Julie A.) who offered some great advice. However, it ultimately comes down to me making the decision.

I'm splitting the difference and using Intermediate I. There isn't a huge difference between Novice II (Novice I was too easy) and Intermediate I. The mileage is quite similar in terms of daily distances. The biggest difference is that Novice II has 2 rest days scheduled and Intermediate I has 1 rest day. I'm using the Intermediate program but I will keep a close eye on how I'm feeling and if I feel like I need a rest day or that I need a cross day instead of a run I'll do that.

I will probably second guess this decision over the next 18 weeks but I have to decide on something and it will be Intermediate I!!

Speaking of rest days, I took and extra one today. I was feeling a bit tired this morning - mostly because I stayed up later than normal last night. Food has been pretty good today but there is still room for improvement. I'm starting up with a team at LL this week and I am really looking forward to that! It is always great when you can get that extra support!

Kids start their swim lessons this week and they are really excited about it. I'm interested to see what types of things they will be doing. They have improved so much all ready but I'm sure these lessons will really bring out the fish in them!