the master plan

I am a week and a half into my 18 week plan to get me ready for NYC.  The plan is as listed below...

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun
1	3 m run	5 m run	3 m run	3 x hill	Rest	5 m pace	10
2	3 m run	5 m run	3 m run	30 tempo	Rest	5 m run	11
3	3 m run	6 m run	3 m run	4 x 800	Rest	6 m pace	8
4	3 m run	6 m run	3 m run	4 x hill	Rest	6 m pace	13
5	3 m run	7 m run	3 m run	35 tempo	Rest	7 m run	14
6	3 m run	7 m run	3 m run	5 x 800	Rest	7 m pace	10
7	3 m run	8 m run	4 m run	5 x hill	Rest	8 m pace	16
8	3 m run	8 m run	4 m run	40 tempo	Rest	8 m run	17
9	3 m run	9 m run	4 m run	6 x 800	Rest	Rest	Half Mar
10	3 m run	9 m run	4 m run	6 x hill	Rest	9 m pace	19
11	4 m run	10 m run	5 m run	45 tempo	Rest	10 m run	20
12	4 m run	6 m run	5 m run	7 x 800	Rest	6 m pace	12
13	4 m run	10 m run	5 m run	7 x hill	Rest	10 m pace	20
14	5 m run	6 m run	5 m run	45 tempo	Rest	6 m run	12
15	5 m run	10 m run	5 m run	8 x 800	Rest	10 m pace	20
16	5 m run	8 m run	5 m run	6 x hill	Rest	4 m pace	12
17	4 m run	6 m run	4 m run	30 tempo	Rest	4 m run	8
18	3 m run	4 x 400	2 m run	Rest	Rest	2 m run	Marathon

Right now things are pretty easy going as I am on summer break and all I have is time on my hands.  My routine is to roll out of bed anytime in between 7 and 8, and usually I am running about an hour after that.  I am pretty lucky to live in a coastal climate where most of my runs are an overcast 60 degrees or so.  If the sun is out and the temp gets about 70 degrees I swear I think I am going to die of the heat.  

Proof I don't like to run in the heat

After my runs an average day is pretty grueling.  Mostly it involves going to the beach or the dog park, barbecuing, watching TV, doing some yard work or hanging out with my wife and our friends.

I am however a little nervous once the school year starts back up in late August because that is the same time my mileage really starts to increase.  Right now I am right around 25-30 miles a week which I am really enjoying.  At the peak of my training I will be around 50-55 miles a week.  That coupled with work, football on TV almost every night and a pregnant wife to look after will make things pretty challenging.  
The main difference in between this marathon and the two previous ones that I have run in are that I am following a plan for training.  In my previous 2 marathons I never once did any 20 mile training runs.  This go around I will have 3.  I feel more than anything else these long slow runs will hopefully attribute to me running stronger than I have in the past.  
The physiology between these long slow runs is pretty basic so I wish I had taken the time to incorporate them before.  Basically if I can train my body to conserve its energy for longer periods of time the more fuel I will have in my tank at the end of the race.  You can read more about it and my training plan here.  Previously I thought if I ran a shorter distance faster, that would be the same as running the longer runs slower.  What I did was just teach my body that around mile 13-17 it was time to shut things down.  
So in a nutshell, this is going to be my life until November.  Hopefully I will be as enthusiastic about all this when I am a few months in.