Amy Lu's View

It’s Wednesday, so not only is it Hump Day, but for me, it’s Rest Day. Hmmm, in the interest of “taste” I’ll pass on any exploration of how those two days go together.

I’m sure I’ve already blogged about every possible aspect of Rest Days (as least as they apply to marathon training) but since I don’t really remember what I’ve written, and I don’t think that many folks read anything I posted about the subject the first time around, I think I can safely indulge in some redundant blogging.

And, as the world of Facebook is painfully aware of, I am smack dab in the middle of training Week 13, the most intense week of training. This week calls for a total of 8 hours and 15 minutes of running, culminating in a 3 hour and 30 minute run on Saturday. Damn.

I regard my training plan as holy scripture, a divine decree, even though in any other setting I would scoff at such an idea. Maybe it’s just my “J” nature (Myers-Brigg personality test speak) basking in the joy of having a plan to follow (that I didn’t have to create) but I am completely devoted to my training plan. The thought of straying from it causes anxiety at a level I imagine my tribal ancestors encountered when threatened with banishment.

Of course my training plan didn’t come from some mysterious deities, but from two indentifiable humans: Don and Melanie Fink. And despite the fact that they are totally controlling my life, I know very little about Don and Melanie. All I know is that they wrote a book, “IronFit’s Marathons After 40: Smarter Training for the Ageless Athlete,” and that Chad found said book, and recommended that we follow the training plan contained in the pages therein.

When Chad presented this advice to me last spring before my first marathon, I knew nothing about training for a marathon. But I knew that Chad had run two marathons, and had found them both rather difficult and disappointing, which he attributed to a lack of proper training. So I was more than content to rely on his research and advice and to convert to the Way of the Finks.

Also, I love the “After 40” angle…it implies that I was merrily running marathons until I hit 40, when I actually ran my first marathon at 47.

And while I’m sure it can’t all be attributed to the wisdom of the Finks and I must give luck it’s due, I faithfully followed the Fink training plan and I had a really successful and not too traumatic first marathon. So successful, in fact, that I wanted to run another.

So of course, I’m once again a disciple of the Finks as I prepare for my second marathon, Rochester’s Med City Marathon on May 27.

But since my first round of marathon training, I’ve learned that the Finks are potentially sadistic.

Let me explain: The Fink plan calls for not only one one 3:30 run, but THREE, plus three 2:45 minutes run. (The Fink plan goes by time, not distance, but at the pace I run, 2:45  is roughly 17 miles and 3:30 is roughly 21). Most other plans that I’ve seen call for ONE eighteen mile run and maybe ONE 20 mile.

So why not just switch to another plan?

Well, there’s practicality. The Fink plan seemed to work, so maybe all that extra time and mileage is necessary. But then reasons get murky…like the loyaltly factor. How can I abandon the Finks when they served me so well? And superstition: if I change my training, won’t the Running Deities be angered and smite me?

But most importantly there is the stubbornness/competitiveness/stupidity factor: I did this hardass training program ONCE so why would I ever admit to being so weak as to need to back off and do an easier plan? Especially since I’ve been kicking my previous performance during my last round of training?

Well, let’s see how Marathon #2 goes. If it’s a disaster, maybe I’ll curse the Finks and marathons en masse and my marathon career will careen to a messy end (or a sad wimper). Or maybe it will be awesome and I’ll decide that I’ve peaked and I approach any future marathons with a more laid back, less training-intensive stance.

Or maybe I will decide the Finks hold the key to all of life’s wisdom, at least for those of us over 40, and beg them for training plans for other areas of my life.