With my upcoming 14 week training program for the NYC Marathon about to kick-off in August I thought I would share with you the five keys to my training plan that I stapled to my calendar.  These are just a small collection of things that I am sure you have all heard before, and I like you, need to be reminded of them from time-to-time.IT doesn’t matter if you are training for a marathon, half, 5k or 10k these all can speak to you.

To keep myself focused on why I am putting myself through this and how to best cope with the daily routine and self-doubt, these keys are what I continue to come back to for motivation.  Furthermore, since I do not have a coach, I like to read these to remind myself of the things that will get me to race day mentally and physically strong.

1. Sometimes less is more, and that is okay.  Like many other runners I am totally Type A and there are situations when I am trying to complete a planned workout not feeling 100%.  I’ve learned over the past 7 years of marathon training that sometimes taking a day off is okay and that your body will thank you for it later down the road.
2. Form, form, form.  I never really paid much attention to my form, but over time I learned that as I built my mileage my form started to take a beating.  The more I focused early in my training on form and getting in the right “zone” the easier it was to adapt as the mileage ramped.  The reward has always been an easier transition to high mileage days.
3. Fuel properly. I suck at fueling.  I forget gels. I don’t take them enough.  I simply need to be reminded prior to each long run to fuel beforehand and bring the appropriate amount of gels (for me it is 1 every 45 min of running). I’ve bonked on marathon day because I didn’t stick to my pre-race routine, I learned the hard way and continue to remind myself to set good habits.
4. Have fun! This is fun, right?
5. Fight the battles, win the war.  Take one day at a time.  Cross off that Monday workout, feel good about accomplishing that tough speed or hill workout, the training days will pass by one-by-one, but at the end you will win the war and dominate race day.

What are tips/keys to your training? How to do you stay healthy and motivate? What tricks to you implement to focus better?

– Scott