2024 LA Marathon Prep, Volume 1

Welcome back to Unexpected Abundance! I can’t express how grateful I am that you’re here again for another amazing conversation. I hope that you are having a wonderful holiday season with your friends and family and enjoying the festivities!

For today’s conversation, I wanted to begin sharing my progress on training for the 2024 LA Marathon and some things that I’ve learned as I begin preparing for another race. Starting a training plan for a race is always exciting as you’re motivated and ready to get after it. But after a few weeks, your body is beat up, your legs are tired, and it gets harder to lace up your shoes for the next run. As the training plan progresses, you’ll spend more time running and if you have a 9-5 job like me, finding time to run can be challenging at times. But, with an organized schedule, marathon training can be achieved efficiently. Before we dive deeper, I want to preface that I’m learning as I go. At Unexpected Abundance, we are a community that learns and grows together. The more I learn, the more I can share with you all. And hopefully as the page grows, we can get other runners on here to share their experiences and tips that may help you. Anyways, let’s get into the good stuff!

When I started training for the San Diego half marathon at the beginning of the year, I followed a great training plan by Nike Running Club. It was well thought out and organized, and all I had to do was just follow the weeks. Although it was a 14-week plan, I found myself getting anxious to finish the plan. For this race prep, I wanted to challenge myself and create my own training plan based off previous experience and workouts I’ve found from various sources. I also wanted to break the training plan into three phases: Phase 1, Phase 2, and Phase 3. Phase 1 is the beginning part that introduces my body to different workouts, tempos, paces, and mileage. Phase 2 is the middle part that is the longest stretch. The main challenge here is the increase in mileage and the mental disciple to run even though your body feels tired and broken down. Phase 3 is the ending part, which includes the taper phase where the mileage decreases and you begin to recover for race day. Funny enough, this is where runners struggle a lot and feel like they’re losing their conditioning, so they tend to overrun in the final weeks leading up to the race. This can lead to your body feeling sluggish on race day and can hinder your performance. Rest and recovery are your best friends during marathon training! For today’s conversation, I wanted to review how Phase 1 has gone and my mindset heading into Phase 2.

I started training for the race on November 27th, giving me 16 weeks to get into marathon shape. I felt more confident to begin this prep because I had spent the majority of the last two months doing maintenance and keeping my conditioning up/ That was helpful because my body never went through a transition phase where it was getting used to running since it was already accustomed to running 4-5 miles without wearing itself out.

Week 1

• I started off the first week by having two 30 minute recovery runs to begin building my base for longer distance runs, one speed run, and a 9.5 mile long run. I’ve placed an emphasis on running my recovery runs in Zone 2, which is the ideal heart rate threshold to improve my aerobic base. It basically means I’ll be able to run for longer distances with a minimal amount of fatigue. To do this, I’ve had to slow my paces down to around 12:45 to 13:30 minute miles. That’s a VERY slow pace for me, but I’m trying to keep my heart rate in Zone 2, which is 116 – 134 bpm for me. The speed run consisted of five 1 minute interval repeats at 10k, 5k, and mile pace efforts, with a 30 second rest in between intervals. The long run felt good up through mile 8, where I hit the wall. I had to mix walking and jogging for the last mile and a half, but got it done. Overall, it was a great first week and I felt very confident.

Week 2

• Heading into week 2, I focused on longer times for the recovery runs. I finished a 45-minute and 50-minute recovery run, equaling a little under 7.5 miles for both runs. Again, I was running at a slower pace than usual and had to hold myself back from going faster. I felt more comfortable with running slower and felt great after the recovery runs. If you’re out of breath or completely wiped after a recovery run, odds are you’re running way too fast. Try slowing it down and focus on building your aerobic base instead of trying to go fast each run. With running, there’s a time and place to run slow and fast. For this week’s speed run, I did another interval run that consisted of five 5 minute intervals at my 5k pace for the first three intervals and my mile pace for the last two intervals with a 2 minute rest between intervals. I love this interval workout because I get to practice keeping a faster pace for an extended period of time. To finish the week, I completed an 11 mile run. Similar to week 1, I felt great through 9 miles and started to hit a wall. I grinded through the last two miles, but got the run done. Another hard week of running completed! I’m tired but feeling good heading into week 3!

Week 3

• Heading into this week, I’ve figured out a solid training schedule: 2 recovery runs, 1 speed run, and a long run would be a sufficient week, along with two weight training sessions. For me, it’s a perfect mix of running and lifting without completely breaking my body down. The volume of work is higher in the beginning of the week, and dies down before the long run, then builds up in preparation for the next long run. I finished two 45 minute recovery runs, a speed run, and a 12 mile long run. The speed run consisted of five 2 minute intervals at my mile pace with a minute rest between intervals. I began to feel my legs getting heavy and sore after the speed run. Even though the total distance isn’t a lot, my body is starting to feel the miles add up. I expect this to continue for the next few weeks as my body begins to adjust for the longer mileage, but that’s where a good diet and recovery plan come in handy. I like to use my massage gun to alleviate soreness along with stretching out my hamstrings and hip flexors. I do a short routine for about 10-15 minutes a day and it’s made a big difference when I’m out running. For the long run, I hit the wall around 11 miles and struggled less for the last mile. It’s weird because during runs, people find the energy to run faster or even sprint through the last mile, but I have major issues finding the strength to do that. I’ve made it a point to start slow and steadily gain speed as the long run progresses so I can feel my best towards the end. So far, it’s working as I’m hitting the wall a lot closer to the end of the run, but there is still room for improvement. Another week conquered, another week to be conquered!

Week 4

• Heading into this week, I introduced weight training and a different speed workout. I started the week with a 30 minute recovery run, then completed two consecutive speed workouts. I had established a training schedule in week 3, but as I’ve learned in the past with marathon training, things can change week to week with your schedule. Sometimes, you only have time for a speed run, and sometimes you have extra time to run a longer recovery run. This week, I had to make some changes to the schedule and focused on speed workouts. The first speed workout consisted of five 1000 meter interval repeats at my 10k pace with a 200 meter recovery between intervals. I thought that 1000 meters wasn’t too bad, but after the second interval, I was gasping for air. I’m excited to do this workout again in the future because I felt stronger at the end, which means my aerobic base and Vo2 max are improving. After this run, I completed another 30 minute easy run followed by a full body weightlifting session. I knew this would suck and that I’d be sore, but I needed to get the weightlifting done and work through the soreness. Weightlifting during marathon prep minimizes my chances of injury and helps strengthen muscles I use during runs, like my calves, hamstrings, and hip flexors. The next run I completed was a 4 mile tempo run, which started as a 4 mile recovery run. I zoned out during the run and naturally started to go faster and next thing I know, I’m pushing a 10k pace. Normally, I would have slowed down to get into a recovery pace, but I felt good and wanted to take advantage of how good I felt. I wrapped up the week with a 13 mile long run. With the long runs increasing in mileage each week, I wanted to practice my morning routine as if I were running a race. That means getting up early, stretching, eating a snack, loading up on electrolytes, and eating energy gels during the run. It seems silly, but if you don’t simulate a race day environment in your training program, you will feel lost on race day. I’ve made the mistake for the past two races, and if you’re like me, you like to have a routine that you can stick to and know it works. This long run was my first mock race day routine, and it went smoothly. I didn’t really hit the wall this time and ended up running a half marathon at 13.1 miles. Although I didn’t hit the wall, I was SORE the next day. Nothing a little massage gun couldn’t fix!

So there you have it, 4 weeks of marathon training in the books! Physically, I’m getting better at recovering during the week. I have noticed that my body is starting to recover during the recovery runs. What do I mean by that? I’m working on my cardiovascular endurance without using max effort. I feel great after the recovery runs and don’t feel sore the next day. I’m noticing challenges when mapping out what runs to complete, since we’re currently in daylight savings and the sun rises late and sets early. Mentally, I’m still feeling positive about the program and am trying to focus on the journey instead of focusing on the race itself. During runs, I’ve caught myself thinking ,”Man, how am I going to finish 26.2 miles?”. I’ve had to correct my way of thinking and remind myself to focus on the run at hand.

Thank you all for stopping by and having another conversation with me. I know I say this every post, but I have so much fun writing these blogs. I know our community is small right now, but I’m looking forward to seeing it grow and include more members who share the same passions as I do. I’m starting to transition into Phase 2 of the training program, so I will continue to update you guys with how it’s going. But before I go, I want to wish you a safe and happy New Year! We’re going to do great things in 2024, and I’m excited to see all of you crush your goals next year. Until then, stay safe and enjoy the trails! Don’t forget to follow the blog on social media on Instagram at @unexpectedabundanceblog and TikTok at

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