2009 Portland, ME marathon!

After watching the Boston Marathon yesterday, (and from having the urge to run a marathon for quite some time) I have decided to train for the 2009 Portland Marathon in Maine. The date of the event is October 4th, 2009, 7:45 AM (I know, yikes!) This gives me roughly 6 months to train, and I decided to make an online journal of my struggles and triumphs for my family and friends to follow.

I have chosen a 24 week training schedule - hence, there are 24 weeks till the race:My marathon goal is to complete the race in under 4 1/2 hours. This means I need to be running at roughly 10 min/mile. The long runs will all be on Sunday. I will be running the long runs about 45 seconds slower per mile than I intend to run the marathon. My cross training will on Monday... I will probably mix it up between walking and biking. The runs midweek are going to be dedicated towards building up my speed. I will shoot to run these from between 8 & 8:30/mile. (nothing fancy like my little sister!) The runs on Saturday will be at the marathon pace - 10 min/mile. Rest on Fridays!
Before I start my long(er) runs I am going to need to get new running shoes. Would be a great birthday gift, seeing as my birthday is in 4 weeks!! *hint hint* I also need to get myself a water resistant stop watch so I can record my time. I have a pedometer but I don't think it is very accurate. I am extremely excited about this, and hope you will all come to watch!!