2018 Nashville Marathon Training

Running a marathon was never something on my bucket list of accomplishments, but I’m allowed to change my mind, right? And by change my mind, I mean go crazy, because it’s not normal to run 26.2 miles, by choice. Now that I signed up, booked a hotel and scheduled a massage, it’s time to share my Nashville Marathon Training!

Nashville Marathon Training

Just Google ‘marathon training plans’ and the results are staggering, 29 million staggering. I considered a few training plans, but ultimately landed on Hal Higdon’s Novice 1 Plan.

I chose this plan for a few reasons:

1. Hal Higdon has been around the block a time or two and knows running. He has contributed to Runner’s World more than any other writer, having published an article in the magazine’s second issue in 1966.
2. The training is 18 weeks long, allowing for a slow ramp in mileage. Some other plans started the midweek runs at 5 miles. While I can comfortably run 5 miles now, those are typically my “long weekend runs”. I followed a similar plan when I trained for a half marathon back in 2012 and it worked pretty well.
3. The plan was free! There are a number of programs out there that provide additional and sometimes interactive support. Hal offers several of these interactive programs, but in the end I opted for the free version for my Nashville Marathon Training.

Nashville Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon

The Nashville marathon is part of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series. I went to Nashville for a day with my sister back in June. We had a great time (!!), but there are many more things to see/do there. Nolan was really jealous when I sent him pictures of the Johnny Cash museum. So, we’ll be staying several days after the marathon to be tourists. I also really like the music aspect of the marathon. As a 1st timer, doing the marathon alone, I’m going to need all the encouragement I can get and music is a big motivator for me.

I also considered the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon, but have heard that it’s not a good 1st timer marathon because of all the hills. I also considered the Paris Marathon because my step-dad will be running that this year. I opted out of that because, if I’m going to take an expensive Europe vacation, I don’t want half of the time eaten up by marathon activities.