Personalized Marathon Training Plan Guide
Preparing for a marathon requires a systematic training plan. RunBox AI coach creates a customized 16-20 week marathon training plan based on your fitness level, goal time, and available training time.
Why Choose an AI-Customized Marathon Training Plan?
- Personalized Assessment: Based on your running experience and fitness condition
- Smart Adjustments: Training intensity optimizes automatically with progress
- Scientific Pacing: Based on your target finish time
- Injury Prevention: Reasonable intensity progression to avoid injuries
if i'm not mistaken this year's yinchuan marathon theme is turbocharged
As a Chongqing native, flying to Yinchuan every late May, getting myself roasted on the marathon track, and then flying back to Chongqing has almost become a habitual action for me over the past three years.
There are probably very few people from Chongqing who can run the Yinchuan Marathon for three consecutive years, and I am one of them. I don't even know why, but whenever my friends in Yinchuan say, 'Lao Zhao, registration has started again,' I silently open the webpage, start filling out the form, and pay the fee, proficiently enough to make people feel sorry for me.
By the third time I came to the Yinchuan Marathon, I didn't even need to look at the guide to collect my race materials; I could complete all the pre-race procedures without any obstacles.
Moreover, the lamb ribs I ate at Guoqiang Hand-Grasp were as fatty as last year's, the two-yuan lottery ticket in my race pack was just as non-winning as last year's, and even my race number was the same as last year's...
I really want to give the organizing committee a giant kiss.
To be honest, from running on a desolate track in 2017, to the criticism in 2018 for moving the track to the main urban area and affecting traffic, to the increasingly strong marathon atmosphere and improved procedures this year, being able to witness and personally accompany the significant progress of a marathon is a very wonderful feeling.
Especially when friends at the starting point enthusiastically introduced me to others as 'the guy who criticized the first Yinchuan Marathon track,' I could only apologize nervously because I had no idea what would happen next.
Everyone there could run quite well; if someone really wanted to beat me up, I wouldn't have any confidence in escaping safely.
In this race, my sister-in-law Chen Zhong was the 4-hour pacer.
Over the past year, Chen Zhong and Shen Octopus's performances have improved by leaps and bounds, while my performance has regressed significantly. As an older runner, I might only be able to outperform them when they serve as pacers, just like when Shen Octopus was the 3:45 pacer at the Wuxi Marathon. It's truly a sad state of affairs.
Due to two very important professional exams in Yinchuan and concerns that traffic control might prevent them from reaching the exam venues, the race was delayed by half an hour and started at 8 o'clock.
Rarely, I leisurely finished my breakfast at the hotel and strolled out. When I reached the bag drop area and was clumsily applying sunscreen, Chen Zhong called me, saying with deep emotion that he was waiting for me at the starting point, sounding very anxious. I had no idea what kind of trap he had set.
Because of this, I didn't apply the Vaseline on my inner thighs properly and hurriedly dropped my bag to meet him—this turned out to be my biggest oversight in this race. After 30 kilometers, the inner sides of my thighs were chafed, which was my only injury in the Yinchuan Marathon.
So, sister-in-law, my inner thighs need you to take responsibility.
I know you suspect I'm making a dirty joke, but you have no evidence.
At 8 o'clock in Yinchuan, the sun was already warmly shining on everyone's faces, and the sky was a clear blue. The weather forecast said it would be cloudy that day, but looking at the sky, I couldn't figure out where the 'cloudy' part was.
The starting gun fired, and I dashed out of the arch.
I had no specific goals for this race. Er Dan said my leg injury hadn't healed and didn't allow me to aim for a good time, just to finish without injury. So my first task was to catch up with Chen Zhong, who had started earlier, and meet him on the track.
After running four or five hundred meters, I saw a group of pacers with 4-hour balloons ahead. I immediately recognized Chen Zhong's back. I don't know where he got the courage to run in the middle of all the 4-hour pacers, in the standard center position.
Did you think you could hide and not be found? It's useless; you are such a flamboyant man, like a firefly in the dark, so distinct and outstanding. With your cadence of 210 steps per minute, anyone could recognize you anywhere...
I'm not afraid to admit it; I couldn't help but hold Chen Zhong's hand on the track. This is another embarrassing moment in my life, just like when I held hands with a creepy guy at the 2016 Taiyuan Marathon. It's a stain that even detergent can't wash away.
After saying goodbye to Chen Zhong, I started to follow my own plan and pushed forward.
My idea was to run the first half seriously and then take it easy in the second half, eating and drinking as needed.
When it comes to giving up, I'm particularly efficient. After running the first half in 1 hour and 42 minutes, all I could think about was 'mission accomplished, time to rest.' So I stood on the curb, waiting for the 3:30 pacer team to pass me, and then started to move towards the finish line without any further ambitions.
Then things started to change dramatically.
If the first half reminded me of the scorching sun in the previous Yinchuan Marathons, the second half brought back memories of the last 15 kilometers in Dalian in 2017, dominated by the fear of the sea breeze.
Suddenly, the wind picked up in Yinchuan, and it was a strong wind, the kind that someone living in the hilly city of Chongqing rarely experiences. The sponsor flags along the track flapped loudly, and the tall street trees bent like fishing rods. The wind direction was particularly mischievous, sometimes headwind, sometimes crosswind, but never blowing from behind.
It didn't give us any advantage at all.
Actually, it wasn't entirely disadvantageous; along with the strong wind came rolling yellow sand hitting our faces.
Wang Zhihuan wrote a poem 'Liangzhou Ci,' the first line of which is 'The Yellow River rises far into the white clouds.' Another version suggests that this line has been misquoted and should be 'Yellow sand rises straight into the white clouds.' Indeed, what I saw at that moment was this spectacular scene.
I didn't know where the sand on the track came from, but later in the evening, when I took a taxi to the airport, I saw the yellow curtain of sand rising from the beach by the Yellow River and finally understood.
Years ago, when I was teaching at a primary school by the Yarlung Tsangpo River, the sand would rise like this whenever there was a strong wind. I didn't realize how serious it was and forgot to collect my underwear. The next day, wearing them was so uncomfortable that it made me quite sad for a long time.
Fortunately, by the time I reached the Flower Expo Park, the sandstorm had stopped, leaving only the rampant wind.
After a year of training, although I had been intermittently recovering from injuries, I could still feel significant improvement. At least when I ran over the hump bridge in the park, I could charge up in one go, unlike last year when I almost had to use my hands and feet, completely losing the ability to walk upright.
Running to the 37-kilometer mark amidst the cheers of the cheerleaders and spectators, the real test began. This section was entirely against the wind.
A very high-tech idea suddenly popped into my head.
You see, in long-distance aerobic exercises like marathons, the ability of the alveoli to inhale is crucial. When we usually run, it's like natural inhalation, so we often experience shortness of breath. Now, running against the wind, if I open my mouth wide and open my airway to let the strong wind blow in, wouldn't that be like turbocharging?
So I quickly tried it, and whether it was psychological or not, I immediately felt much lighter. Except for a dry mouth, I could even speed up relatively easily.
Many human inventions are based on bionics, applying animal skills to machinery.
But I'm quite impressive; I use mechanical principles on the human body. I wonder if this invention is patentable. When I have time, I'll try to get a 4 billion investment and make some big news.
But I forgot one crucial thing.
As I was nearing the finish line, still practicing my turbocharging method, I didn't realize the sky was turning yellow again, and the sand was coming back.
After all, my invention wasn't perfect yet and didn't have an air filter. By the time I realized this, I already had a noticeable gritty feeling in my mouth, and my teeth crunched when I bit down.
Fortunately, there was only a little over a kilometer left. I closed my mouth and sprinted to the finish line, stopping the timer at 3 hours and 42 minutes. This means I ran the second half in exactly two hours.
But I didn't feel ashamed at all; I thoroughly enjoyed this marathon: At 30 kilometers, the volunteer high-fiving runners on the roadside was so enthusiastic, with a smile brighter than the sun; at 32.5 kilometers, the Ningxia watermelon at the aid station was so sweet that I ate three large pieces; around 37 kilometers, a girl shouted 'Sister Zhao' so loudly that I heard it even with my earphones on, and I wondered what the people around thought; at 39 kilometers, the girl holding the sign was so pretty, her face probably only a third the size of Chen Zhong's...
On the way back to the hotel with my race pack, I reported to Er Dan, saying I finished without injury and asked if I could try to push for a good time at next week's Lanzhou Marathon.
Er Dan said, 'For the sake of your leg injury, I allow you to run the first 25 kilometers at your personal best pace, then slow down and finish the race.'
I understood his good intentions; he was afraid I'd collapse, so he threw a smoke bomb. If I didn't run well, it would be considered training; if I did well, it would be considered a race.
This kid, after being my coach for a year, has finally been corrupted by me...
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