Let the calendar be the plan

We don't write training plans, but we had to get from a hot August to a marathon in December, and it turned out the city had already written one for us.

The series

The Honolulu Marathon Readiness Series is five races, each one longer than the last, about a month apart from August through November:

That table is the long-run progression every marathon plan on the internet would hand you, except this one comes with aid stations, a start line, and other people. In 2023 we ran all five, and in between we did the long rides, the Waikiki swim, the Honolulu Century, and Jay's first ride over the Pali. By December the marathon didn't feel like a leap, it felt like the sixth race in the series.

What a bib does that a plan doesn't

A long run on your own calendar can move, to Sunday, then to next week, then to the week after because family's in town. A long run with a bib on it doesn't move, because you paid for it, other people are going, and the alarm is set. At this age discipline usually isn't the hard part, scheduling is, and the series takes the scheduling off your plate.

The one adjustment

The 30K in October is the trap, because it's long enough to feel like an accomplishment and it's only six weeks out from the marathon. We run it at marathon effort instead of 30K effort, and the same goes for the Val Nolasco half in November. Those two are for information: how the eating held up, how the legs felt at mile ten, what the heat did after 8 a.m. Then we go home and rest.

If your town has something like this, and most towns have something, let it be the plan. You'll spend less time inventing a schedule and more time running the one that's already there, which in our case started with a 15K in August.