My Inline Marathon: Training Plan, Phase I

4/19/2019

My 3 Phase Inline Marathon Training Plan

I am officially skating an inline marathon! I'm signed up for the Northshore Inline Marathon in Duluth, MN on September 14, 2019. Click here for actual proof of enrollment!

In a previous blog post, I talked about my previous half-baked inline half marathon plan of days gone by. I learned the hard way that I need a solid training plan to reach my goals. In order to get me from being an adult with a relatively okay level of fitness to an inline marathon completer was going to take some doing. Here is my three phase training plan to do just that:

Phase I: Fitness, 4 months (October - January)
Phase II: Cardio, 3 months (February - April)
Phase III: Skating Distance, 4 months, (May - August)

Skating at US Bank Stadium and getting in some mileage.

Phase I: Building a Base Level of Fitness

Phase I is all about me getting from being generally active to being more legitimately physically fit. This meant upping my game from my then-haphazard workout regime. Specifically, I needed to do the following:

Build the exercise habit and get in the habit of pushing myself to improve.
Increase number of steps I took on a daily basis using stretch goals.
Increase flexibility and strength by incorporating yoga, weight lifting, and foam rolling.
Get my body used to my inline skates.

Let's break it all down.

Building the Exercise Habit

As long as I go to the gym 8 times per month, my employer pays for the cost of my membership. Consequently, I always ALWAYS go to the gym 8 times per month. At that time, I would typically take a yoga class or do a little walking on the treadmill. Even thought I did go to the gym, I needed to make it more deliberate and productive.

To help with that, I joined a 60 day challenge at my gym. This helped me by having me do an initial fitness assessment, build a more consistent fitness habit, and do a final assessment to note progress. It got me to the gym to take classes and try out a few new activities and improve my diet. I also starting doing a couple of home workouts to give me options for when the gym wasn't as convenient.

Making exercise a more consistent habit also included identifying and mitigating factors that would prevent me from being active. This included keeping workout clothes in my car, touring the gym near work so I would feel more comfortable working out there, and incorporating activity into social time with friends. Being more active became the norm rather than a sometimes event.

While I always went to the gym 8 times per month, now I go more often and have a plan for when I'm there.

Increasing Steps

I have had a FitBit for years, and at that point, I was more concerned with tracking my sleep than paying much attention to steps. Unfortunately, my step count was way down from where I wanted it to be. If I was going to be able to skate 26.2 miles, I needed to be able to walk, then run, long distances. Enter StepBet to help me with goal setting and motivation.

StepBet is and app that organizes 6-week challenges to help individuals increase their overall step count. Based on the current average number of steps you take, StepBet sets two goals for you. One is the goal you need to hit 4 days per week, and a stretch goal you need to hit 2 days per week. The cost to enter a StepBet challenge is $40.00. As long as you complete the StepBet challenge by meeting your goals for each week, you're guaranteed to earn back your $40.00. In most cases, not everyone successfully completes the challenge, meaning that those people who did finish earn back a little extra. In my case, I won just over $50. StepBet established an achievable goal that still pushed me to do more than before, and prepare me to work on cardio.

These shoes are made for walking--and that's just what they do.

Increasing Flexibility and Strength

I also knew I needed to increase my strength and flexibility along with my ability to walk further and longer. In addition to doing weekly weight lifting at the gym, I also incorporate more yoga and stretching. Doing more yoga included me creating a 20 minute routine focusing on hips and legs that I could do on a daily basis before bed. I also attended weekly yoga classes at the gym focusing on Yin yoga. In addition, knowing that stretching and recovery would be important, I took a foam roller class to learn to supplement my monthly massages to help minimize injury risks. The stress reduction benefits and the improvement to my sleep were reason enough to keep going.

I heart my foam roller.

Getting Used to Inline Skates

For me, spending a lot of time on roller skates is easy. On inline skates, though, just standing up takes more effort. They also put way more stress on the middle of the food, whereas roller skates distribute weight more evenly. I knew I needed to increase leg strength in my feet, hips, and ankles to be successful.

To accomplish this, I went skating at a roller skating rink about every other week. I started skating 10 minutes at a time for 30 minutes per trip. I worked up to being able to skate at least 30 minutes at a time. While there and not skating, I would stand on my inline skates to get my body used to how it felt. I also had three longer skates. During these sessions at US Bank Stadium, I skated for 60-90 minutes at a time and got in about 4 miles of skating per time.

In addition to skating, I also did exercises to build up my ankles. These included ankle circles, heal raises, and standing on one foot. All of these activities helped build up my ability to inline skate for a more extended period of time.

Obnoxious, worn out carpet = skating rink.

What Do You Think?

What have you done to build up your base level of fitness? Include your thoughts in the comments.

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