Improving my Marathon Time

There are so many marathon training schedules that are available today.
I have tried several of them. I must say that I was able to complete my
very first marathon on my own without any type of help. I looked on the
internet for a training plan and to my surprise, I found one. That being said
I was able to complete my very first marathon(Country Music Marathon)
in a time of 3:52 back in 2001.

The plan that I chose required three 20 mile runs. I never once completed
a 20 mile run. The most I was able to complete was 18 miles.

I then joined a running organization (TEAM) and they gave me yet another
marathon training schedule. It was very similar to the previous plan that I
had. It required three 20 milers. To my surprise, I was able to run two 20 milers
and the third one, I actually went to Nashville and ran the Country Music Marathon
again as a tune-up run for the Rock-n-Roll marathon. To my surprise, I was in such
good shape that I ran the marathon in 3:45. I could have ran it much faster, but
seeing that I was training, I decided to hold back. To my surprise, I did not feel
winded or anything, I felt so good that I was totally amazed!

To this day, 11 marathons later I have been trying to get that feeling back in a marathon and I have
been unsuccessful. However, I am still searching for that training plan that will get me there.

Running is my passion!