Training for Marathon - intro

OK so this is the story:

4 weeks ago I decided to start training for (hopefully) my very first marathon. After a lot of searching for the perfect location and date of the race, the decision was set for the marathon in my hometown, which is scheduled on 12.10.2014. So I have less than 5 months from now. 

Till now, the longest distance I have run was 14 miles (23 km). I also ran two half marathon races and 4 more in training. 

Of course it wouldn't be fun to just download some training plan from web so I made my own. I put all of the thing's I know into this plan:

• Starting with my basic weekly mileage (25-30 miles)
• Increase gradually (10% rule)
• Every 4 weeks - easy week
• Most of my training is made up of easy runs to build up my mileage and aerobic capacity and decrease the risk of injury (running in 3rd aerobic HR zone) with one fast workout per week and every other week part of my long run (20-30 minutes) is in tempo zone
• Doing strength training for legs and core 2-3 times per week
• 2 times per week cross training (cycling mostly)
• Running by time and effort level (using HR on my watch) and not by pace (I had one 'funny' episode with training by pace for my first half marathon called over training, apparently there is such thing as to soon to fast, who would have guessed ;) and that is what happens when you are being a smart ass and think that rules don't apply to you)

Oh and for those of you who are wondering, I started running on 23.07.2013. And I am 35 years old. I know that you should consider marathon distance only if you have at least 1-2 years of experience in running but as I already stated, I am bit of maniac for running and hopefully everything will be OK. So, challenge accepted!

Summary of week 3 was:

Running time of 4:20:08

Distance : 25,5 miles (41km)

Summary of week 4 was (easy week):

Running time 3:20:42 (I had one 5k race that wasn't in my training plan)

Distance: 20,5 miles (33 km)

Plan for week 5 is:

Running time of 4:40:00

Distance : ? (Depends on heart rate and effort level)

So I will keep you posted how it's going

:)