Marathon training again!

Brendon and I figured out that this month marks 5 years of distance running for us.... and to commemorate, I found out this week that I'll be training for another marathon!
The race: Nike Women's Marathon
Place: San Francisco, CA
Date: 10.16.11
The race will be almost 4 years to the date from my last (and first) marathon in '07.
COOL FACT #1: It's an epic race, of which, 30,000 women applied and about 12,000 were chosen at random. The remaining 8,000 are college women (with automatic entry) and charity runners- the majority of which will be running with Team in Training. Many women go years without being chosen, so I feel lucky to have been picked the first time around.
COOL FACT #2: The course- super scenic!! We basically run all along the bay!!

It's known to be a very hilly course (see the white spikes in the elevation map above this sentence); something that I am hoping all these hills I am running in Nashville will help me with. Portland's marathon, which was my first, is one of the flattest around, so that will be a change. Speaking of a few things that will be different this time around... my training. Before my first marathon, I had only run a 10k. Never even a half. Obviously I've run countless halves, by now and a few thousand miles, so hopefully my "legs" will be much more ready to get under me. Specifically regarding training, below is a comparison of my training plan this time to my plan in '07.

Basically, the new plan is much longer and involves much more mileage both weekly and overall (the total mileage for the week noted above doesn't include the speed workouts, which are new this time around. I started doing speed workouts a few years ago and I think they have really improved my overall pace and am glad they are built into this plan). I'm hoping this approach will help lessen my chance of injury. I dealt with some knee problems in my last marathon (which side-lined me for 3.5 months) and am hoping the things I learned and have built into my routine ever since, will help me avoid those. We shall see.
Also, I am making a concerted effort, this time around, to focus more closely on my diet during the week... drinking more water, eating the right carbs and having less alcohol... I suppose the last one on this list fits under the umbrella of eating the "right" carbs. ha. It will be a challenge, given Brendon's new job, but sacrifices must be made. :-)
Here are the stats from '07:

So as you can see, in 2007 I was doing pretty well and staying on target for a 4h:15min finish until about mile 17 when the knee pain started and I pretty much ended up run-walking the last 8 miles... and gained over a minute per mile. Final finish time was about 4h:54min and some change. Not bad for my first one and am hoping this one can improve upon that quite a bit, despite the hills!
Also different this time will be training in the God-forsaken heat of the south and with a kiddo in tow. Brendon is strongly considering running the Flying Monkey Marathon (basically one of the hardest marathons around. Akin to "many will enter, few will win" sweepstakes disclosures, only "many will enter, few will finish") here in Nashville in November, so he'll likely be putting on the miles either with me or on the "other" weekend day, since I doubt either of us wants to run our long runs with the jogger! (UPDATE 5/3/11: I asked B about this last weekend during our run and he said that he wants to run EVERY run with jogger to have maximal resistance. The man is an animal. AN ANIMAL, I say.)
COOL FACT #3: All finishers get a necklace specially made for the Marathon from Tiffany & Co. WOO!

COOL FACT #4: Finally, the BEST part of all of this: running with girlfriends! One of my best friends from grad school, Carole, was also drawn in the lottery and we wil both meet up in SF and run the race together. Carole starting running a number of years ago (and is actually completing her 2nd marathon as I write this) and this will be her 3rd marathon. (Unless she squeaks another one in this summer... which I wouldn't put past her. ha!) Also, another friend of ours from grad school, Ashleigh, will be running the half marathon- she's got her hands full with 2 kiddos at home and has taken some time off from running (can I just brag that she ran her first marathon in under 4 hours!) and this race seemed like the best chance to lace up her shoes and getting back out there.
All in all, I plan to blog about my running journey as I train for this one.
So check back in, occasionally, and hopefully I'll have news to report about the training.
Now for my 8 mile run...