A little history before my questions: Started taking running serious in February 2012 - averaging 4mi./run and 15mi./week.My paces on these runs got to about 8:45/mile, but I didn't run in any races.I injured my lower back in May while running on a treadmill.Turned out that I had hereditary spinal stenosis, but eliminated the pain with a steroid injection.Back running in December 2012 - averaging 5mi./run and 20mi./week.Pace is around 8:30 to 8:50 and I've run in 2 5ks.Longest run is 13.1mi. in 2'01" I'm planning to run the Dallas Marathon in December and will train using a 20-week plan that begins in mid-July (4-5 weeks of 3 runs/week, then 16-15 weeks of 4 runs/week). Until mid-July, how should I focus my training? Should I spend more time in the gym and focus on shorter runs or maintain my current run schedule?
A little history before my questions: Started taking running serious in February 2012 - averaging 4mi./run and 15mi./week.My paces on these runs got to about 8:45/mile, but I didn't run in any races.I injured my lower back in May while running on a treadmill.Turned out that I had hereditary spinal stenosis, but eliminated the pain with a steroid injection.Back running in December 2012 - averaging 5mi./run and 20mi./week.Pace is around 8:30 to 8:50 and I've run in 2 5ks.Longest run is 13.1mi. in 2'01" I'm planning to run the Dallas Marathon in December and will train using a 20-week plan that begins in mid-July (4-5 weeks of 3 runs/week, then 16-15 weeks of 4 runs/week). Until mid-July, how should I focus my training? Should I spend more time in the gym and focus on shorter runs or maintain my current run schedule?