I am getting ready to start my marathon training plan for fall 2014. I will start on Monday and it will hopefully be the gateway to an amazing marathon in 14 weeks!
Back to where this whole marathon thing started 3 years ago
So, here are some notes about how I came up with this marathon training plan:
- I based the early workouts on what I have been doing lately. Last week I ran 30 miles, and week 1 starts out with 32 miles. I have also done 800s, hills, and tempo runs lately so it should be a comfortable transition into training.
- I included one workout a week as marathon goal pace run/hills. This will mean that I will either do a run with marathon goal race miles at the end, a run with hill repeats at the end, or some combination of both workouts.
- I labeled Fridays (the day before my long run) as S/R/E…which stands for swim, rest, or easy run. If I am going to cross train, I think swimming is the best thing for me to do. On those days when I need a day off running but just need to do something, I’ll swim. Otherwise I will rest or run an easy 3ish miles.
- I am always taking the day after my long run as a rest day. This is what has worked for me in the past. I have a 5k on a Sunday and I still want to get a long run in on Saturday, so that’s the only exception, but I’m adding an extra race day that Friday.
- All of the hard workout days have easy/rest days before and after them. I got myself into trouble during my last training cycle because I was moving days around and doing a bunch of hard workouts in a row (although this was really due to the weather).
- Ideally I will peak at 50 miles but weekly mileage is just an arbitrary number. Its more important that my mileage progresses slowly and I get in the quality runs.
- I plan for 2 workouts each week, but I think I can easily skip one of them each week and still be adequately prepared.
- I would like to continue going to yoga once a week. I also hope to do 1 full body strength workout a week and 2 core workouts
- Some of this is different from my plan back in June when I wrote about my initial thoughts on marathon training. I decided that my focus will be more on good, quality workouts and less on mileage and “other stuff”- like cross training and body pump. I do plan on using my heart rate monitor at least for my easy runs as that can be a way to make sure I’m not pushing too hard.
Marathon Goals
You might be wondering by now if I every figured out my goal time, after asking for all of your help a few weeks ago. I actually have not. I decided to train based on the workouts I am doing now. Most of those paces are with a goal time of 3:30. While that may be within reach if EVERYTHING goes absolutely perfectly from training to race day, I am going to see how to the training goes, adjust my paces as necessary, and decide on my goal as the race gets closer.
Marathon Training Plan for Fall 2014
Fingers crossed for a successful training cycle!
- How do you usually decide on a marathon training plan?
- Do you stick to your plan or modify it along the way?
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I think this is a great, smart plan and you’re gonna do really well for this marathon! Looks reasonable but challenging.
I like the fact that you are incorporating both the tradition, mileage based training plan set up with a heart rate approach. Many people don’t know what to do with an HRM beyond counting calories, so this is really smart!
I love how you included the easy day/rest day right before your long run day. In the past this has worked very well for me too. And you are smart to not plan too many workouts back to back or in one week..doing hill sprints, track, and a tempo in one week kind of makes me want to cry LOL. This looks like a fantastic plan! Welcome to marathon training!! I can’t wait to see how you do-your 12 miler was so great last
Week-it must get you pretty excited
To see what you are capable of in your next race!!
Looks good to me. I definitely think it’s smart that you have easy days after the hard ones. This cycle I’m trying really hard to stick to the plan rather than move stuff around because it’s set up the way it is for a reason to maximize training with plenty of recovery time, but I will change things up every once in awhile like moving mp runs around like I did this week. Wiggle room is good to have, but I don’t like to do it much.
I try to incorporate strength training into my weekly workouts as well. It does help with your runs.
It’s true! It took me awhile to learn that but now I notice a big difference in how I feel when I am running when I also adding weights 1-2 times a week.
I have no doubt in my mind that you are going to destroy this marathon. Good luck with kicking off the plan! It sounds like a great one!
Thank you! I sure hope so:)
Sounds like a solid plan! I’m a believer that mileage is just a number too – I’ve never really kept track of weekly mileage. I prefer to focus on quality over quantity 🙂
I am staring to learn that. I still track my weekly mileage but more to keep myself in check that to hit a certain number. During my last training cycle I was following a plan that had an error in it and if I wasn’t tracking my mileage I would have gone from 50 miles in one week to 66 the next! So in that case I was glad I was playing attention:)
That’s exciting! I love how organized your training schedule is. I have to print out calendars and write my workouts in because I’m clueless when it comes to making a spreadsheet. My training plans are a mix of pretty much everything from workouts I’ve seen online or in books to workouts I did in community college and on my university team. I’ve found that I run into trouble when I try to pick one specific training philosophy/plan so I just do a mix of what has worked well in the past and modify each time I start another training cycle with what worked and what didn’t work. Still drives me crazy to modify along the way when I write something down, but I know it’s necessary sometimes. 🙂 Wishing you the best as you start your new plan!
That sounds really great that you have been able to pull together what works for you to create your own plans! I followed a couple specific plans in the past and now I am combining that with what I have learned from the RRCA coaching training. This is the first time I created a plan completely on my own, so hopefully it works out!
These seems like a great plan! I love how organized you are! It is a similar to mine. I am getting excited and nervous already!!
Yay for marathon training!:)