Three Elements of a Marathon Schedule

1. Alternating Hard and Easy
Hard days are long or fast runs. Easy days are short, slow or ones spent in the arms of a LA-Z-BOY. I suggest at least one day off each week but you could miss all the easy days on the schedule and still do just fine. I don't suggest it.

This is going to be a major "duh", the more miles you run, the better prepared you will be for this marathon. The easy days should be truly easy days. An easy short run of about 3 miles or a day off are what the schedule calls for. I stress the word easy. If you cross-train (See cross training in the next section.) or do weight training, do it foon the longer run days and not the easy or days off. Why? The easy days need to be true recovery days. In a schedule that asks your body to do more each week, you will be very susceptible to injury if you do not have total recovery days. Through my years of coaching experience, the most common mistake I see in my runners schedules is too many back to back hard workouts. Some people are gifted and can get away with 2 and even 3 hard days in a row, but not many.

A Day Off, or a 3 Mile Run? Many people think a 3 mile run doesn't seem worth the effort. Is it worth the effort to dress, run and shower all for less then a half hour of running? My answer is: You bet! The three mile run is highly underrated. Three miles offers a microcosm of all that I love about the sport. For me, mentally, it is easy to get out the door knowing I only have 3 miles to run. I take the first mile easy, break a good sweat, then stop to stretch a bit. The next mile I run at a good hard effort, about 10K pace. The final mile is a cool down. I run home, shoulders relaxed and at a comfortable pace. I have finished a run and feel fresh, awake, and alive. Like a day off only better, I haven't had to put a zero in my log!

Cross-Training
Running mileage is going to help you get through this marathon more than anything else. The marathon is a serious event that should be your primary focus for the next 8 weeks. Weight training, cycling, swimming and skating should be put on the back burner. Now if you have an injury that is li ng you from running, that's a different story. Cross-training to give the legs a break from running ,if necessary, is better then doing nothing. I crashed on my Roller Blades cross-training before the Anchorage Marathon last year. Luckily, I only lost 7 days of running. And I thought running was an injury prone sport!

2. A long run that gets longer each week.
You will be adding about a mile each week to your long run. Eventually you will run 20 miles in this long training run. As you continue to see the distance of this run, you will learn alot about your own body. I can't tell you exactly what to do because it is very individual. This is a list to think about as you work out the bugs in your system. Preparation for each long run will become almost a religious ritual, doing the same things in the same order while tweaking them to perfection. Paying attention to every detail so that it can be repeated on marathon day.

Pay attention to these!

The long run will answer all these questions, keep them in mind and take notes in your log after each one. The mental aspect of the long run. Getting used to running for over 2 hours may be the most valuable lesson learned during these long runs.

3. Total Mileage.
How much? A rule of thumb is to run a week of at least 50 miles prior to the marathon. The trick is to not increase your weekly mileage by more then 10%, to avoid injury. If you are presently running 20 miles per week, next week shoot for 22 miles. Do some math and see how many weeks it will take to get to 50 miles. For the beginning marathon runner, the more miles you put in, the better (as long as you're healthy).

Now that you know how we came up with this schedule you won't feel like a lemming for following it!

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THIS IS JUST A GUIDE! If you feel take a day off. Skip any Monday, Wednesday or Friday run. This schedule calls for more then enough miles. If you feel great run a couple extra miles! DO NOT try to catch up if you miss a couple of days! (this applies to sex too)

*** A road race is recommended. Run one each month to get used to running in a race atmosphere. Replace the weekend long run with a race. When this is done make the midweek run a couple miles longer then scheduled. Do not expect your schedule to look exactly like this.

Be Flexible! Do not get injured running when you should not be running.

Home Work
You have been given a schedule to follow. Your homework is to write a schedule of your own on a calendar or running log. Use the basic elements in the schedules I have given you, and make it fit your life. Take out that daily planner and arrange for all the exceptions. For example, I personally run my long runs on Tuesday nights. If at all possible, try to make Saturday the long run. We have our group runs scheduled for that day. If your weekends a impossible for you to get in the long run, make it any day. Just keep the above 3 elements of a schedule in mind.

Once you have written a schedule, stick to it. It should be a contract with yourself. Sign it!

Be flexible to a point. All successful plans have changes. Read your body for signs of pain and fatigue. Injury and sickness force many a runner off the roads for a month when just a day off or two might have been the answer. Don't let this be a loop hole for a phony excuse!

Don't make up missed days. Continue from where you left off. Call me for help in revising your schedule. The only place I may have you play catch up is on the long run day.

Keep a detailed log from now until the marathon. A sample log page is included for you to copy.