In December 2009 I decided I was going to run a Marathon and 12+ months later I did it. Now I’m training for my second marathon which is rocketing toward me on November 5th. I’m not worried about this one. I’ve been training (did a 16.5 mile run today!), still have plenty of time and there’s a vacation (Hawaii!!) to be had at the end of this month which will surely refresh me as I’m taking that week off and starting in on my last 8 weeks of training when I return.
The marathon decision isn’t to be taken lightly though. It takes a lot of time out of your life to run all those miles, trust me! And it means you already have plans on every weekend for the next 16-20 weeks…running and recovery. It also means that you’ll need to go to bed before American Idol goes off the air for the night. And there’s also a nutritional component that many forget about. Meals need to be thought out a bit more especially pre-run meals and then there’s what you’ll eat/drink for energy while on those long runs because from mile 6 to 26.2 plain water just won’t do it for you anymore. Basically, it’s a huge life changing decision that you’ll need to make with the help of the people in your life since the decision will effect them too. Know what you’re signing up for…it’s not just one morning a few months from now.
I must say that after training for my first marathon I’ve been more cognizant of my time commitments. Even more so now that I’ve decided to go for another marathon of sorts. Tomorrow, (Monday) I officially start my PhD program in Adult Education. I’ve been taking a few classes toward that goal as a non-degree seeking student for the past couple years, but now the real academic “training” begins! This academic ultra marathon will take several years!
Of course there are only so many hours in a day. So I’ve decided to limit myself to running half-marathons or shorter distances starting next year and moving forward while I work on my PhD. I’m excited about this decision! This means that I can focus on primarily one specific distance and improving my time for the 13.1 miles. I’m thinking I can not only break the 2-hour mark, but also cut another 10-15 minutes off my time after that!
Have fun training for all your marathons both the physical and mental kind!
I’ve been training non-stop since December 2009 for some running event or another…there have been one or two… Across these last 20 months I’ve improved my fitness level from running nearly a 3 hour half-marathon to a ~2 hour half-marathon and ran my first full-marathon eight months ago. All great accomplishments. My whole focus besides proving I could do it was to just “get in shape” and lose some weight with an emphasis on weight loss early on. I quit weighing myself as often a few weeks ago and checked in again yesterday afternoon with my friend “The Scales”.
I’ve realized that sometimes you have to just “Keep at It” regardless of what the scales say because your body is going to adapt the way it needs to not necessarily the way you want it to in the end. You may care about the beach, but your body doesn’t. I had been weighing in consistently for several months at around 180lbs up until yesterday…
On Thursday I weighed 174lbs! I’m getting so close to my goal weight of 160-165 that I can’t wait, but honestly at this point I’m more interested in my fitness level, body fat percentage and the way I feel more than the actual number on the tell tale scale.
I was beginning to wonder if I’d lost some more because my interval runs and tempo runs had been getting easier for the program I’m on at present (FIRST Program). I kept being able to push it a bit more than what was prescribed. Then my trainer saw me Thursday morning and asked if I’d lost some more weight. I actually said, “No”. That I was just looking different because of the weight lifting I’d been implementing twice a week…I’m happy to admit that I was wrong! Never been so happy to be wrong!
So the message of the week is to keep at it even if the scale isn’t moving for several months. You have to send your body enough messages telling it that you’d like a change. Mine has quite a learning curve and seems to be using two tin cans and a string for communication so the message is slower…. 🙂
So take a look at your exercise routine, diet, calorie consumption and calorie expenditure. Are you sending consistent messages or mixed messages? Just something to ponder.
My next run, a full marathon, is 92 days away. I’m looking forward to running it at 174 pounds or less!
So last weekend’s long run went great! I started off on the local Monon Trail which is a segment of Indiana’s “Rails to Trails” program. It wasn’t too long of a “long run”, but it was the first lengthy jaunt since my last last half-marathon on June 11th. I set out on my 10-miler and the weather was perfection! I had my music, my hydration pack, and I was keeping a much faster pace than my training program stipulated. I was supposed to be running an 11:03 pace and at the end of mile 1 I looked at my Reebok sport watch to see that a mere 8:45 had passed….oops! So I slowed down and continued on down the trail. At mile 2 I looked at my watch again to find that I had successfully slowed down…by 15 seconds. I was still a full two minutes ahead of the pace.
Novice runners may think, “Great! If you can run faster then you should!” Alas, with 8 more miles to go maintaining a pace that’s 52 seconds faster than my best half-marathon pace isn’t the way to train smarter. I also know that 10-miles is the shortest weekend run I’ll be doing until November when I taper for the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. Experts say that for every second you gain in the first half of a race by running faster than your “trained for” pace that you’ll lose 2 seconds on the back end of the race. I’ve found this to be very true. I wish it hadn’t of taken me 18 months to figure it out though….I have had a tendency to go out too fast and sputter half way thru in the past. Not until this past May did I run my first race with some margin of intelligence and stuck to my pacing plan for a full 13.1 miles. The result? A 2:05:56…my best half to date.
After mile two I made myself slow down a lot more, but still maintained a ~10:20 pace across the 10 miles. When I got home I decided that a GPS device may be in order and I decided on the Garmin 305. My fiancee, Kate, had mentioned she might get me one for my birthday or Christmas, but after a quick talk with her we decided that since I have the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon in November and Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge in January that I should go ahead and order the Garmin 305 now so I can train with it the rest of the year. The Garmin will help me maintain a better (smarter) pace and let me be more accurate on mileage since the Monon Trail curves a bit. I ended up running 10.34 miles. No big deal, but when I get up to 15-25 miles on a long run in a few weeks that extra distance will add up a lot more and make a big difference!
The Garmin arrived on Monday and it had a heart rate monitor with it. I’m excited to try it out this weekend and see how my heart rate responds to running as compared to last year. I know my resting heart rate is around 60-62 bpm. This will also give me a better indication of how many calories I burn on a long run. I’ve been estimating a 100-110 per mile, but I want to see what the Garmin indicates based on heart rate.
This coming weekend is a 12-miler. I’ve become focused on dropping another 10-20 pounds before January 7th and the Goofy Challenge. I’d like to be between 160-170 pounds by then. I’d also like to be at least 8-10 pounds lighter by the end of August…we’re going to Hawaii! Hey! Not every goal is about the next race. Sometimes it’s about the beach! 🙂
I’m not a nutritionist. I don’t even play one on TV, but that would be pretty cool if I did. I’m not even sure what a nutritionist is or does when compared to a dietician. Wait….Google to the rescue! [10-minutes pass] Ok, so now I know there are a lot of similarities, but that in some states a nutritionist doesn’t have to be licensed [scary] where a dietician does.
Ok, that’s as far as I want to go on that topic. So why am I writing a blog post about nutrition? If you follow me on Twitter, The Daily Mile or happen to be friends with me on Facebook then you see my status updates include what I did that day for my workouts 6 days a week. Yes, I train 6 days a week. I don’t just “workout”. I train with a purpose and most of the time I am on a specific training program to prepare me for an upcoming race/event. My next race is a full-marathon November 5th. You’ll note that I have a lot of goals and aspirations when it comes to my training including weight loss (57 lbs so far!), running a half-marathon (Done!), a Full-Marathon (Done!), The WDW Goofy Challenge (Jan. 2012), an Ultra Marathon (50K in 2012), The Boston Marathon (20??) and maybe someday do an event that involves something more than running like a duathlon or an Ironman.
Some of you may have these goals too. First, that’s awesome! Congrats on making some ambitious goals! Next, let’s chat briefly about nutrition for you and me as opposed to nutrition for the guy sitting in the next cubicle over. Let’s refer to that guy as “Gen-Pop” for General Population. He may even workout several days a week, but he isn’t really trying to PR with a sub-2 at his next Half…runner lingo…
If you are on a specific training program, have plans to continue to train for future events/races, and want to keep pushing the envelope then you are not a member of the Gen-Pop when it comes to nutrition. You are an athlete like me. Heck, I’m registered for 4 races in 2012 already and that just gets me to May 5th! We don’t get paid (do you? Hook me up!) to go for a run. We don’t have sponsors (most of us…I don’t). And, we are not an elite athlete. We might on our best day be considered sub-elite…again not referring to myself unless you add a couple more “subs” on there. Regardless, we are not Gen-Pop when it comes to our training and we shouldn’t fuel [eat] like the Gen-Pop.
What sparked this blog topic was a conversation with my Trainer this morning. [This is where I would link to her new website if she had it up yet!] 😉 We were talking about protein shakes for training recovery and she mentioned that one certifying body for personal trainers doesn’t put much stock in them. I made the comment back about that certifying body being focused on the Gen-Pop, not sub-elite athletes like her or I. To give you an idea, she’s gearing up for a half-ironman and spits out 7-minute miles like they are a breeze. It’s Friday and if you asked her if she wanted to run a half-marathon tomorrow she’d say yes, but might tack on a few more miles so she could consider it a “long run” for the week. Yeah, makes me sick too, but she does give me a lot of motivation to train harder! I just like to give her a hard time in my blogs because she subscribes to it. Hi Tatum! LOL.
We then briefly spoke about the book I had lent her, Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald. It’s a book that really opened my eyes as to my nutrition as a sub-elite athlete. It’s about Sport Nutrition for endurance athletes and very well written for the non-nutritionist/non-dietician. It talks about the signals we send our bodies by how much we eat and the amount of exercise we do in training for events. In my case, I found that I was eating toolittle each day. Basically, I was cutting calories and sending the signal that my body should store fat “cause the lean times were comin” and at the same time sending a totally different signal by training for endurance events essentially telling my body to get leaner. One signal says to store fat and the other says to not store fat…guess which one won the coin toss?…stupid genetics. My weight didn’t budge for months. Sending mixed signals = not good.
Once I corrected my caloric intake based on that book’s suggestions I started to get leaner. A couple weeks ago I pulled out my size 33 waist jeans. My fiancee says I’m looking good. My speed on the run is improving. And my trainer told me this morning that I was looking like an athlete! Yeah, it’s been a good day so far! Finally, I’m eating MORE.
Gen-Pop trainers might say I’m eating too much…..but I’m not a Gen-Pop and my results speak volumes. Remember, I’ve lost 57 pounds and cut nearly and hour off my half-marathon time in the last 18 months. Not bad!
In thinking about the book if you are a sub-elite athlete or like me a “sub-sub-sub-elite athlete” then some things to consider nutritionally are:
Total daily caloric intake when you have a training session (For me…Mon-Sat)
Total daily caloric intake when you have a rest day (Sunday)
Pre training/event nutrition
Post training/event nutrition (Whey Protein perhaps)
During training/event nutrition (Accelerade, Gatorade, etc)
It might seem complicated at first glance, but it really isn’t. The book lays it all out in a neat package starting with the basics. If you haven’t given much thought to sport nutrition as it applies to your training then pick up that book and have a look. It covers more endurance sports than just running. If you don’t want to buy that book at least start asking questions or using Google to find some information on how athletes fuel for their training laced lives and how it differs from the Gen-Pop diet.
After two weeks off from running I hit the treadmill this morning at 5:00am for my 1st FIRST Key Workout in what seemed like a lot longer than 2 weeks! Key Workout #1 each week is Interval Training and today called for 1-kilometer repeats (x5) at an approximate 8:10/mile pace. For those who can’t do kilometer to mile conversions in their head… 1 kilometer = .62 miles.
The first three intervals were good, but I could tell I had lost a little speed over the last couple weeks. The last two were a bit more brutal. I was toggling between 7.4 and 7.3 mph on the TM for the last two intervals. I also slowed down a bit more for the 400m RIs for the last to Rest Intervals to 5.0mph.
Tomorrow is a cross training and lifting day. I plan to take a step back on the cross training intensity so I can focus more on the Key Running Workouts. The cross training days will be for recovery from here on out!
Happy July 4th to my US readers/runners and happy Monday to all the rest! Wow, has it really been mid-June since my last blog?!?! Yikes! See, that’s what happens when you have a full-time job. It gets in the way of all the important things in life. ;-D
Over the last few weeks I have made myself NOT RUN! I know, crazy right? I took this time to do the following:
Rest & Recover from the last 20 months of training
Cross Train & lift weights a bit
Get a business trip out of the way
So now that I am all rested I am ready to start my new training program for the remainder of the summer. And speaking of new training programs, a few weeks ago I posted the basic Goofy Training Program (From Memory). Jeff Galloway and runDisney have the complete plan up again now so everyone can choose whether or not they want to use Jeff’s run-walk-run method since he includes all the details on the runDisney website. Many people have a lot of great things to say about his run/walk plan and many more have cut there half and full marathon times by implementing his training methodology. Last January I even did a little of the run-walk-run during my 1st marathon at Walt Disney World.
2011 WDW Radio Running Team before the Marathon
I ran most of the race and even did a few miles with my fellow teammates from the WDW Radio Running Team. However, since it was my first full-marathon I decided to enjoy it and walk a few steps to get needed rest so I’d have something left in the fuel tank for walking around the park on Monday!
Like I said in January if you want to run with a great group of people then look up Lou Mongello and the WDW Radio Running Team on Facebook. We raise money for the Make a Wish Foundation. Our numbers have really grown since last January! I believe we are up to 47 members on the team running a variety of races at Disney throughout the year. Running with this group makes a great event even more special since you help fulfill the wish of a terminally ill child. The team raised enough to do just that going into January and it was a fantastic feeling!
But I digress, so I had planned to tackle the Goofy next January, but as always nothing is simple. I went to a race expo in May before the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon and saw a flyer for the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. Wanting to be prepared to “Go Goofy” I decided a pre-Goofy test was in order and signed up for the Indianapolis full-marathon which takes place November 5th, 2011. So now the dilemma. How to train for both the Monumental full-marathon AND the Goofy Challenge? Thrown into the mix was the fact that I have implemented the FIRST Training Program (mentioned this in a previous post). The answer is simple. Use the blender method! Throw it all together and hit puree! After a good blending what do you get? A Monumentally Goofy Training Program!
It’s not really all that bad, but I’m going to be working hard most days of the week. Glad I “rested” for 2 weeks!
Monday: Lift weights & Spin (Cross Training Workout #1 for FIRST)
Tuesday: FIRST Key Running Workout #1 (Intervals)
Wednesday: Lift Weights and Spin/Row (Cross Training Workout #2 for FIRST)
Thursday: FIRST Key Running Workout #2 (Tempo Run)
Friday: Lift Weights Only (Go Light)
Saturday: Long Run – The Goofy Training calls for some weekends of a long walk followed by a long run the next day
Sunday: Rest or Long Run on “Goofy” weekends
So that’s my training plan for the rest of the year. Seems pretty basic until you go back and look at what the FIRST Training plan entails (see previous posts). That regimen is rather intense! I’ll be on this plan for 8 weeks and then I’m taking a week off to go to Hawaii for vacation! 🙂 I’ll have a couple workouts there, but nothing serious since I’m on vacation! After Hawaii I’ll be back on my program for another 9 weeks until the Monumental Marathon on November 5th. After the Monumental it’ll be just 9 more weeks until The Goofy Challenge!
I’m so excited to get started! Training begins tomorrow morning!
Saturday June 11th was the inaugural event for the Carmel Marathon. Having had my first full marathon in January and a half marathon in both April and May, I decided to run the half-marathon for fun. I ran the race as a “keep the momentum going” kind of event and to have something to train for in the mean time until I started my official program for my next full-marathon which is coming up in November.
Flat (kind of) and Fast! Welcome to Indiana!
The weekend of events was pretty awesome! Not only was the course relatively flat and fast, but the full-marathon was a Boston Qualifier (BQ) AND the RRCA Indiana State Marathon Championship.
Now I’m not ready for a BQ effort yet, but it’s pretty cool to come to a BQ race and see who shows up! The weekend of events also included the USATF 8K championship so this truly was a place for elites!
I however did not go for another PR. Instead I chose to run the first few miles with a buddy of mine who was doing his first full-marathon. Those were the easiest 3.5 miles of the day. The rest of the time I just sat back in my ~10min pace and enjoyed the scenery. I even conversed a little with the group of runners I was pacing with and it always seemed like a group of 5-10 runners were near each other first one person leading then another. It was fun to motivate total strangers along the way and have them motivate me in return. I finished the race in 02:19:26. That’s 14 minutes slower than my best half-marathon time, but not too bad for taking it easy! It was a fun morning run!
I'm bib #1496! My friend is right behind me in green!
Since the half and full-marathon courses intersected at several points I did get a chance to see the leader of the full-marathon around mile marker #8 being lead by a police officer on a motorcycle and two volunteers on bikes. That guy was booking it!! He finished his full-marathon before I finished my half. Can you say “running since birth”? One day I may get there…okay close to there…okay just closer anyway. 🙂
As I said before, the course was “relatively flat”. Indiana is known for being a flat state or at least the upper 2/3rds of it….down to where the glaciers stopped a few centuries ago. Of course as has become the standard, I manage to find race courses in flat states that are anything but flat. This course had plenty of gently rolling hills. Perhaps not as bad as Kansas (Yes…Kansas. See my previous posts), but still plenty of ups and downs as compared to the races I’ve ran at Disney, The Indy Mini-Marathon and other races in Indiana.
Up next is The Indianapolis Monumental Marathon November 5th. I start the FIRST Training Program Tuesday and will be putting in the miles according to that plan for the remainder of the year. The only adaptation will be the addition of the occasional weekend double long day (Sat & Sun) to prepare me for the Goofy Challenge in January. After January I have some decisions to make. Looks like an Ultra-Marathon is in my future for next year. I’m going to go for a 50K which is 31.0685 miles. Not too much further than a full-marathon, but farther than the walk back to your car! 🙂
The next decision is “What’s Next?”. That will be fun to figure out!
A lot of times when we hit the gym we go for the “more bang for your buck” workouts. Multi-muscle, multi-joint exercises are always being touted as a “Time Saver”, “Calorie Burner” or “Only way to go if you have X amount of time”…. I would have to agree.
Using more than one muscle group DOES burn more calories. This technique also saves you time as opposed to working each single muscle group individually. However, occasionally it’s a good idea to hit those tiny little muscles we forget about when we’re hitting those Lats, Pecs and Quads getting ready to look buff for the beach or just in our normal training for our next race. I found out as much when I had an hour long session with my personal trainer last week. I bought a training sessions package from my gym back in December 2009 and I’ve been able to make the sessions last for 18 months since I don’t do a PT session the week of any race or over holidays….there’ve been a couple holidays and a lot of races in the past 18 months! 🙂
So I’ve been training for 18 months and my trainer “handed me my hat” so to speak on these small muscle exercises over the course of the hour. I was sweating bullets on the first couple exercises that worked the front of the lower leg. These three little guys are in charge of pulling the toes back toward your shin (dorsiflexion), rolling your foot inward (inversion), rolling your foot back out (eversion) and extending your big toe (extending your big toe…). So these muscles are fairly important to running, swimming, biking, walking, standing, and to a lesser extent bouncing on a pogo stick (actually not sure on the last one because I can’t do that, but I’m glad you’ve decided to come with me on this one).
Exercise Physiology 101 Terminology...enjoy.
So here I was laying on the floor with a cable strapped to my foot with my foot at a 90 degree angle to my lower leg and pulling my knee toward my head. Basically a knee-up in the supine position (flat on your back). By the third set (3×15) I was barely able to keep my foot from pointing down and letting the cable slip off. It was a LOT of work! This would be a great exercise for shin splints too as it strengthens those muscles.
Next we worked on the inner/outer thigh machines which I’ll say that not a lot of guys in my gym use. But when you’ve experienced ITBS like me, you don’t care anymore. These machines hit those muscles and strengthen them so you can help stave off ITBS. The muscles being worked here also support the sides of your knees. Raise your hand if you could use a healthier and more stable knee or two!!!! Ok, put your hand down now…people are beginning to stare….
Single Leg RDLs (Romanian Dead Lift)
What’s next you ask? Single leg Romanian Dead Lift with a dumbbell (not me the weight…). Want a strong ankle and superior balance? Do single leg RDLs. In the picture the guy (not me BTW) has his leg bent slightly. This is okay, but an RDL technically has a straight leg. Note that he has a straight/flat back as well. We did a super set on these with a seated row since the big muscle being used IS your back. This also works your core! Triple bonus!
WARNING: If you’ve never done RDLs ask a trainer at your gym to model it for you. Just call it a single leg dead lift with a dumbbell…a good trainer should know what it is. Use a light weight until you get the form down.
We did all sorts of other stuff, but I’ve rambled on long enough so I’ll put the core work in another post. You shouldn’t always isolate the small muscles since you hit them when you work the big ones, but take a single workout every 2-3 weeks to concentrate on the small muscles and you can see some big gains!
It has come to my attention from one of my readers (Thanks Jenn!!) that runDisney has yet to post Jeff Galloway’s updated training program for the 2012 Goofy Challenge. Being a training program connoisseur of sorts I downloaded it back when it was still posted in 2010. Thinking back I guess I already knew that runDisney had taken the old training program down since I had emailed them about the dates being “off”. The dates were off since it hadn’t been updated since 2009 when it was originally published, but the basics were there. Now remember race fans, this program is designed to get you across both finish lines in the upright position not set land speed records at Disney World. It’s a fairly simple program that follows Jeff’s run/walk philosophy. Most weeks you only run 3 days and rest/recovery is a key component of the program.
Seeing how I don’t have express written consent by the Walt Disney Company or Jeff Galloway to republish the PDF I have (assuming I can find it…) I will talk in generalities and answer questions if you have any. Don’t worry though, there’s a table below with a week by week schedule.
You know you want it...or one very similar to it!
Keep in mind that my goal for the 2012 Goofy Challenge is to cross both finish lines on Saturday and Sunday in the upright position and live to tell the tale! I have a friend who’s running it with me and we are both determined to finish and earn a lot of bling…that’s it! OH! Before I forget…I’m also doing the 5K on Friday which will be a nice warm-up and an extra medal! 🙂
The program is around 30 weeks in length. I’m sure once runDisney updates it the numbers may not be exactly the same. For my own use, I adapted the program a little to fit my own needs, but the basis of the plan is here. Also, I believe it is suggested that you have been running for 6 months prior to starting this Goofy Training Program. If not, take it easy and follow the plan as prescribed by runDisney.
As always, you should consult a licensed medical professional (aka: a doctor/physician) before beginning any exercise program. Especially, if like me you are a middle aged guy with a Peter Pan-esque view on life! Hopefully, I spelled out the fact that you are at risk in this 39.3 mile undertaking and that you’re making the decision on your own to do this training program or participate in it in any way either in full or in part…..heck people, GOOFY is the mascot! There’s a little bit of crazy going on to try something like this and I’m doing the 5K too so that makes me just plain Dopey!
Okay, enough of the legal speak about it being YOUR decision and YOUR own liability should something bad happen to you. You have been warned!! On to the training program!
Like I said, this program is fairly simple. I’m not going to get into the whole run/walk method because that is Jeff Galloway’s thing. There is also a training tool Jeff suggests called a “Magic Mile” which he has you do every so often to see how you’re progressing. I’m a runner and plan to run 85-90% of both races not including the time it takes to stop for pictures. Oh yes, there will be lots of pictures! Again, see my blog post about the WDW full-marathon last January 2011.
So here it is…in general…the 30-ish week Goofy Challenge Training Program as best as I can remember it. By the way, if you actually followed this program then you would start in mid-June. The program takes you a couple weeks PAST the WDW full-marathon on Sunday January 8th, 2012 for recovery purposes.
Tuesdays and Thursdays are 30-45 minute run/walks according to the original program. Go to Jeff Galloway’s Website for details on the run/walk method. You’ll notice that you get six weeks of training before you have your first weekend of back-to-back workouts. I also took the liberty of switching the run days for Christmas and New Year’s Day to Saturday, but feel free to run when you want! Oh, and don’t forget to plan for holidays (in no particular order) like July 4th, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Labor Day, Father’s Day, President’s Day, Ramadan, Boxing Day, Administrative Assistant’s Day, Yom Kippur, My Birthday (Oct. 7th), etc.
Week
Mon
Tues
Wed
Thur
Fri
Sat
Sun
1
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Rest
Run 3 mile
2
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Rest
Run 4 mile
3
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Rest
Run 5 mile
4
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Rest
Run 3 mile
5
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Rest
Run 5 mile
6
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Walk 3 mile
Run 7 mile
7
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Rest
Run 6 mile
8
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Rest
Run 8 mile
9
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Rest
Run 6 mile
10
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
5 mile
Run 10 mile
11
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Rest
Run 11 mile
12
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Rest
Run 12 mile
13
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Rest
Run 8 mile
14
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Walk 5.5 mile
Run 14 mile
15
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Rest
Run 11 mile
16
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Rest
Run 15.5 mile
17
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Rest
Run 9 mile
18
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Walk 7 mile
Run 17 mile
19
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Rest
Run 12 mile
20
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Rest
Run 18 mile
21
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Rest
Run 10 mile
22
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Walk 9 mile
Run 20 mile
23
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Rest
Run 13 mile
24
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Rest
Run 21 mile
25
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Rest
Run 11 mile
26
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Walk 12 mile
Run 23 mile
27
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Rest
Run 7 mile
28
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Run 6 mile
Xmas
29
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
30-45 min
Rest
Run 7 mile
New Year’s Day
30
Rest
30 min
Rest
30 min
Rest
WDW Half
WDW Full
31
Rest
30 min
Rest
30 min
Rest
Rest
Run 7 mile
32
Rest
30 min
Rest
30 min
Rest
Rest
Run 6 mile
Of course, you may opt to throw in some cross training for some of those rest days. I would suggest taking a rest day before and after those weekends where you’re doing a long walk followed by a long run the next day. Your body (muscles, ligaments, joints, etc) need the rest even if you’re not tired.
You may also want to do specific types of runs for the “30-45 min” runs on Tuesday and Thursday. I do intervals and Tempo runs on those days…usually a little longer than 30-45 minutes. I also add in a little lifting on some days usually twice a week with my cross training.
HOWEVER, the above program should get you across the finish line both days with no adaptations or additions needed. I bet you’ll even be smiling at the end of day two! I know I will! 😀
All that stands between you and these three medals (besides common sense) is the proper training program!
Let me know if you have any questions and happy training!
I get bored easily with training programs. It’s a curse. Perhaps I watched too many action flicks as a kid where the hero was shown doing all the cool “training to fight” scenes or maybe I just like variety on the run, but I change training plans after every major training initiative it seems. I’m always trying to find a better way! I was a devout Hal Higdon follower when I started this whole weight loss/running phenomena and then I converted to the wise musings of Saint Galloway toward the end of last year. I’ve even dabbled in the teachings of the Wizard Yasso. I guess I take the approach that if I can take a little bit from each program and add in some common sense then I’ll eventually come up with a kick-butt training program to last me for a while.
So here I go! I’m in the process of reading the book Run Less Run Faster which covers the FIRST (Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training) Program. Oddly enough, I found that after reading a bit of the book that I had inadvertently adapted my current training program to be almost like the FIRST Program. I had everything except the intensity at which the program trains for its three weekly runs.
The program focuses on quality workouts rather than a quantity of runs 5-7 days a week as many runners (including me) have done for training in the past. So I thought I’d give it a try since the creators of the program have years of research supporting how well the training works along with a plethora or runners heaping accolades on how they’ve cut 20-30 minutes off their marathon times. Testimonials are great, but they don’t hold water for me unless I see hard data to back up the claims. The FIRST Program has both.
The program works around a “3plus2” philosophy. That’s three runs a week and two cross training workouts a week. For the three runs they have specific goals in mind and really ramp up the intensity. This week so far I’ve completed two of the cross training workouts (also intense) and Key Training Run #1. I won’t go into too much detail as you should really go buy the book (see picture) if you’re interested. Plus, you’ll need the pacing charts in the book to really get anything out of the program’s weekly plan.
That being said, I’ve been training weekly 5-6 days a week to train for multiple half-marathons and other races over the past 18 months so I feel I’m pretty well “fit”. After three days on this program I’m happy to say that my butt is dragging! Due to the intensity of the runs and cross training I’ll say that I realize why there are only three quality runs a week. Before I was just putting in the mileage apparently. Now, I feel like I’m putting in quality miles and really need the rest/recovery before my next run! It’s awesome!
Best of all is with three runs a week (plus the occasional Goofy Challenge weekend double workout!) I can look forward to less worry as my schedule gets hectic this coming fall when I’m still working full-time, finishing up wedding plans, traveling, taking 6 credits toward my PhD and still finding time to enjoy family and friends. Heck, I might even be able to sleep at some point! 🙂
And here’s a bonus for all of you who are chasing a BQ time. This program is designed to get you there regardless of age. The book has a couple chapters devoted to that end.
I’ll blog further updates on my FIRST experience as I train this year. If you want to follow my training more closely then feel free to join me on the Daily Mile.
Running Down a Dream 23's Blog 