RunningAHEAD - Topic: Training program

runkaterun5

posted: 1/4/2007 at 10:57 PM

I love to run. The problem is, I cannot stop putting more thought and effort into it until it consumes me. I've tried to make a training program for a half marathon I am doing in May. Right now, I've been running consistently 3x/week and do one long run, one easy, and one day speedwork. I'd like to add a week and do as follows: Monday intervals Tuesday Easy Wednesday Off Thursday Tempo with some easy miles before/after Friday Long Anyone think this is a good idea or needs some tweaking? I consider myself to be slow, but some of that can be improved as my fitness improves as I have just re-built my base after an injury. I'm good to go for speedwork, and have the okay from my PT.

Kate ;) "The pain of regret is greater than the pain of self discipline."

Trent

Good Bad & The Monkey

posted: 1/4/2007 at 11:28 PM

What about your weekends?

I'm running somewhere tomorrow. It's going to be beautiful. I can't wait.

Poor baby

Berner

posted: 1/4/2007 at 11:30 PM

Pfiztinger recommends, as a general rule, one day hard followed by one day easy. In your schedule below, you have two hard days in a row (Thursday tempo, Friday long). Why not push your Long run to Saturday? If you can't (or won't) run on the weekend, then I would suggest something like: Monday: Tempo Tuesday: Easy/Recovery Wednesday: Intervals Thursday: off Friday: Long This gives you at least one easy/recovery/off day between each hard workout.

How To Run a Marathon: Step 1 - start running. There is no Step 2.

Scout7

posted: 1/5/2007 at 8:18 AM

My personal feeling on this is that you shouldn't be doing intervals right now. The race is in May, I wouldn't start any real speed training until February or March. I would consider replacing the intervals with hills and / or drills. That would increase your strength and your work on form / economy. Do about 8 weeks with intervals, then a 2-3 week taper for the race, and you should be good to go.

mikeymike

posted: 1/5/2007 at 8:55 AM

In general I think your schedule looks fine. What do you do for intervals? That could mean a lot of things. I agree with Scout that you don't need to be doing a whole lot of short fast reps right now. That will not gain you much for a May half marathon and will increase your risk of injury--especially as you are adding a day of training. And although your schedule is okay depending on what intervals means, I like mkleiman's better just because it doesn't have any back-to-back hard days.

Runners run

JakeKnight

posted: 1/5/2007 at 10:23 AM

Ditto to all of the above ... but I'll even go a bit farther. Although it's taken some convincing, I'm slowly coming around to the opinion that for most people in their first year or two (or more) of running, it's better to work on building lots of easy mileage, rather than worry so much about the details ... tempos and LTs and VO2 max intervals, etc. I actually think you'd probably benefit most from just running one more day a week (getting it to 4-5 days), and slowly upping the mileage to 20-25 mpw of easy runs, with a long run every week or two. And yes, I'm being a hypocrite here: if you look around, you'll see I've obsessed as much as any beginner could over the details. But now ... well, now I think I'd have benefited most if I'd been ordered to go run a couple thousand easy miles before anyone let me open a book on running. I now think the "obsessing" is downright counter-productive, at least at this point. Just my two pesos. Your mileage may vary and my mind may change. Cool

E-mail: eric.fuller.mail@gmail.com
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Scout7

posted: 1/5/2007 at 10:45 AM

Quote from JakeKnight on 1/5/2007 at 10:23 AM:

Ditto to all of the above ... but I'll even go a bit farther. Although it's taken some convincing, I'm slowly coming around to the opinion that for most people in their first year or two (or more) of running, it's better to work on building lots of easy mileage, rather than worry so much about the details ... tempos and LTs and VO2 max intervals, etc. I actually think you'd probably benefit most from just running one more day a week (getting it to 4-5 days), and slowly upping the mileage to 20-25 mpw of easy runs, with a long run every week or two. And yes, I'm being a hypocrite here: if you look around, you'll see I've obsessed as much as any beginner could over the details. But now ... well, now I think I'd have benefited most if I'd been ordered to go run a couple thousand easy miles before anyone let me open a book on running. I now think the "obsessing" is downright counter-productive, at least at this point. Just my two pesos. Your mileage may vary and my mind may change.

Wait..........You've started to change your mind on something? Good Lord, someone get the calendar, and mark this day down!!!!! All kidding aside, I agree with all your points. I was lucky when I first started running in that I did it in HS, and had a free coach to utilize. I never really bothered to look at books or learn anything more about training until recently. Now, a lot of it makes some level of sense. And for the record, I have never used a HRM for training. Although, I now have one, and will use it, once I can start running again.

Berner

posted: 1/5/2007 at 11:03 AM
modified: 1/5/2007 at 11:04 AM

I also tend to agree with the recommendation to skip the interval workouts until (a) you have more mileage under your belt and/or (b) you're closer to your goal race. If I had looked more closely at your current mileage, I would have made the same recommendation as Scout7 and Jake. That being said, I change my suggestion to: Monday: Tempo Tuesday: Easy/Recovery Wednesday: Easy with Striders Thursday: off Friday: Long You'll see that I added striders on Wednesday. Striders are like mini-intervals, but they don't really add the stress and injury risk of real intervals. Striders are short (100 meters) repetitions run as fast as you can run while still maintaining excellent form. The distance isn't magic, and you don't have to run them on a track. Just find a nice straight stretch in your normal run, and accelerate up to speed. Walk or jog easy between striders until your heart rate and breathing completely return to normal. Start by doing 1 strider for every 1 mile that you are running that day (e.g., a 4 mile run = 4 strider repetitions). Note: the focus of striders is your form, not your speed. Do not run so fast that your form or breathing breaks down. Striders help your body learn to run more economically, and, to the extent that you have an appetite to go fast, they help fill that need until you are ready for true interval workouts.

How To Run a Marathon: Step 1 - start running. There is no Step 2.

runkaterun5

posted: 1/5/2007 at 11:08 AM

Thanks to all! I will definately take the advice on the intervals, I can see that they are probably too much right now. As for weekends, I started out just wanted my own day, but adding a long on Saturday like I used to would really benefit for rest. Striders sound like a good idea, too. I guess I'm just sick of being slow but patience is key, right? Plus I'm sure some speed will come with better aerobic fitness. Thanks again Smile

Kate ;) "The pain of regret is greater than the pain of self discipline."

Scout7

posted: 1/5/2007 at 12:21 PM

I agree with the striders, too. There's also other form drills you can do, too. Best bet is to Google for them, but as an example: http://www.runningplanet.com/training/running-drills.html http://www.runningplanet.com/training/running-form.html

Pron8r

posted: 1/5/2007 at 4:07 PM

Quote from JakeKnight on 1/5/2007 at 10:23 AM:

Although it's taken some convincing, I'm slowly coming around to the opinion that for most people in their first year or two (or more) of running, it's better to work on building lots of easy mileage, rather than worry so much about the details ... tempos and LTs and VO2 max intervals, etc.

No wonder it's been so cold in Las Vegas lately. Hell is about to freeze over

Quote from JakeKnight on 1/5/2007 at 10:23 AM:

I actually think you'd probably benefit most from just running one more day a week (getting it to 4-5 days), and slowly upping the mileage to 20-25 mpw of easy runs, with a long run every week or two. Just my two pesos. Your mileage may vary and my mind may change.

I agree. Both with your counsel and the fact that you may change your mind.

My Masters (>50) Race PR's: 5K - 20:17 10K - 42:36 HM - 1:31:22 Marathon - 3:20:48

Training program (Read 742 times)