No, I don’t mean that, do I? Ok, then, as long as you just read it for the pictures, it’s okay to keep it.
Actually, I have nothing against the popular running hobbyist magazines. However, you must realize what a magazine is. Magazines have several new messages every issue. Otherwise, why would you need the next issue?
While some may even take issue with some of the advice presented in the articles, I think there’s a greater danger: lack of consistency. Just like you can’t chase every mutual fund that a money magazine recommends, or go with the diet that you’ve obeyed the best that day, you can’t change training plans on a weekly or monthly basis.
Yet, that is just what will happen if you take the articles to heart: you’ll switch plans. You’ll switch because the first thing that will happen is the doubt that you can pull this off, that this plan is right for you. It happens on term papers, on novels, on investments, and certainly on a 16 week training plan. To compound the psychological effects, your body will be giving you feedback through all of the tough workouts, through all the pushing yourself a little further. Your body has to restructure itself to grow, and while that process should not cause excruciating pain, it will probably cause some discomfort.
Whether you’re going from couch to 5k, training for your first half-marathon, or taking the plunge for your first marathon, stretching your limits is not comfortable. Stepping out of your comfort zone is how you grow. Revisiting that feeling, again and again, is how you excel.
If you’re doing you first training for a specific distance, any plan that increases weekly mileage an average of 5% per week and mixes in different speed runs will work. Go fast once per week, go long once per week, and enjoy all of your runs.
Good luck.
Added from an @runtowin comment:
Some runner’s magazines concentrate on local stories and are way better than the national ones anyway (New England Runner)
Tags: motivation, training
Using a “theoretical” 7′01″ mile race (based on only being able to run a 7′19″ mile interval), I did a gut check on my pacing. Yep, I’m running too fast. Shocking. I’m going to have to force myself to run at 6.0 mph on the treadmill.
- Recovery Jogs 10:33 to 11:03
- Long Runs 9:33 to 10:33
- Easy Runs 9:33 to 10:03
- Tempo Runs 8:14 to 8:35
Speed Workouts
Long Distance Runners
- 400m 1:46.7 to 1:52.9
- 800m 3:43.0 to 3:53.4
- 1000m 4:45.7 to 4:56.6
- 1200m 5:42.8 to 6:00.2
- 1600m 7:46.8 to 8:04.0
- 2000m 9:53.3 to 10:04.9
via The McMillan Running Calculator.
Tags: mcmillan
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Smart Coach Plan Created on 1/5/2009 – loose guide for mileage ramp-up and interval/tempo pacing. I plan on slowing down easy days as much as necessary to complete them. The plan says 8′56″ miles, but Daniels’ 2nd edition has as slow as 9′14″ based on a 21′54″ 5k time.
Start mileage: 51 miles, starting last Monday.
Peak mileage: 74 miles.
Marathon date: 4/19/2009.
Pushups Plan – 2,090 pushups in 10 consecutive days so far. I’m planning on +1% every day until I can’t continue the pattern. No time limit on sets, except for available free time. I’ve been completing the sets within 30 minutes to an hour each day. Hopefully, the workload is light enough to allow consecutive days. The way I’ve done the breakdown, I won’t reach 100 consecutive pushups until June.
Shorter plans:
100 pushups in six “weeks”
200 situps in six “weeks”
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From McMillan Running Calculator:
| Speed Workouts | |
|---|---|
| Long Distance Runners | |
| 400m | 1:35.2 to 1:40.7 – 9.44 mph to 8.93 mph |
| 800m | 3:18.9 to 3:28.2 – 9.04 mph to 8.64 mph |
| 1200m | 5:05.8 to 5:21.3 – 8.64 mph to 8.33 mph |
| 1600m | 6:56.4 to 7:11.7 – 8.64 mph to 8.33 mph |
I’m going to be working with intervals at the 400/800/1200/1600m distances, just to motivate me to do something different.
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7.1 miles in 65 minutes… that’s good for 9′10″ per mile.
Training Begins Again
I ran a day after Thanksgiving Day run last week downtown, but this is the second day of the start of my recovery and build-up to the next marathon, some time in the spring. Goal time: sub-3:30. That will require a peak mileage of at least 60, and an 12-week average mileage of at least 50 miles. That program will start in earnest around January 1st with the Hangover Classic, putting in about 50 miles the first week on the new year. I plan to follow a similar build-up to last year:
In the meantime, I’ll do a quick ramp-up in December including this weekend’s Santa Sprint and Stroll 5k and probably next weekend’s Reindeer Romp 4k (if I can PR in the 5k, then an easy 4k PR will bring me to 10 PRs this year.)
Turkey Day / Marathon Taper and Recovery Bloat
I went from 166 pounds on 11/18/2008 to 172 pounds yesterday, after Flying Monkey Marathon recovery (and eating) and Thanksgiving Day/weekend eating. Dropped down to 170 pounds this morning, so maybe I’ll be in the mid-160s by the end of the year. To help facilitate this progress, I’m back on the wagon tracking calories–it works for me.
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