Frankenplan

You may have noticed that my blog has a different appearance.  I'm working on updating it using some of the new features in Blogger, so don't be surprised if it changes more.  In particular, I'm trying to figure out how to make it so the majority of the background image isn't off-screen or upload my own image.  Stay tuned.


It's been about 3½ weeks since I officially started marathon training.  I think I've settled into a good training plan, so I'd like to share it with you.  I decided to base it off of Hal Higdon's Advanced 1 plan, with some modifications for triathlon training.  When developing my plan, I kept a few rules in mind.

1. Running is the priority
2. Swimming is my weakness
3. Swim at least 2 times per week
4. Bike at least 2 times per week
5. A plan isn't set in stone, so listen to my body
6. Run a 3:45 marathon

With those in mind, I crafted a schedule as follows.

Mondays: Bike.  In the marathon plan, Mondays are recovery days with runs of 3-5 miles.  So, I'm replacing that run with a bike that will take similar amounts of time.  I'm at 30 minutes of biking now, and will start increasing that once July hits.

Tuesdays: Run sorta-long, and swim.  Following Hal's program, Tuesdays runs increase from 5 miles in week 1 to 10 miles in the longest weeks.  I'll keep it at a moderate pace, with the occasional 3/1 run thrown in for fun.  I also throw in an afternoon swim of about 30 minutes for recovery/swimming improvement.

Wednesdays: Bike, and optional swim.  Same theory as Mondays, although I typically also do a swim on Wednesdays.

Thursdays: Speedwork and swim.  Thursdays are hard days.  Each week, I alternate hill repeats, tempo runs, and intervals.  Hill repeats start with 3 repeats, increasing to 7.  Tempo runs start at 30 minutes, increasing to 45.  Intervals are almost exclusively 800s.  I plan on making a few of these interval workouts Yasso 800s.  I also do another 30 minute swim on Thursdays.

Fridays: Rest.  It's tough, but I make myself take a rest day.

Saturdays: Pace Runs.  Most weeks are pace runs at my target marathon pace (TMP).  These help me internalize my TMP so that it is second nature at the race.  Some weeks, this is just a run (not a pace run).  Distances increase from 5 miles to 10 miles.

Sundays: LSD.  This may be my toughest day, and not because of the distance.  With a TMP of 8'36"/mile, my long runs should be somewhere between 9'20" and 10'10"/mile.  I tend to run these too fast.  My task is to slow these down—and it helps that the Saturday workout is tougher, because that tires the legs a bit and forces me to run slower.  Distances start at 10 miles, and increases to 3 20 mile runs.  Every 3rd week is a stepback week.

That's my plan, and it's working pretty well.  I've already done some modifications, but keep the overall philosophy constant.  For example, this past weekend, we went to Cleary Lake to ride the bike course.  Since it was an hour ride at a tougher pace for me, it tired me out sufficiently for Sunday's LSD.  Then, I converted today's 6 mile sorta-long run into a 6 mile pace run.  So, I'm still getting sufficient training in for the marathon, while building endurance/strength on the swimming and biking.