Thursday, March 11, 2010

My Marathon Training Plan

As a continuation of my post on misconception of training, I wanted to put down my training plan I followed for my marathon.  If you have any questions, need help looking over your plan, finding a plan or even have feedback on my plan, I would love to hear from you.

Below is an overview of my 16 week marathon training of what my long run and total miles were.  Even though I only listed my long run miles below, I also tried to incorporate a day of speedwork (track workout, usually 800's or fartleks), tempo run and goal paced run.  I didn't however follow that exactly (some days were just "runs") but my intention was each run would have a purposed. After I built up to the 18 and 20 mile runs, then long runs under 18 had a lot of goal pace miles included.  Above 18 miles I didn't care what my pace was. The goal was to get used to running long miles and staying on my feet.


Week 1 - Total Miles 23 - Long Run 10
Week 2 - Total Miles 21 - Long Run 10- incorporated as a race.  Long warmup and double header race
Week 3 - Total Miles 4 - Long Run 0 - Grand Canyon Trip (recovery week)
Week 4 - Total Miles 35 - Long Run 16.5 (my miles prior to week 1 had been in low 30's.  Otherwise I would never jump from 23 to 35 in one week)
Week 5 - Total Miles 32 - Long Run 20
Week 6 - Total Miles 3 - Long Run 0 (this is the week I fell and twisted my knee)
Week 7 - Total Miles 25 - Long Run 13 (Tucson half marathon was my long run)
Week 8 - Total Miles 23 - Long Run 14
Week 9 - Total Miles 41 - Long Run 22
Week 10 - Total Miles 38 - Long Run 16
Week 11 - Total Miles 40 - Long Run 22
Week 12 - Total Miles 35 - Long Run 16
Week 13 - Total Miles 41 - Long Run 20
Week 14 - Total Miles 26 - Long Run 15
Week 15 - Total Miles 23 - Long Run 8
Week 16 - Miles week of marathon 7 - MARATHON


Here is what I learned from doing this exercise.  DON'T STRESS SO MUCH.  I had 2 weeks in my training that were under 5 miles in the week. I stressed about those at the time.  Obviously it turned out ok and the downtime and rest was probably well needed and deserved.

7 comments:

Johann said...

I agree with you 100%. Don't stress too much. Missed workouts are usually a blessing. If I miss runs for some reason I never catch up on what I missed. I just continue with my plan.

Pining for Pinterest said...

It looks like you did a wonderful job!!! Way to go :-)

Anonymous said...

while i agree with you in principle it's soooo hard for me to not stress or obsess or worry about every little thing during training and feel like i'm not doing enough. it's easy in hindsight to see missed workouts as a blessing in disguise but any tips for handling it in the moment? when i need to modify or change or skip a workout i get all anxious about it!

Natalia said...

Christina, following your progress through your marathon training was an inspiration! I loved your focus and drive, and one day, I am sure I will have the opportunity to re-read your big girl panties-post!

Running Through Life said...

Thanks for sharing the training plan. I especially appreciate the not stressing advice. I hurt my foot last night and postponed my run until tonight. I was a little stressed, but realizing it doesn't make much difference in the big picture.

Lindsay said...

your long runs seem to be pretty on-target and those are the most important in marathon training. not-stressing is definitely important (but sometimes i just can't help it!)

David Tiefenthaler said...

You have to just keep on keeping on when you have a bad week. I often pretend that if I had a bad week (due to illness or life getting in the way) it was probably just as taxing physically on me as running. The next week, I just run what I would have planned if I had run my normal mileage.