Training Schedule Guidelines General comments: Each participant is an experiment of one. That is, each of you comes from a different background (running & race experience, injury history) and is in a unique situation with regards to your target race(s), goals, genetics, gender, age, health, motivation to train, and time available to healthfully train given your current priorities. As a result, I have increased the flexibility of our training schedules to more closely pick up where more of you have left off coming into this spring session. Hence, the mileage choices for several days each week and the sublevels within each level. You also have the option to rest, run, or cross train a couple of times each week. Some of you will do better with fewer running days per week while others will thrive with more days. Your objective is to find a specific schedule that works well for you within the general schedule, knowing all along that you can be flexible as needed from one week to the next. Those with race performance goals should try to answer this question: what is the most I can healthfully do in terms of quantity (weekly mileage, number of runs per week) and quality (speed, hill, and goal pace workouts)? Specific comments: I will provide recommendations for each level of the 5K/10K, half marathon, and marathon training schedules in the hopes that this will help guide you towards finding your niche schedule. But first, here are a few items to address for all schedules. A and B sublevels - The A sublevel works best for those starting from a lower mileage background as well as those who can only commit to less miles and fewer workouts per week due to a busy life or a recent history of injury (i.e. they want to ease back into things). However, it can also apply to those who believe that quality works better for them than quantity in this case, they can opt for the higher mileage, but stick with 3 days per week of running. The B sublevel works best for those starting from a higher mileage background (look at the recommended background at the top of the schedule) as well as those who can healthfully commit to more miles and more workouts per week. Cross training Cross training certainly has its place whether your goals are overall health or race performance. Running and walking provide lots of benefits, but they are limited in how much they help with upper body or core strength. Any activity that targets these 2 areas will help you get in better overall shape AND run faster since a stronger middle and upper body leads to less wasted motion while running you become leaner, meaner and more efficient. However, cross training cardio options like spinning or swimming can improve your overall aerobic capacity (ability to convert oxygen to energy) and endurance while keeping the injury risk low since your muscles and joints are given a break from running. You can fit these activities in virtually anywhere, but typically it s more feasible to schedule them on your off days or easy running days. The only no-no is to do lower body weight training like squats the day before or after long runs or hard workouts performance slips and the risk for injury goes up. Injuries Only follow a schedule if you re healthy. If you get injured, all bets are off and your main goal of getting healthy should supercede any previous goal of getting in great shape. Otherwise, you ll set yourself up for ongoing frustration. The quicker you address a potential injury, the less overall anguish you ll have to deal with. Take off 3 days and start back with a very cautious run start slower and do no more than 4 on flat terrain (or walk the hills if you cannot escape them). If it still hurts, take 3 more days off and try again. If that doesn t help, it s time to seek a health professional. Refer to the health directory on our website if you don t have someone. During this period of non-running, it s a good idea to maintain some fitness by doing any cross training that doesn t further aggravate it in the past, indoor biking or spinning, aqua jogging, or walking with an incline on a treadmill have worked well for me. If you re new to these activities, start modestly with a 15-20 minute workout at a moderate effort every other day. Over training If you find out that you were too ambitious and are feeling run down, there s no shame in backing off. In fact, you ll thank yourself later when you find that balance again and ultimately perform better on race day. This is your recreational time, so make it enjoyable and meaningful a positive stress relief instead of more negative stress. Those with a type A personality are wise to substitute cross training for 1-3 workouts since you re likely to overdo it with the running in terms of mileage and pace. When in doubt, back off since it s better to be 10% undertrained than 1% overtrained.
5K/10K Schedules Level IA: Do the Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday workouts. However, they can be done on Mondays-Wednesdays or Mondays-Thursdays. If you travel during the week and find it very hard to get one workout done, you can shoot for Saturday/Sundays and whichever other day will work. Having shared this, settling into a rhythm of every other day or no more than every 3 rd day will bring about greater fitness since you actually start losing running fitness after 3 days consistency is very important for health and critical for optimal race performance. Choose the lower mileage whenever options are presented. However, it s certainly okay to do the higher mileage options as long as it s safe given your background. Using the run/walk method is highly encouraged to get your mileage up more consistently during the week and on Saturdays while keeping the injury risk low. Feel free to sign up for a race in place of any weekend group run and you are encouraged to cross train up to 2 times a week for overall health. Level IB: Run 4 days a week, but it s okay to scale back to 3 days during a busy week. The actual days you run can vary as above so long as no more than 3 days pass between runs. Choose the mid to higher mileage whenever options are presented. However, it s okay to pick the lower options if you like to run frequently but prefer keeping the mileage low. Feel free to sign up for a race in place of any weekend group run and you are encouraged to cross train up to 2 times a week for overall health. Level IIA: Do the Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday workouts. Just as with Level IA, the actual days you run can vary as long as no more than 3 days pass between runs. Choose the lower mileage whenever options are presented. However, it s certainly okay to do the mid or higher mileage options as long as it s safe given your background. Feel free to sign up for a race in place of any weekend group run and you are encouraged to cross train up to 2-3 times a week for overall health. Level IIB: Run 4 or 5 days a week. You re not locked into one or the other do 5 when it works well, but scale back to 4 (or 3) during a busy week. Choose the mid or higher mileage whenever options are presented, especially if you like to run no more than 4 days, but want to get in very good shape. However, it s okay to pick the lower options if you like to run frequently but prefer keeping the mileage low. Feel free to sign up for a race in place of any weekend group run just take the next day off or take it very easy to keep the injury risk low. You are encouraged to cross train up to 2-3 times a week for overall health. Level IIIA: Run 3 or 4 days a week. You re not locked into one or the other do 4 when it works well, but scale back to 3 during a busy week. Just as with Level IA, the actual days you run can vary as long as no more than 3 days them. Feel free to sign up for a race any weekend just scale back the miles (4-6) or take off the day before as well as take the day after off or take it very easy to keep the injury risk low. The importance of races towards overall speed improvement cannot be overstated the best way to get faster is to race at least once a month. You are encouraged to cross train up to 2 times a week for overall health. Level IIIB: Run 5 or 6 days a week. You re not locked into one or the other do 6 when it works well, but scale back to 5 (or less) during a busy week or if you feel tired/less motivated. Choose the mid or higher mileage whenever the mileage low. It s also okay to do fewer miles on your easy days to have more left to give on the hard days. Feel free to sign up for a race any weekend just scale back the miles (6-8) or take off the day before as well as take the day after off or take it very easy to keep the injury risk low. The importance of races towards overall speed improvement cannot be overstated the best way to get faster is to race at least once a month. You are encouraged to cross train up to 2-3 times a week for overall health.
Half Marathon Schedules Level IA: Do the Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday workouts. However, they can be done on Mondays-Wednesdays or Mondays-Thursdays. If you travel during the week and find it very hard to get one workout done, you can shoot for Saturday/Sundays and whichever other day will work. Having shared this, settling into a rhythm of every other day or no more than every 3 rd day will bring about greater fitness since you actually start losing running fitness after 3 days consistency is very important for health and critical for optimal race performance. Choose the lower mileage whenever options are presented. However, it s certainly okay to do the mid or higher mileage options as long as it s safe given your background. Using the run/walk method is highly encouraged to get your mileage up more consistently during the week and on Saturdays while keeping the injury risk low. Sign up for a race in place of any weekend group run and you are encouraged to cross train up to 2 times a week for overall health. Level IB: Run 4 days a week, but it s okay to scale back to 3 during a busy week. The actual days you run can vary as above so long as no more than 3 days pass between runs. Choose the mid or higher mileage whenever options are presented. However, it s okay to pick the lower options if you like to run frequently but prefer keeping the mileage low. Sign up for a race any weekend just scale back the miles on Saturday (4-6) if it s a Sunday race and rest the day after to keep the injury risk low. You are encouraged to cross train up to 2-3 times a week for overall health. Level IIA: Do the Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday workouts. Just as with Level IA, the actual days you run can vary as long as no more than 3 days pass between runs. Choose the lower mileage whenever options are presented. However, it s okay to do the mid or higher mileage options as long as it s safe given your background. Sign up for a race any weekend just scale back the miles on Saturday (6-8) if it s a Sunday race and rest the day after to keep the injury risk low. You are encouraged to cross train up to 2-3 times a week for overall health. Level IIB: Run 4 or 5 days a week. You re not locked into one or the other do 5 when it works well, but scale back to 4 (or 3) during a busy week. Choose the mid or higher mileage whenever options are presented, especially if you like to run no more than 4 days, but want to get in very good shape. However, it s okay to pick the lower options if you like to run frequently but prefer keeping the mileage low. Sign up for a race any weekend just scale back the miles on Saturday (8-10) if it s a Sunday race and rest the day after to keep the injury risk low. You are encouraged to cross train up to 3 times a week for overall health. *Now that a Level IV has been added, Level III is a lower mileage option with just 1 speed workout a week. It is essentially Level II with speedwork. This should make it more approachable for anyone aiming for a specifc time goal but who is not able to commit to the training demands of our former Level III schedules. Level IIIA: Run 3 or 4 days a week. You re not locked into one or the other do 4 when it works well, but scale back to 3 during a busy week. Just as with Level IA, the actual days you run can vary as long as no more than 3 days Sign up for a race any weekend just skip any goal pace miles or scale back on the miles (10-12) the Saturday before speed improvement cannot be overstated the best way to get faster is to race at least one tune up race. Level IIIB: Run 4 or 5 days a week. You re not locked into one or the other do 5 when it works well, but scale back to 4 (or less) during a busy week or if you feel tired/less motivated. Choose the mid or higher mileage whenever
Sign up for a race any weekend just skip any goal pace miles or scale back on the miles (12-16) the Saturday before speed improvement cannot be overstated the best way to get faster is to race at least one or two tune up races. Level IVA: Run 4 or 5 days a week. You re not locked into one or the other do 5 when it works well, but scale back to 4 during a busy week. Just as with Level IA, the actual days you run can vary as long as no more than 3 days Sign up for a race any weekend just skip any goal pace miles or scale back on the miles (10-12) the Saturday before speed improvement cannot be overstated the best way to get faster is to race at least two tune up races. Level IVB: Run 5 or 6 days a week. You re not locked into one or the other do 6 when it works well, but scale back to 5 (or less) during a busy week or if you feel tired/less motivated. Choose the mid or higher mileage whenever Sign up for a race any weekend just skip any goal pace miles or scale back on the miles (12-16) the Saturday before speed improvement cannot be overstated the best way to get faster is to race at least two or three tune up races. Marathon Schedules Level IA: Do the Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday workouts. However, they can be done on Mondays-Wednesdays or Mondays-Thursdays. If you travel during the week and find it very hard to get one workout done, you can shoot for Saturday/Sundays and whichever other day will work. Having shared this, settling into a rhythm of every other day or no more than every 3 rd day will bring about greater fitness since you actually start losing running fitness after 3 days consistency is very important for health and critical for optimal race performance. Choose the lower mileage whenever options are presented. However, it s certainly okay to do the mid or higher mileage options as long as it s safe given your background. Sign up for a race any weekend just go slower on Saturday if it s a Sunday race to keep the injury risk low. You are encouraged to cross train up to 2 times a week for overall health. Level IB: Run 4 days a week, but it s okay to scale back to 3 during a busy week. The actual days you run can vary as above so long as no more than 3 days pass between runs. Choose the mid or higher mileage whenever options are presented. However, it s okay to pick the lower options if you like to run frequently but prefer keeping the mileage low. Sign up for a race any weekend just go slower on Saturday if it s a Sunday race and rest the day after to keep the injury risk low. You are encouraged to cross train up to 2-3 times a week for overall health. Level IIA: Do the Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday workouts. Just as with Level IA, the actual days you run can vary as long as no more than 3 days pass between runs. Choose the lower mileage whenever options are presented. However, it s okay to do the mid or higher mileage options as long as it s safe given your background. Sign up for a race any weekend just go slower on Saturday if it s a Sunday race and rest the day after to keep the injury risk low. You are encouraged to cross train up to 2-3 times a week for overall health.
Level IIB: Run 4 or 5 days a week. You re not locked into one or the other do 5 when it works well, but scale back to 4 (or 3) during a busy week. Choose the mid or higher mileage whenever options are presented, especially if you like to run no more than 4 days, but want to get in very good shape. However, it s okay to pick the lower options if you like to run frequently but prefer keeping the mileage low. Sign up for a race any weekend just go slower on Saturday if it s a Sunday race and rest the day after to keep the injury risk low. You are encouraged to cross train up to 3 times a week for overall health. *Now that a Level IV has been added, Level III is a lower mileage option with just 1 speed workout a week. It is essentially Level II with speedwork. This should make it more approachable for anyone aiming for a specifc time goal but who is not able to commit to the training demands of our former Level III schedules. Level IIIA: Run 3 or 4 days a week. You re not locked into one or the other do 4 when it works well, but scale back to 3 during a busy week. As with Level IA, the actual days you run can vary as long as no more than 3 days Sign up for a race any weekend just skip any goal pace miles and go slower the Saturday before (if it s a Sunday race) to keep the injury risk low. A long, relaxed run followed by a 5K-10K race the next day is an excellent endurance/speed combination. Rest the day after or take it very easy to keep the injury risk low as well. Saturdays are important enough that the less you have to change, the better you ll perform on race day. This is why you should seriously consider doing the suggested races on the schedule. The importance of races towards overall speed improvement cannot be overstated the best way to get faster is to race at least one tune up race. Level IIIB: Run 4 or 5 days a week. You re not locked into one or the other do 5 when it works well, but scale back to 4 (or less) during a busy week or if you feel tired/less motivated. Choose the mid or higher mileage whenever Feel free to sign up for a race any weekend just skip any goal pace miles or scale back on the miles (12-16) the day before to keep the injury risk low. A long, relaxed run followed by a 5K-10K race the next day is an excellent endurance/speed combination. Rest the day after or take it very easy to keep the injury risk low as well. Saturdays are important enough that the less you have to change, the better you ll perform on race day. This is why speed improvement cannot be overstated the best way to get faster is to race at least one or two tune up races. Level IVA: Run 4 or 5 days a week. You re not locked into one or the other do 5 when it works well, but scale back to 4 during a busy week. Just as with Level IA, the actual days you run can vary as long as no more than 3 days Sign up for a race any weekend just skip any goal pace miles or scale back on the miles (10-12) the Saturday before speed improvement cannot be overstated the best way to get faster is to race at least two tune up races. Level IVB: Run 5 or 6 days a week. You re not locked into one or the other do 6 when it works well, but scale back to 5 (or less) during a busy week or if you feel tired/less motivated. Choose the mid or higher mileage whenever
Sign up for a race any weekend just skip any goal pace miles or scale back on the miles (12-16) the Saturday before speed improvement cannot be overstated the best way to get faster is to race at least two or three tune up races. *A word of caution to those who intend to do the 6 or more 20 milers go slower! You are clearly aiming for quantity so don t mix up too much quality (except for the 2 workouts asking for goal pace miles) with it or your chances of over training or injury will be at a high risk.