I love making training plans. It's like a puzzle! (And you know how much I love puzzles...) How does one fit it all in? This is the plan I made myself for the Capital Area 10-miler on April 2nd. A few things to note...1. My weeks are actual weeks this time. (Sometimes I make them longer.)
2. There's one speed workout each week- either 400s or 800s. I will most likely do these on the treadmill. I was a little conservative for the number of intervals I do. I may do more each session if my body is holding up!
4. Saturdays are tempo runs where I will do a portion at race pace.
5. I'm running 6 days, lifting upper body 2 days, and resting 1 day.
6. I'm gradually working my mileage up to 40 miles per week. (If you look at my plan and wonder why the numbers don't add up to much, it's because I'm adding a 1.5 mile w/u and c/d to my speed work and tempo runs.)
7. I want to keep my easy runs truly easy. Tuesdays I put "moderate" to allow myself to run a little faster if I feel like it. It won't be a speed session or anything like that, I just mean on those runs I will give myself a little wiggle room.
8. My goal is to run a 1:12:30 or faster.
Do you like designing training plans?
Looks awesome! I "design" my weekly training plan based on my schedule and the weather. Try to always fit in 4 runs, 2 other (swim in the winter, bike and swim in the summer) and my total rest day which I need and look forward to! Winter makes it a bit more challenging because I never want to have to run inside so I really have to get creative to deal w/ our snow situation. I am excited for you. You are doing to go GREAT.
ReplyDeleteI am hoping weather does not affect my plan I wrote, but let's face it, it probably will! I mean, the past 2 months I have dictated what I did by weather! I think that the best part about not training for something specific in the winter is that you can just do what fits the weather best.
DeleteAt least you have the treadmill. When I ran on a treadmill at home I never even thought twice about the weather. I didn't realize how "lucky" I was (ultimately not really lucky since my body does not do well on that machine). I think we are coming to the time of year when snow becomes less of an issue which is great. Remember, be committed to your goal but flexible in your plans. You are already in fabulous shape that you can do this even if your training doesn't go exactly according to plant.
DeleteI'm excited for you! I agree it is tough sometimes to fit multiple disciplines into one day. Lots of times morning and afternoon workouts are optimal, although I've only really done that when training for a relay.
ReplyDeleteI know am and pm work for a lot of people but that is just not my style. I mean, if I HAD to do it I would, but I would rather get up SUPER early and get it all done at once. I love knowing that when I am done, I'm done. But again, if a split workout was my only choice I would do it. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
Delete4:45 am .... holy cow. Anything before 7am on a weekday for me is rough. To get up at 4:45 would be crazy. I read a study out of Oxford university yesterday that said the optimal time for humans to start their day is at 11am. I didn't read the study in depth so I don't know if it's some bogus researcher who wrote it to get press or if it's super scientific, but I like the sound of it haha!
ReplyDeleteI love that you write your numbers right there on the training plan and that everything is color coordinated!
START the day at 11am or wake up at 11am? Because on the weekends, I usually wake up whenever, drink coffee and puzzle and fiddle on my computer until 11 and THEN I go for my run, which I consider the first real start to my day. :)
DeleteI had fun color coordinating my plan! :) It helped that I had a new pack of crayons on my desk.
I think wake up at 11am! Something about that wake up time being ideal with our circadian rhythm. On the weekends I sometimes don't wake up until 11 (or noon, oops) and I can say that it feels right, haha!
DeleteAt least it is getting lighter earlier in the mornings...4:45 on a work day is rough. I will get up to get in a long run at 4:15--but on a weekend, when I can play the "nap card". The earliest I will do on a weekday is 5:15...otherwise, I am toast! I prefer to get my plans from another resource. If I make them, I tend to be too flexible and not stick to it...
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, any time with a "4" in front of it... even if it's "4:59" just sounds so much earlier than something with a "5" in front of it! The earliest I get up is 5:00am on a week day, but generally I do 5:45... which again for some reason sounds so much earlier than 6:00!!
DeleteThere's only one thing I love better than sitting down and writing out plans and lists on fresh paper with a great pen: deviating from the plan. I can never practically follow anything to a T because life is just so all over the shop.
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited for your plan! You're going to do great! I have no doubt you'll nail your goal.
Aint that the truth!! At least it is nice to have the plan to look at and rearrange if needed. I really wanted to bag my 8 miles this morning. Ugh.
DeleteI love plans. I love structure.
ReplyDeleteI used to get up at 4:45 on the regular when I worked. On top of a 45 minute commute, my vanity woke me up early so that I can style my hair, lol!
That is a long commute! Luckily mine is only 15 minutes otherwise I can totally see getting up earlier than 5am.
DeleteGreat job on your plan! I think it looks so reasonable in terms how how much time you are devoting. It also looks very effective based on your plan for pacing and how you've spaced out your runs each week. Plus, I love all of the pretty colors you've used :) I can't wait to see how you fly. 1:12 is a great goal, speedy! Love it!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I know you know your shit, so the fact that you think this plan is manageable and could work means a lot!
DeleteI do think it's fun to write up a training plan, although I am not making up my own, just rearranging the days to fit my schedule. Which is often like a puzzle to figure out which days I am going to wash my hair on!! (true story!) I've got the routine down pat now. Mon, Thurs, Fri ;) Good luck, it looks like a well constructed plan!!
ReplyDeleteI agree, even if you're switching around an already made plan, that is also fun!
DeleteI prefer to double up on some days if it means getting a complete rest day. Maybe you could lift on Sunday since it looks like that is also an easy run day? I love the feeling of starting a new training plan!
ReplyDeleteIt is a great feeling for sure! I am going to have to decide about that Wed. I know tomorrow I am NOT lifting. I think for this week I will move it to Friday. I am actually still sore from Monday! I could lift Fri/Sun and leave Mon as complete rest or move Wed lift to Fri and not have a complete rest. (When I lift I only do upper body so at least my legs will still get 2 days off.)
DeleteOmg I do remember your giant slice!!!!! Man, go big or go home, right?
ReplyDeleteI am already adjusting. I don't know why I thought I could lift and run all in one morning. Well I could I just realized I don't want to. HAHAHA
How DO you decide how many repeats to do for 400s or 800s? I never know, so I just decide on a mileage and then repeat until I hit it haha.
ReplyDeleteThis plan looks solid and tough. You're gonna be a BEAST!
Well I have to be honest I read the Hanson book about marathon training. :) So I looked at how many intervals they were doing in the advanced plan there and I was like, holy crap that's A LOT of intervals. And I haven't done speed work in so long. So I started low just to see how it went. I don't want to injure myself by going from 0 to 60 all at once, you know what I mean? So I tested the waters and last week I did 8x400 and then this week I did 6x800. I think that was a good starting point for my. I felt throw uppy without actually throwing up. So next week I think I am going to stick with 8x400 but try to do the intervals a little faster.
DeleteSo basically, I just make shit up. :)
I like designing training plans for other people, but not myself. I much prefer someone else design my training plan (with my input of course).
ReplyDeleteJust a side note - since you like puzzles so much, I wonder if you would do really well on those challenges if you were on Survivor! :)
Unless it was a jigsaw puzzle of a happy little town or a couple of cats, I don't think I would be good at those Survivor puzzles! Let alone the fact that they are so hungry and dehydrated!
DeleteYour plan looks great! I can't even imagine getting up out of bed with a digit 4 appearing at the beginning. Only to pee I guess, lol.
ReplyDeleteSame here!
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