In my last Hospital Hill blog post, I talked about when you should start training. In this post, I would like to share a training plan I put together.
I made this plan based on a few I found online, as well as my own experiences training for races. I am not a certified coach, or a running coach at all for that matter, but I do believe this is a good schedule based off my experiences.
This schedule is great for intermediate runners, or someone wanting to get back into running and challenge themselves. If you would like to follow a more advanced schedule, add miles to your Tuesday/Wednesday workouts (which happen to be your harder workout days). I have been using schedules very similar to the one below for years, and my hard days and total mileage adjust to the race and goal I have.
For a larger view, click on the schedule and it will open in a new window.
This schedule is listed by week, Monday – Sunday. I like to start my weeks on Monday for a couple reasons, the main one being that this is the way Daily Mile tracks your training 🙂
At the top of this schedule, it includes an overview of what that day of the week will usually look like. For example, Monday and Friday are off days, Tuesday and Thursday are your hard days, etc. You will notice not every week follows that format, but the majority of your weeks will.
Your first two weeks of training are about getting getting used to your new routine. You should already have a base built up and be able to run the first couple weeks of miles easily. If you cannot run 4 miles at a time, it might not be time to train for this race.
Take these runs easy and get in your groove. Sticking to your first two weeks will be the hardest, but the most important. These two weeks will help you get into a routine and build a base for the harder weeks ahead.
Now for the rest of the schedule….
Off Days
On this schedule, off days are suggested as Monday and Friday. I find that it can be hard to get runs in on Mondays, and Fridays are just a great day to take off. I prefer 2 days off a week, and 3 days off if you do intense cross training throughout the week (spin, bootcamp, etc).
Hill Workouts
Tuesdays of this training will be your hill days. You are running Hospital Hill, so you definitely don’t want to forget this vital part of training! You can do your hill workouts a couple ways. One being to find a a good hill, and do repeats (run hard up the hill, recover on the way down, do it again). Another way is to plan out a hilly route and run hard on all the uphills. Try to get in a 2-4 hills per workout. Your first mile of this workout should be easy to warm up your body. Then the middle mile(s) will be for the hill work.
If you are more of a beginner runner, don’t stress on hill repeats. Just be sure to get some hills into your training or the race will be very tough.
Tempo Runs
A tempo run is picking up the pace and running faster for a couple miles. During these runs, you will leave your comfort level. Try to run 30 seconds to one minute per mile faster than you normally do (example if you are training at 10min/mile pace, try to run 9:30-9:00min/mile pace). This will feel hard the first couple weeks, but then you will get into the groove and feel yourself getting fast (which is very exciting!!).
Long Runs
On this schedule, your long runs will be on Saturdays. While I realize that not everyone’s schedule will allow for Saturday long runs, but it has worked best for most people I know. If it doesn’t work for you, switch your Friday or Sunday to be your long run. This schedule works your way up slowly to 12 miles. While 12 might sound crazy right now, you will be pleasantly surprised with yourself on this run if you follow your schedule in the weeks prior!
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If at anytime during your training, you feel an injury coming on, listen to your body and take a break. If you don’t think you can do another day of hills or tempo work – that is OK too. We want you at the starting line injuring free and happy as can be!
Any questions about this or want me to message/email you the file of this schedule?
Two options…
Email me: mileswithstyle (at) gmail (dot) comFacebook me: http://www.facebook.com/MileswithStyle
Good luck, and happy training!!!
xo,
Ali
miles with style 