Monday: Cross-Training. This is a high-mileage week (44 total), so don't overdo today's workout, regardless of which cross-training discipline you select. You had a long run of 17 miles yesterday; you'll have a longer run of 18 miles at the end of this week. You are now into the 11th week of my 18-week Marathon Training program with five weeks left to go before the taper begins. Hopefully, you have begun to see some improvements in fitness since when you began a long, long time ago in a distant galaxy. Maybe you've lost some weight. If not that, you probably have built some muscle and lowered your percentage of body fat. You look better and feel better. Congratulate yourself on your perseverance so far.

Tuesday: Your easy run today is 5 miles, up a mile from previous Tuesdays. The mileage buildup continues. You will burn an extra 100 or so calories because of this extra mile. If you're trying to lose weight, you may consider this an advantage--but losing too much weight can get you in trouble! Be sure to watch your diet. In fact, you probably need to increase your carbohydrate intake on all days of the week to compensate for the extra miles you’re starting to run. You can’t train well while glycogen-depleted.

Wednesday: Eight miles. I like to refer to this midweek workout as a "sorta" long run. Not quite as long as on the weekend, but sorta long, more than you usually do. It is an essential part of your training program. Be sure to take these sorta long runs seriously. 

Thursday: The purpose of this 5-miler is to continue to build mileage while not doing too much on any one day. Remember to keep this at a comfortable pace. By now, this should be a workout that you could run with your hands tied behind your back, humming the Abba's Dancing Queen and cheerfully greeting everybody you meet on the jogging path. Don't push the pace too hard today, because you have 26 miles of running to do on the weekend. Yes, that's right: 26, but split into two days.

Friday: Today is a day of rest. If tonight is "Date Night" and you go out for dinner, as I often do with my wife Rose at the end of the week, pick from the menu well. A well-balanced diet for runners is to obtain 55 percent of calories from carbohydrates, 30 percent from fats and 15 percent from proteins. Complex carbohydrates found in pasta, rice and fruit are the best. It's one reason why runners often wind up in Italian restaurants on Friday nights. Forget fad low-carbohydrate diets that some people use for losing weight. They don't work for endurance athletes.

Saturday: Eight miles, but slower than marathon pace. This should be a relatively easy run over a moderately long distance. You don't want to push too hard, because of tomorrow's long run. If you decide to flip-flop days and do your long run on Saturday followed by this run on Sunday, be particularly conservative about the pace. As a mind game, visualize yourself running over the last 6-8 miles of the marathon course. 

Sunday: Run 18 miles, another landmark of sorts. When you pass this point in the marathon, you'll only have 8 miles to run. ("Only?" Did he really say "only?") Check back to Saturday's workout when you ran exactly that distance. Add 18 and 8, and you get 26 for the weekend. Okay, you'll still have another 385 yards to run on race day, but I'm sure you can pull it off. Given the fact that this is at the end of your workout week, monitor your body signals throughout this run. Any extra fatigue? Or do you feel like you could run even harder. It's usually a good idea to not push yourself too hard, but if you want to pick up the pace for the last 4-5 miles of this 18-mile run, I won't stick out my leg to trip you. Finishing fast will convert this into a classic 3/1 workout, where you run the first 3/4 of the workout at cruise pace, then push the final 1/4. This is a maneuver I only recommend for very experienced runners--and not every weekend.

 

Tip of the Week: Occasional racing may be important for marathon success. Particularly this is true for Novice runners who have raced infrequently--or not at all--before catching the Marathon Bug. One reason for racing is to test your fitness: to get an idea of how fast a pace you will be able to carry in the marathon. Another is to test all your strategies from the shoes you'll wear to grabbing fluids at water stations. Leave nothing to chance. Too much racing, however, can lead to overtraining, so don't overdo it.

How to Improve: Run Fast is one of Hal Higdon's most popular books, a best-seller with 75,000 copies in print. It is designed to help runners improve their 5-K to the half marathon, but the information you'll find in this handy book can help you with all of your training, including the marathon. To order an autographed copy of this and other books by Runner's World's best writer go to Books by Hal Higdon.

 

Copyright © 2000 by Hal Higdon. All rights reserved.