Monday: Four miles easy. That's a mile more than you've run on Mondays in this program so far, but you're ready. This is a high-mileage week (50 total), so don't overdo today's workout, regardless of how good you might feel. You had a long run of 19 miles yesterday; you'll have a longer run of 20 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 tempo run today is 45 minutes, repeating your run from last Thursday. Can you stay near peak speed just a bit longer? Although I will have you do one tempo run of 50 minutes in two weeks, 45 minutes seems to me the optimum distance. Run much longer than 45 minutes (5 or 6 miles of running for most runners) and the quality of the workout begins to suffer because of the sheer quantity of the miles run. The Kenyans achieve success by doing hard tempo runs for an hour or more, but most runners would break down if faced with this level of stress. Since quality is a major consideration in any training program, I'd rather not see you push beyond 45 minutes.

Wednesday: We're socking it to you this week. Even though this is billed as an "easy" day, the mileage is 5 miles, an increase from previous weeks. 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.

Thursday: Four miles, but at your planned marathon pace. This should be a workout that you could run with your hands tied behind your back, humming the theme from Star Wars and cheerfully greeting everybody you meet on the jogging path. Nevertheless, if you want to achieve success in the marathon, you need to focus on what you are doing and try to hit these splits right on! For this reason, you might want to do a brief warm-up, including some stretching before starting your watch.

Friday: You'll need today's rest, given what's planned for the weekend. 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 the low-carbohydrate diets that some people use for losing weight. They don't work for endurance athletes.

Saturday: Ten 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 10 miles of the marathon course. 

Sunday: The Big 20--and it comes at the end of a 45-mile week. I've emphasized on previous pages that I would rather have you do the long runs slow rather than fast. Here's one reason. Part of your training is to become used to being on your feet the same length of time as in the marathon. So slow down and take your time. The purpose of today's workout is to train yourself psychologically as much as physically. You have to know how and when to hold back in the early miles. If this means, doing more walking mid-workout while taking fluids, do it. Better to walk now than in the marathon.

 

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, having sold over 50,000 copies so far. It is designed to help runners improve their 5-K and 10-K times, but the information you'll find in this handy book can help you with all of your training, from beginner to marathoner. To order an autographed copy of this and other books by Runner's World's best writer go to Books by Hal Higdon.

 

Copyright © 2001 by Hal Higdon. All rights reserved.