Monday: Monday is a day of rest. It doesn't seem like you need to rest after only a 6-miler over the weekend, but you will be thankful for your Monday rest days as the program continues. While taking the day off, evaluate how you felt after your first week of marathon training. For some of you, it may have been your first serious week of training as a runner. There's a difference between "training" and simply "running" or "jogging." A lot of people play at running, going out for an occasional run on weekends, if the weather is good. Sometimes they'll run three or four days in a row--then skip several weeks before running again. But that's not training. Training is when you follow a schedule, such as this one, where each day has a purpose. If the weather is bad, you still run. If you have important business, you simply rise an hour early to run. Why? Because I told you to! And if Hal tells you to rest, you rest. Pay attention, follow my directions, and I'll get you to the finish line 17 weeks from today. That's a promise!

Tuesday: Today's workout is a run of 3 miles at a comfortable pace, the same as last week on Tuesday and the same as next week on Tuesday. This workout shouldn't take a great deal of your time: 30 minutes if you run at a 10:00-mile pace. But forget I said that! I don't want you to go out and time yourself for 3 miles. In fact, your course doesn't need to be precisely 3 miles. It can be about that distance. The easiest way to pick a course of 3 miles would be to get in your car and figure out how far you need to run to go about half that distance (1.5 miles), either from your home, from your office or from wherever you plan to run on Tuesdays. Then run this 1.5-mile course out and back. Don't wear a watch, at least for the time being.

Wednesday: Another 3-miler. This is your "hard" day of the week. If you want to run a bit faster than yesterday, do so. Today's 3-miler is also the same as last week's Tuesday workout, but next week you move up to 4 miles. As the program continues, the Wednesday mileage will increase 1 mile every second week until you reach a peak of 10 miles on Wednesday in Week 4. It's all part of my Grand Plan to get you in shape for the marathon. And trust me: You will succeed! 

Thursday: Still another 3-miler! It seems like we're in a rut, but don't worry: Next week the midweek workouts take a slight bump upwards in distance. Most of the mileage changes from week to week in this program are "slight." Slight changes will gradually get you in shape--and that's the best way. Slight changes will do it, but for the time being, be content with your third 3-miler in 3 days. The simplest and easiest way to accomplish a 3-mile workout is to run the same measured course each time. But consider having separate Tuesday and Thursday courses. Particularly as the program continues, you may want to bring some variety to your workouts.

Friday: This is a day of rest. Seemingly, you don't need a rest day now, but wait until your weekend runs start getting longer. I've been focusing on course measurement in some of my comments this week. You might even call this the "Theme for Week 2." So if you're looking for something to do with your extra time while not running today, jump in the car and go out and measure a series of courses from 3 miles up. You'll use them during the remaining weeks of this Marathon Training Program.

Saturday: Run 7 miles. In your second week, you now have gone from 6 to 7 miles for your long run. This doesn't seem like much of a jump, but steady increases in distance will help prepare you for the stress of running 26 miles. Don't worry too much about how fast you run in these early weeks. Just run at a pace that will allow you to cover the 7-mile distance easily. Feel free to take some walking breaks in the middle of your run. And remind yourself: You're doing great! Today you've finished your second week of marathon training.

Sunday: Take an hour and go for a walk, or bike ride, or do some swimming. This is your cross-training day, and it's here for two purposes. One, you want to train for about an hour to improve your aerobic base. Two, you want to exercise differently to both loosen your running muscles and allow them to recover. Don't underestimate the value of this second weekend workout. It's important!

 

Tip of the Week: Easy days are as important in your training plan as hard days. You won't get the full benefits of the progressive long-run buildup on the weekends, unless you rest before and after. Resting on Fridays and Mondays allows you to run harder on Saturdays and Sundays, when you will have more time to spend on your workouts. The marathon is 17 weeks away, but your success depends on the steady base that you are building now.

How to Improve: Hal Higdon's How To Train offers training schedules and advice on everything from fitness walking to running the marathon. Plus there's information on nutrition and recovering from injuries. Add a copy of this book to your collection. 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.