The Marathon Program
Built for the athlete who is either just getting into the sport of running or has a busy schedule. Each week is focused on improvement without exposing the body to injuries. This plan is simplistic but the emphasis is on consistency. If you follow this week by week you will become a stronger athlete who can then decide to move on to a harder schedule or enjoy the fitness gains from this.
Note: To start, the athlete should be able to do 60mins of exercise. If you are not up to this level I would recommend you doing all of the runs in the format of running/jogging for 10mins and walking for 1min. This is a great way to allow your body to adapt to the stresses of running and also gives you a mental break. I used this technique when I first started running.
Week 1/2 – Three runs consisting of two runs of 40mins and one of 80mins. Each run should feel comfortable. Comfortable means you can have a conversation throughout the entire time. Do a couple checks to make sure by talking out loud (if you’re running by yourself). Make sure to especially keep the long run (LR) easy.
Spread the runs out if your schedule can handle it. Try to give yourself an extra day of recovery following the 80min long run.
Week 3 – 3 x 30mins. Yes this may sound easy and a lot of people skip there easy weeks but to improve you must recover. Break the body down and then let it recover. It’s a simple science yet so many people follow into the trap of always trying to improve.
Week 4/5 – Keep with the two runs of 40mins and increase your LR by 10mins (90mins). Since you now have 3 weeks of “base” you can now handle a slightly more stressful schedule. Plus its fun to mix it up.
In the 40mins, do 4-6: 20s pick ups. Basically run a little harder for a short period of time. Race through a light or to a telephone pole. These small changes help the body adapt to harder stress but in short spurts. A great way to improve speed without taxing the body. The remainder of the runs and the LR are still in the comfortable state.
Week 6 – 4 x 30mins. Keep it easy but adding an additional run will help spread the load. Do the runs in the morning to make sure that you do them.
Week 7/8 – 2 x 40mins and 100min LR. Now with a little more speed you can handle a bit harder training session. Within the 40mins, do 5×2mins at a harder pace and recover for 2mins. An easy way to do this workout is to find a hill that is reasonably short and run up and down it. Hill repeats. The 2mins up the hill should feel tough and the 2mins back down should feel quite easy. The LR is still easy.
Week 9 – 4 x 30mins. Keep it easy and let the body rest.
Week 10/11 – 2 x 40mins and 110LR. Keep with the same hill routine except bump it up to 6×2mins. LR is still easy.
Week 12 – 4 x 30mins. Easy and comfortable
Week 13/14 – 2 x 40mins and LR of 120mins. The 40min runs are going back to the 20s pickups (4-6). This is because the 120min long run will put a lot of stress on your body. This is a hard week so make sure to stay focused.
Week 15 – 3 x 30mins. Keep sticking to these easy runs. There going to seem short but they will help.
Week 16/17 – 2 x 60min runs and LR of 80min. Yes it’s a bit of a switch up but it’s done on purpose. The 60min runs are meant for speed. The workout is 5×5mins @ goal race pace. What’s your race pace? Well if you don’t have a time in mind than do it by perceived exertion, meaning test different speeds and see if you think you could keep that pace going for 2hours+. If you cannot than chancres are you went out too fast. Practice is the key to dialing in your pace. Rest 2mins after each 5min set. LR is again easy.
Week 16 – 4 x 30mins. Keep on these, your almost there!
Week 17/18 – 2 x 60mins and LR of 90mins. This is going to be the second toughest weeks of the entire schedule. The 60min runs are still going for speed: do 4 x 8mins @ goal race pace with 2mins easy between. LR is again easy.
Week 19 – 3 x 30mins easy.
Week 20 – Hardest week: 3 x 70mins. First 70min workout will be easy except you will do the 6-8, 20s pick ups. Second 70mins workout will be focused more on strength, do 10×2min tempo intervals with 2mins easy between. The last 70min workout is simply: 40 mins @ race pace. This should be a simulation of your run. What are you going to wear? What are you going to eat before or during? This is the time to test yourself.
Ideally you would do each of these runs on the race course.
Week 21 – 3 x 60min runs. Taper time. Runs are similar to last week accept shorter in length. First run: 4-6, 20s pick ups. Second run: 6×2mins. Third run: 25mins @ race pace.
Week 22 – It’s go time. 3 x 30mins + Marathon. Each 30 mins has 3-4, 20s pick ups to loosen the legs.
It’s game time.
Quick Speed – Key Workouts For Some Speed
Pyramid – Start with 30s hard, 30s recovery, 60s hard, 60s recovery, 90s/90s, 2mins/2mins and back down. Total workout, 20min warm up with dynamic warm up (strides, short sprints). 15min cool down of easy jogging
Change in pace – 2mins at a hard pace then immediately after, 30s all out. Recover for 4 mins. Repeat 3 times. Total workout: 20 min warmup with dynamic stretch (strides, short sprints), 3 times CIP and 15min cool down.
Mixed Tempo – 3,2,1 (mins). Do 3 mins easy, 2mins moderate and 1 min at a fairly hard intensity. Roll through this 4 times. Total workout is 15min warm up, 4 sets of MT and 10min cool down.
Drive Way Strength – Yes the driveway is one of the best training tools we have. 6 sets of the lower half of the hill. Get progressively faster as you climb up. Total workout: 15mins on the tread mill for warm up. 6 sets of the drive way with easy jogging back down. 10min easy cool down (walk or jog on the tread mill).
The rest of the week: Bronze program: 3 runs per week – 1 easy run of 40mins and 2 of the about workouts. Silver program: 4 runs per week – 2 easy runs of 40mins and 2 of the above workouts. Gold program: 5 runs per week – 3 easy runs of 40mins and 2 of the above workouts (take a rest day after each hard workout).
Couch to a Sprint
The first thing I recommend with any plan is figure out how much time your willing to give. Look at your schedule and do an honest assessment. Can you afford to train 5, 10 or more hours per week? What I find works is always UNDER estimate. If you think you can do 10 hours then stick with 6-8 to start. That way your not over doing it.
So lets start with 4 days a week. Most people can handle this amount of training. A couple master swims, 1 ride and a run, thats a great way to start.
If your coming from nothing, meaning no background in running, biking or swimming then I think a balanced attack is the way to go. Focus on doing 1 of each of the three disciplines on separate days. Do 1 hour maximum to start (especially running).
The fourth workout I think depends on your schedule. Swimming is an easy one to add. Low impact on your body plus you can joining a group swim can be a huge boost for your social benefits.
What would a schedule look like?
Monday – Swim 60mins – 1000m warm up with a mix of freestyle drills and swimming. Main set would focus on improving your aerobic side. So sets of 100m or 200m repeats with little rest.
Tuesday – Bike – 60mins – 10min warm up, 10min single legged drills, 10min of high speed spinning (1min of 100+ RPM with 1min rest), 4×4mins of “uncomfortable riding” (a pace that is hard to talk. Rest is 2mins of easy riding), cool down to 60. The goal for each week is to become stronger throughout the set. A couple different workouts you can try is alternate cadences but keeping the same heart rate or feel. So do 60 RPM, 70RPM, 80RPM and 90RPM. Also try alternating spinning and standing for a min. For this one you may need to shift into a harder gear when standing. Again keeping the same heart rate throughout.
Wednesday – Day off
Thursday – Run – 60mins – If you can’t sustain a 60min run then I suggest running for 10mins and walking for 1min. If you can’t fathom that then try 5mins running and 1 min rest.
Start by running 60mins easy (a pace which you can talk comfortably). Then progress to putting in some harder sections like hills, fartleks and tempos.
Friday – Day off
Saturday – Swim, bike or run. Again sticking with 1 hour.
Sunday – Off
If you have more time to give then what I’d do is start by adding another workout on Sunday. Add another bike or run. More time? Then make Saturday/Sundays workouts longer. Ninety minutes of cycling can make you into a powerful cyclist for a sprint. I wouldn’t recommend going over 60mins for running so try putting two workouts together. For example do 60mins of cycling the 30mins of running.
More time? Well more isn’t necessarily better. A lot of athletes who have been in the sport of triathlon for along time will do two workouts a day. So go to swimming in the morning then later that day go for a run or bike. This is what I’d recommend for your next step. Douple up your swim days.
More time? Shoot me an email: livemultisport@gmail.com
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