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Welcome to Mike & Steve's

Marathon Training Program

Week # 4

Steve:  veteran - 57 marathons

A weekly marathon training program and guide for marathon runners from the beginner to experienced levels.

Mike - marathon

runner & author

 

Are you currently training for a marathon? Download our free "Marathon Race Strategies" report and improve your performance!

July 11th 2010,  Mike's Training Notes

Hi All -

Hope you are off to a good start in your marathon training... This week has been hot and humid, but I was able to meet my 30 mile weekly goal.

 

Marathon Training Tip Of The Week

Drink Water!

Last week I talked about hot weather running, and keeping hydrated. During our training runs we naturally drink water frequently to replace the fluid loss from sweating. But don't stop there!

Drinking plenty of water every day will help to keep you in good health. The recommended amount is to take1/2 your body weight in lbs and use this as the number of ozs. of water. For example a 140 lb person should consume 70 ozs or almost 9 cups per day.

I know this is really hard to do, and I often fall short of this goal. I do find that carrying a bottle of water around with me helps a lot... Look for our upcoming article on the Benefits of Water.

See you next week!

Mike

 

Introduction

Our marathon training program covers an 18 week period, including the marathon week and the post race recovery week,  to help you prepare for your next marathon. Each week we will publish a new chapter. If you missed out earlier, previous chapters are available.

Click here if this is your first time to this page.

Click here for information about using the marathon training schedules

Click here for our Marathon Training Guide FAQ

Click here for stretching and cross training information

 

 

 

 

Marathon Training Guide: Week 4

After three weeks you should be settling into the routine of regular training. This is also a good time to assess your progress. If you have selected the right training level, and have the appropriate running base, then you should be comfortable with the demands of the schedule. Your biggest problem might be in finding the time for your training runs!

Select Your Marathon Training Program Level:

 Beginner  -  Intermediate - Experienced

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Beginner Program:                     Week 4:

Yet another cornerstone of your training involves your personal safety on the road.  We cannot emphasis this aspect too much because bikes, cars, trucks and other assorted conveyances will not only hurt you but ruin your marathon training.  We will mention several 'no-brainers' just to give you some food for thought:

  • Always run facing traffic;

  • Wear a reflective safety vest after dusk and before dawn;

  • Always give bikes and vehicles the right of way even if it is yours;

  • On cooler days try to run into the wind at the beginning of your run

  • Always hydrate before, during and after a run. 

There are many more of these little bits of wisdom, but you get the idea, right?

Beginner Level: Week 4 Mileage Chart

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Mileage Goal:
5 E 6 HD Rest 6 E Rest 10 L Rest 27

E = Easy Pace; HD=Hard Pace; HL = Hills; L=Long Slow Run; M = Marathon Pace; T=Tempo

Daily Training schedule

The beginner schedules follow the hard day / easy day approach. if you have to modify this week's training for any reason, try to stick to this basic principle.

Day 1:

Start the week with another Easy 5 miles.

Day 2:

This is your fourth week of training, time for a Hard 6 miler. The pace should be such that you are fatigued by the last half of the run. You will be breathing heavily by the time you begin your cool down during the last mile. Do some light stretching after.

Day 3:

Rest day. An easy walk and some stretching.

Day 4:

An easy 6 miles today.

Day 5:

Rest day again. You will need it.

Day 6:

LSD run of 10 miles. This is your longest run to date, keep it slow.

Day 7:

Rest day. Try an easy workout on an exercise bike to get the lactic acid out of your body and get ready to bump up your training to 5 days a week.
 

Marathon Guide's Training Tips:

  • Get enough sleep!
    You body re-generates itself during sleep, so you need to make sure you are getting your full quotient while you are training. Do not cut back on your sleep to squeeze an extra hour into the day, as this will catch up to you as the time goes by.
  • Cross training and weight lifting help to counteract the imbalance in your muscular development that comes from doing only running. If you are cutting back on your mileage due to a minor injury, add a bike ride to your schedule.

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Intermediate Program

  Week 4:

 

 

When you are running a lot of miles, sometimes you tend to get a bit complacent.  Your safety is one of those very important items that you must pay attention to because if you do not, the consequences may be severe,  To repeat, run facing traffic if at all possible and wear clothing that will make you visible at all times and try not to “zone out” during any of your runs.

Intermediate Level: Week 3 Mileage Chart

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Mileage Goal:
5 E Rest 5 T 6 M Rest 12 L 4 E 32

E = Easy Pace; HD=Hard Pace; HL = Hills; L=Long Slow Run; M = Marathon Pace; T=Tempo

Daily Training schedule

These schedules follow the hard day / easy day approach. if you have to modify this week's training for any reason, try to stick to this basic principle.

Day 1;

An easy 5 miles today and of course some light stretching after.

Day 2:

Rest day. Cross train on the exercise bike or in the pool.


Day 3:

Five mile tempo run scheduled.

Day 4:

A marathon pace run of 6 miles. Feel free to interchange day 3 and day 4.

Day 5:

Rest day. Use it wisely.

Day 6:

This LSD run is up to 12 miles and should be treated with respect.

Day 7:

Recovery day is here once again with another 4 miler.

 

Marathon Guide's Training Tips:
  • Watch those aches and pains!

Pay attention to new aches that will come up as you increase your mileage. If you ignore these, they could become more serious, and prevent you from running altogether. It’s better to take a couple of days off and recover, than to try and keep on schedule. Put an ice pack on any sore spots after your run. This helps the recovery and healing process. Running shorter distances on flat, softer surfaces also helps.

  • Make sure you start your training runs slowly, before you get to your intended pace. This is especially true during marathon training when you are doing a lot of miles each week, without a whole lot of rest days. It is especially important to warm up gradually in cold weather.

 

Experienced Program

Week 4:

 

 This week the mileage will rise to 45 as you get into the meat of the training.  Another cornerstone to consider is injury avoidance/management.  With the upcoming heavier efforts, injuries will begin to show up.  Pay attention to your body and be prepared to deal with theses issues.

Experienced Level: Week 4 Mileage Chart

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Mileage Goal:
7 T 5 S 7 HL 8 E Rest 13 L 5 E 45

E = Easy Pace; HD=Hard Pace; HL = Hills; L=Long Slow Run;  M = Marathon Pace; S = Speed-work; T=Tempo

Daily Training schedule

If you have to modify this week's training for any reason, try to work in some quality workouts, especially the long run.

Day 1:
Seven miles of tempo running to start the week.

Day 2:
Your second speed workout is at the same level. A total of 5 miles.

Day 3:
Hills are on the agenda for today. This is a 7 mile workout. You may wish to switch it to day four.

Day 4:
This is an easy 8 miles. See day three.

Day 5:
Finally a rest day. Stretching and maybe an easy workout on the exercise bike or other non-weight bearing activity will help mitigate the stress on your legs.

Day 6:
LSD of 13 miles, just a half marathon today.

Day 7:
Five easy miles of recovery, followed by light stretching as usual.

 

Marathon Guide's Training Tips:
  • Find the training balance that works for you. We have under-trained and over-trained for marathons, with poor results either way. Train too little and you’ll have a hard injury-prone race. Train too much and you’ll leave your best marathon time on the training roads because on race day your body will not be up to it.

  • If you are following this training schedule closely, but feel you are struggling to keep up, it’s best to pull back, and modify your marathon goal if necessary.

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