Marathon Training Guide  

Marathon Training Guide

Week # 7

Steve:  veteran - 57 marathons

This weekly marathon guide is designed for marathon runners from the beginner to experienced levels.

Mike - marathon runner & author

Beginner Program:                     Week 7:

A 31 mile week is about to begin and we must point out that your body is quite busy trying to adapt to the increasing stress that you are putting on it. Therefore we would like to reiterate the importance of stretching regularly. It will go a long ways to helping you stay on the roads and completing this training program and ultimately meeting your goal.

Daily Training schedule

The beginner training 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:

 Let us begin with a 5 mile tempo run. By now, you should have your chosen pace down pat and it may not be as much effort as it was in the beginning, right?

Day 2:
This day will be an easy paced 5 miler. Try concentrating on your running form and keep your body as relaxed as you can.

Day 3:
Rest day. See Stretching and Cross-Training Sections.

Day 4:
Today is a scheduled hard 5 miler on your favorite flat course. Warm-up and go anaerobic for the middle part of the run and then cool down. The effort should be such that you are just able to make it to the cool down part of the workout. Walk and jog to the finish and have a leisurely stretch while re-hydrating.

Day 5:
Rest day. See other rest days and/or walk to the store for an ice cream or hot chocolate.

Day 6:
Okay, today is your first half marathon distance (13 miles). You need to go easy and perhaps take regular walking breaks of 1 to 2 minutes every 20 minutes or so. During these breaks hydrate, stretch and evaluate how your body is reacting. Pay attention to what it is telling you.

Day 7:
A three mile recovery run. This is a good way to evaluate your long slow distance run of yesterday and do some thinking on how you felt during and after. Hope you had a nice hot bath and a treat of some sort later.
 

Marathon Guide's Training Tips:

• Ice is a great remedy for muscular pains and sore joints. An ice pack on sore muscles or tendons for 10 to 15 minutes two or three times a day will help speed up the recovery process.

• If you catch a cold, you have to be careful not to make things worse by continuing to train at your normal level. Don’t add stress to your body by trying to do your long run if you have a bad cold or ‘flu. Take a lot more care of yourself (e.g. a day off work) than you normally would, if you weren't training for a marathon.

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Intermediate Program

  Week 7:

The base building period is over and now it is time to start building towards the peak. It is also time to think about things like getting enough rest and sort out the demands on your time from not only the running program, but work and family too. Do not neglect the importance of the aforementioned. Stress management in all its aspects, must be addressed.
 

Day 1:

Today you will start with a 7 mile marathon pace run. Warm-up first and slip into the pace you have chosen. It is important to be consistent with your pace because you will be doing a lot of training at your marathon pace.

Day 2:
Today’s 6 mile workout will be conducted at an easy aerobic pace followed by light stretching.

Day 3:
A Hill workout is scheduled, with a total distance of 6 miles. As usual, warm-up for the first mile and cool down for the final mile. Make your hills effort consistent, the equivalent of an easy/moderate pace.

Day 4:
This is an easy 5 miler. You will probably feel a bit wasted today so take it real easy.

Day 5:
Rest and Stretch today because tomorrow will test your endurance and willpower.

Day 6:
LSD of 15 miles (refer to long slow distance definition). This is definitely a hard day due to the length of the run. Drag a buddy or two out with you; try not to do this on your own.

Day 7:
This is a 5 mile recovery run to get some of the stiffness out of your body. Please take it easy and have a good light stretch afterwards. Congrats, a 44 mile week. Hope you are ready for more in the coming week.

 

•  Listen to your Brain? The experts tell us “Listen to your body”. This is great advice, but if you are feeling well trained and ready for any challenge we say “Listen to your Brain” as well and take things a little easier. Lay off the extra hard workouts or too many races during your marathon training period.

• Wearing worn-out shoes is a common way to get injured. Don’t wear your shoes until the soles wear out! When shoes have around 350 to 500 miles of wear throw them out or give them to a needy cause. They may still look OK, but they are worn out for any continued training miles.

Experienced Program

Week 7:

A few words about your personal safety when running are always a good idea. Most of these tips are just common sense, but sometimes when we get in the “zone” we tend to ignore or forget. First, when in an area where traffic of any kind is around, always face it and always give it the right of way even if the right of way is yours. Run with a buddy, especially females and be prepared for most problems that might arise by carrying ID, cash for a cab or bus, maybe a cell phone and wear reflective material so that you are visible to traffic. There are literally hundreds of other tips, but we are sure that you get the idea.
 

Daily Training schedule

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