The “Get You Round” Schedule
This is a beginner's program, mixing some walking with running, over 4-5 days a week.
The
idea here is to get you fit enough to make it round the course, regardless of speed, so there'll be very little fast work. You need
to build up endurance and the schedule will help you to cut down on body weight.
The first thing is simply to get used to running
regularly. Pace isn't important. The only serious training is the long weekend 'ramble'. Walk briskly most of the way and put in the
occasional trot. You shouldn't get too sweaty or short of breath, but you'll be spending long enough on your feet to build up your
endurance.
You may find that, after the initial burst of enthusiasm, regular training starts to get tedious, and you may be
tempted to miss a day or two. Try to resist this, because the schedules rely very much on continuity. If you're forced to miss most
of a week for some reason, don't proceed to the next week, but repeat the one you should have done. It may mean you have to miss half
or all of the two-week module in Weeks 13/14, but at least you'll have built up to the 'plateau of fitness' in the right way.
Beginners
Schedule
482-487 total mileage, 16 ¼ hours X training
All marathon training programs have one thing in common: lots and lots and
lots of miles. The unchanging fact of the marathon is that your body has to be well prepared to endure the strain and relentless miles
of the long road. You have to put the miles in the bank.
However, you must also show flexibility with your training, if you are
feeling fatigued or under the weather on a particular day, shorten your run or don’t run at all. Then resume training according to
the schedule. Don’t try to make up for missed miles. Many schedules will include other types of training runs such as speed training,
hills etc. If you are fairly new to running ie running around 15 miles a week for 1 to 2 years, your main aim should be to complete
the marathon training and complete the marathon course and you can do that without incorporating these other types of training. Pushing
yourself too far, too soon will put you at risk from unnecessary injury. Remember that there are no shortcuts and that less is better
than more!
X-training lets you work while you rest and will give you a break from the pounding of running while you continue
to train aerobically. Cycling and swimming are excellent x-training activities, and you can add some stretching and strength training
too.
The type of running effort required on the schedule are ‘Easy’, ‘Medium’ and ‘Long’. These are perceived levels of exertion
that are individual to you and that you need to determine yourself. A good way of gauging if you are working at the right level would
be that for your ‘easy’ and ‘long’ runs (which are basically the same pace) you should be working at a level that would allow you
to hold a conversation with someone without being overly breathless. A medium pace would therefore be slightly more difficult but
at a pace that you are able to maintain for the distance required without any rest breaks.
Beginners to Intermediate Schedule
411-570
total mileage
This program has a great deal of flexibility built into it. As you can see above the difference between running
the minimum and maximum miles per day creates a wide margin of difference at the end of the plan. If you work at the higher end of
the mileage you may be able to complete the
The Thursday sessions are a form of speed work and should
only be tackled if you already run around 20 miles per week. Otherwise you can substitute them for a normal run of the same distance
plus 1 mile (the distance conversion is around 1600m=1M).
You may also want to swap day around to fit in with your other commitments,
just remember that rest days are essential and that you should not run consecutive hard days. You can also take one-minute walk breaks
every 5 – 10 minutes during your long Sunday runs, and this is an effective marathon-day plan too.
Intermediate to Advanced
Schedule
563-618 total mileage, 17 ¼ hours total X-training
If you regularly run 20 to 30 miles a week, and have done so for a
year or more, if you do a weekly long run of eight to 10 miles and have some experience with tempo runs or intervals then you could
look at this training schedule for starters. It is a challenging one so remember that in reality you may only be able to complete
around 80 – 90% of the mileage suggested, but that it fine, be flexible and listen to what your body tells you.
Your Sunday "Long
runs” are the basis of marathon training, but at this level it's important to add some intensity to the program. You will need to
gradually increase the length of the weekly long run to adapt your mind and body to the rigors of running nonstop for several hours.
But running 18 to 20 miles at a time isn't all you need, you need to supplement these runs with some higher-effort running twice weekly,
including sustained tempo runs at your half-marathon race pace. These promote aerobic strength and efficiency and will help you find
that groove you'd like to be in when you run a longer race.
Tempo runs are workouts that include 20-30 minutes of faster-paced
running in the middle of the workout, you do not run all your mileage at tempo pace on these days.
After a brief warm-up, you
should try to run pace runs at your marathon goal pace.
X-training lets you work while you rest and will give you a break from
the pounding of running while you continue to train aerobically. Cycling and swimming are excellent x-training activities, and you
can add some stretching and strength training too.