Training Plan Description:
Brief Summary
This 18 week program is geared for first-time marathoners / beginner runners. The program builds from a base of 15 miles/week to a peak of 35 miles / week.
Full Description
This plan is perfect for a first-time marathoner. In 18 weeks you will go from 15 miles/week to a peak of 35 miles/week. Long runs are on Saturdays.
Each week has a combination of session types to help you build your base. You will start easy, running 3-4 days a week while you build strength, endurance, and work on your running form. After building a base you'll be working in a combination of easy runs, long runs, and interval training. Also in the mix will be some hill workouts to help you build strength.
Before you start this program, you should visit your local running store and have them examine your running shoes and your running stride. This is very important as this type of repetitive distance with the wrong type (or size) of shoe will lead to injury. Also, in marathon running cotton is bad. Learn to love moisture-wicking fabrics. For instance, cotton socks can swell with sweat, causing blisters, uncomfortable pressure, etc.
|
2 Week Training Sample:
- Easy Run / Jog
- Dist: 3.00 mi.
Training Instructions
Many people make the mistake of running too fast and then burning out. It is easy to feel competitive when someone flies by you, kicking sand in your face. Suck it up! The slower you go, the more energy you conserve, and the more likely you are to improve your endurance. A good way to measure your pace is by your ability to talk comfortably while running and not feel out of breath. It would probably be less embarrassing to practice this with a partner.
Training Trip
Running Form
Proper running form reduces the probability of injury, conserves energy, and improves speed.
Sprinters use a different form than distance runners.
Elite distance runners typically hold their bodies erect, look ahead (not at the ground) and run from the hips.
The result is a smooth running motion with the shoulders and head moving parallel to the ground instead of bobbing up and down. Impact on the feet and shock to the knees and hips are reduced, because the foot impacts the ground with less force. Instead the heel or rear portion of the foot gently touches the ground, pushes the body forward, and lifts easily for the next stride.
- Easy Run / Jog
- Dist: 3.00 mi.
Training Instructions
The Easy Run is building your base and it is still putting miles in the legs. Use it to concentrate on running style and technique.
Training Trip
Stretch
Despite it's lightweight reputation, stretching is not just for yoga and pilates nuts - it's for the hard core athlete. Really. And it's just as important as a good pair of sneakers.
After a 5 -10 minute warm-up jog to get your muscles ready, do a thorough 10 - 15 minute stretch of all the muscle groups in your legs - that would include your hamstrings, quadriceps, calves, groin, and hip flexors. Stretch slowly, and never bounce. Hold each stretch for at least 30 seconds, and make sure you give equal attention to both legs.
You should also stretch after you run as part of your "cool down."
Training Instructions
This is your first long run. The goal of the long run is to gradually increase the ability of the runner to cover the 26.2 mile marathon distance. Pace during long runs should be conversational, meaning that one should be able to carry on a conversation.
Training Trip
Core Training
Core training involves training the lower back, oblique and abdominal muscles (those muscles at the core of the body just above the waist) to keep the runner upright and vertical during the entire run. Elite distance runners typically run with the upper body in a vertical position using the core muscles and running from the hips and thighs.
Core muscles do not receive much training during running, typically various weight or special exercises are done at other times (such as on non-running days) to strengthen the core.
"Plank" exercises (plank, side plank, back plank, dog) are one popular form of these exercises. The body is supported on the toes and the elbows (or hands, similar to a push-up) in the plank, and kept in that position for up to a minute. Variations have the athlete raise a leg, raise a leg and hold it up, or pump the hips.
Side planks support the body on the side of one foot and a hand or elbow on the same side of the body. Leg raises, bicycle motions and other motions can make this more challenging.
The goal of these exercises are to use the body's weight and a horizontal position (face down, face up, or sideways) to strengthen all the muscles involved in keeping the body in a straight line from head to toe. No extra weights are typically used, instead the positions are held for longer and longer periods of time.
Training Instructions
Recovery runs increase your fitness by challenging you to continue to perform while your body is in a fatigued state. This run should be very, very easy and much slower than even your easy runs.
Training Trip
Recovery
Speeding recovery after long runs, and even after every training run, can improve the training experience.
During training runs, particularly longer training runs, three major changes occur in the muscles used for running: glycogen in the muscles is depleted; microscopic damage is done to the muscles themselves; and lactic acid waste products are left behind.
Glycogen stored in the muscles are reloaded by consuming complex carbohydrates shortly after running. Muscle damage is repaired by rest and the consumption of proteins. Lactic acid can be removed by soaking the legs and lower body in cold or ice water, forcing the body to pump more blood than normal through those muscles to maintain warmth, more rapidly repairing muscle damage and flushing out the waste lactic acid.
Glycogen is stored in the muscles and is the source of energy used during running, when glycogen is utilized by the body to create the energy to run, the waste product is lactic acid. During most lower intensity physical activity, the body can dispose of lactic acid at a sufficiently rapid rate. Intense running (and other intense physical activities) leave lactic acid deposits in the muscles themselves because the body cannot get rid of the waste fast enough. The longer the exercise, the more lactic acid buildup there is in the muscles. Lactic acid accounts for some of the stiffness after a long run. An effective strategy for removing this waste lactic acid is to soak the lower part of the body in cold or ice water for a short period of time (about 20 minutes). The cold causes the body to pump blood into the muscles and cleans out the waste products in the process. (Ice packs and cold soaks are used in other sports as well, such as basketball and football.)
The Glycogen stored in the muscles that was consumed during a run should be replaced prior to the next run. In the first couple of hours after the run, the human body will more easily convert complex carbohydrates to glycogen. Failure to adequately replace the glycogen over time will lead the runner to slower and slower times, and runs that take more effort instead of runs that take less effort.
Protein consumed in the hours after a run will also speed muscle recovery.
A well-balanced, post training run meal, combining both protein and complex carbohydrates, immediately supplies the body with the materials to recover from the training stress, and prepares the body for the next training session.
- Easy Run / Jog
- Dist: 3.00 mi.
Training Instructions
This is your first run of the week after your long run and recovery run, so take it easy. Simple and slow.
Training Trip
Walking
Walking uses most of the same muscles as running, but at a lower intensity. Depending on the training level of the athlete, walking can be an effective cross training exercise.
Don't be afraid to walk!
- Regular Run
- Dist: 3.00 mi.
Training Instructions
The Quality Run is concerned with real speed and can be done on level roads or paths. It should be taken at moderate intensity where your breathing is heavy.
Training Trip
Weight Training
The marathon is a long event involving the entire body -- the upper body to a lesser extent than the legs. Leg strength gained with weight training improves hill climbing ability. Training of the core muscles (those around the waist and hips) using weighted crunches, situps, and straight leg dead lifts, improves posture as well as speed, and reduces effort.
Some runners feel that weight training is not useful because they think it will lead to too much muscle bulk. However, there is no requirement that the recreational athlete use as much weight as weight lifters. Using only the weight of the runner's body limits the strength that can be gained; using weights to further stress the muscles leads to greater strength.
Training Instructions
Pace during long runs should be conversational, meaning that one should be able to carry on a conversation; it is not necessary to run at top speed.
Training Trip
Long Runs
The long run is the heart of the marathon training process. The goal of the long run is to gradually increase the ability of the runner to cover the 26.2 mile marathon distance. Long runs may start at 6 miles, and build a mile a week to about 14 or 15 miles. At beyond 15 miles (approximately), more than a single week of recovery is generally necessary, so the schedule switches to a two-week plan, with a shorter "long run" between full long runs. Typically the shorter long run may be 70% of the distance of the long run (a 16 mile run, then a 12 mile run, then an 18 mile run.[11]
For most recreational runners, distances over about 15 miles increase the probability of injury and so more recovery is needed between long runs at these distances.
The maximum distance for long training runs is usually 18 to 22 miles,[11] Many runners, however, are just as successful with multiple 20 or 22 mile long runs in the weeks before the marathon. Unlike other events, a two or three week tapering period after the last long run and before the marathon allows the runner to store up energy to cover the remaining distance.
Pace during long runs should be conversational, meaning that one should be able to carry on a conversation; it is not necessary to run at top speed. Long runs at less than top speed (60 to 70% of maximum exertion level) train the body to store energy more efficiently and make more effective use of oxygen.
Training Instructions
A recovery run is a run after your long run that allows your muscles to get rid of some of the stiffness that has accumulated. This run should be taken very easily.
Training Trip
Motivation
Ok, you are two weeks into this 18 week program! You should be starting to feel that you're getting a schedule going and starting to feel good about this program!
Don't feel that you're doing this program alone. Visit our Training Groups and Discussion Forums to see where other runners are in this program!
Try these tips to stay motivated:
* Power Up! If you are running at the end of the day it could be low-blood sugar causing your motivational woes. A performance snack can help you get into this! Try a Power Bar!
* Mental -- Maybe you're just mentally tired from the day. Try concentrating on the great feeling that will course through you after your workout! Just get going!
* Not Fun -- Let's admit it, not all workout days are fun. Think of the ways you can get through the tough parts. Find a running partner, or download some new tunes, or mix up your running route to keep you interested while you're sweating out there!
Have other tips for runners? Post them on our Discussion Forum!
|
Rivals / Leaderboards
What is Premium Membership? Free Training Plans, Monthly Print Plans, Discounts on Events and Gear, and an Ad-Free Browsing Experience.
Learn More
MapMyRun.com,
MapMyRide.com,
MapMyWalk.com,
MapMyHike.com,
MapMyFitness.com,
MapMyTri.com
&
MapMyMountain.com