Step 3 of Marathon Training - Add Detailed Training Sessions

Step three in putting together your training plan is to fill in the details of each daily workout within each of the three-to four-week training blocks.

The framework structure you already have in place will make it easy to ensure you are progressively loading your training and the Rest Weeks that are already incorporated into your schedule will avoid any risk of overtraining.

In the earlier weeks of your training, focus on longer lower intensity training sessions.  Keep your heart rate at an elevated level but not at anaerobic levels.  

Indoors or Outdoors?

Your running training can be done outdoors or inside on a treadmill.  If you prefer indoor running you should make sure you do sufficient outdoor running prior to Race Day.  While indoor treadmill running is great for building base endurance, you need to expose your body to the specific conditions of real running to succeed.

Detailed Workouts

There is not enough space in this email to set out specific workouts in detail.  In fact I often run day seminars entirely dedicated to this topic.  The key to optimal performance is very focused training, developing technique before loading on the distance.  You must incorporate technical drills into your training rather than simply training for time or a set distance.  

Take a look at a sample week from my Beginner Training Plan for an example of the detail required and both the incorporation of specific training drills and the varying training intensity levels.  (It's a free download). 

There is no getting around the fact that if you want to design your own training plan, adding the details of your daily workouts does take a decent amount of time (my students typically tell me it takes over 4 hours to design a Beginner training plan).

Can't I Just Download A Free Plan?

I'm often asked "why can't I just download a free training plan?"  My response is simple - while free training plans are a great general overview for your training, they omit the crucial details. 

Simply saying "Tuesday - 45 minutes running training" is not an effective way to train.  I have said it before and I will repeat it now - you need to Train Smart.  My training plans are designed such that not a single minute of training time is wasted.  You do the proven optimal amount of training and no more.