Physiology of Training Training involves preparing your body for optimal performance. In order to improve we must follow six principles of exercise: Stress In order to build endurance, strength and speed, you need to stress each of these physiological systems. The response to physical stress is growth in each of these areas. Adaptation An athlete s body will adapt to the physiological stresses presented it. That is how we get fitter, stronger and faster. Adaptation is the response to physical stress. Progression In order to continue to improve, you must increase the stresses. Working with the same weights will not cause an increase in strength. Specificity Training is specific. The best way to improve your running is to run! You also need to consider the distance and terrain of your goal race. There is no substitute for specific training. Individuality Each of us responds differently to training. Learn how your client responds to training and pay attention to what you learn. Adapt training to the specific needs and individual responses. Reversibility All the gains from training will begin to disappear when training stops. Do not take this to mean you should not schedule time off. Rest is critical to successful training. Page 1 of 20
Macro Periodization Training Phases Periodization is used to schedule specific types of workouts during each phase of training. These workouts are designed to meet the physiological requirements during each phase of training. Macro Periodization is planning for the training phases. Physiologically, there are five phases to training Base, Strength, Speed, Maintenance and Recovery. Design the entire training plan using these five phases. A Word about Effort Based Training Training that is based on effort has produced the best results. Effort Based Training requires that a specific level of exertion be maintained for each workout. The training plan is a collection of Hard, Moderate and Recovery workouts. Supplemental Workouts should be added, depending on the goal event and goals. Hard Workout the effort level for this workout is above 85% maximal heart rate. A Long workouts would be considered a Hard Workout, even though the maximal heart rate would be below 90%. Base Phase long workout Strength Phase hill workout Speed Phase Time Trial Maintenance Phase Races Recovery Phase - none Moderate Workout the effort level for this workout is between 70% and 85% maximal heart rate. Base Phase middle distance workout Strength Phase supplemental workout Speed Phase Speed Drills Maintenance Phase none Recovery Phase - none Page 2 of 20
Recovery Workout the effort level for this workout is below 70% maximal heart rate. The Active Recovery workout is the same for all phases. Supplemental Workouts these are designed to add to the overall training plan strength work, drills and such. Supplemental workouts should be concentrated during the Base and Strength Phases. Supplemental Strength workouts should continue through the Speed and Maintenance phases, but at a lower intensity and frequency. Base Building Phase (Endurance Building Phase) You must build cardiovascular fitness first. This is the starting point. Without a sound base Aerobic Base, your entire training program will suffer. This phase is about training time and mileage, not about speed. You accomplish this by exercising at a moderate effort as you increase both weekly distance (or time) and the distance (or time) of the long workout. Pace should be 70% to 85% maximal effort. Experienced athletes should add aerobic intervals short, fast repeats. These are not the gut searing efforts required during the Speed Building Phase, but are limited to 80% effort. They should last about 20 seconds per repeat, cover 50 to 100 meters and are smooth and relaxed. They will combat the negative effects of endurance building workouts. Use them to maintain biomechanical efficiency. As you build endurance, you should also begin building strength. More advanced athletes can add one workout per week during the Base/Endurance Building Phase that is devoted to strength building. The best way to add a strength-building workout is to add hills. Doing hill drills and hill repeats builds strength and reduces the risk of injury. You can add one hard workout after the first four weeks of Base Building. This workout should include periods of 2 to 6 minutes of near maximal effort. Begin with 4 repeats and work up to 10 to 12 repeats over a couple of months. This is best done by using hills running slowly with high knee lift and getting your feet off the ground. The Base Building Phase should last as long as possible, the entire winter is ideal. But a minimum of 12 to 16 weeks is necessary. After a recovery phase of 4 to 6 weeks, you should start your Base Building Phase. During the Base Building Phase, your goals are to increase aerobic fitness and increase mileage. The goals of this phase are: Build cardiovascular and muscular endurance. Improve VO 2 max. Build up base mileage and distance of long workouts. Page 3 of 20
Build up the distance of your long workout gradually. The effort during this phase should be at a comfortable level. Usually, this is 80% or less of maximum effort. You need to include at least one long workout every two to three weeks. During the week, alternate medium distance workouts with Active Recovery Days (or days off). It is usually better to take an Active Recovery Day, than to take a day totally off. This would be a workout of about 30 minutes an easy effort (70% or less) with friends. The benefit of an Active Recovery Day over a day off is that if you increase the blood flow to muscles the waste, excess fluids and soreness will diminish faster than with total rest. Strength Building Phase This is the time when you focus on increasing your strength. After building a sound endurance base, it is possible to begin building strength. The best way to do this is by working out on lots of hills! Running on hills is the fastest, and safest, way to build strength. The Strength Building phase is often neglected. After building a good solid Base (Endurance) athletes that move directly into the Speed Building Phase will often risk injury and will diminish their success. During the Strength Building Phase, your hard (hill) workouts should increase to two per week. The important feature of these workouts is raising your heart rate over 90% for periods of two to six minutes at a time. Start with 4 repeats up a 6% to 9% hill and increase up to 10 to 12 repeats. The hill should take you between 2 and 6 minutes to climb. The recovery interval should be at least equal to the hard effort repeat. Your heart rate should return to around 60% to 65% of maximum before beginning your next hard repeat. If you are racing on the weekend, eliminate one strength workout that week, i.e. if you are doing a running race, only do one hill running workout during the week. Continue with your long workouts once per week. All other days should be Active Recovery days. Your weekly mileage should be close to the maximum you reached for the Base Building Phase. During these workouts, emphasize muscular effort instead of speed or spinning. Do not worry about getting up the hill fast. When running hills emphasize high knee lift and getting your feet off the ground. Skipping is an excellent hill drill. The goals of this phase are: Build muscular strength. Increase capillary beds. Build mitochondria. Improve Lactate enzyme response. Raise Lactate Threshold. Page 4 of 20
Improve economy. Maintain cardiovascular and muscular endurance. Maintain VO 2 max. Maintain base mileage and distance of long workouts. The Strength Building Phase should last 6 to 8 weeks, from late winter to early spring. Supplemental Strength Training You should supplement your strength training, especially during the winter. Plyometrics You can also add a supplemental workout to your weekly training plan. Plyometrics are an excellent strength building method. Add a single Plyometric session each week. This session should only take 30 minutes. Select a routine that emphasizes explosive leg strength. Be sure to warm-up and cool-down properly. Focus on explosive leg strength. Plyometrics is Explosive Strength training. Explosive strength has been shown to be a key element of running performance. By increasing your explosive strength during the Base Building and Strength Building Phases you will prepare your body for the Speed Building Phase. (See sample Plyometric exercises at the end of this document.) Strength Building Exercises Weights are the traditional method of building strength. Use free weights so that you are building strength around the joints by engaging several muscle groups simultaneously as you do while running and not isolating single muscles. Do not spend more than 20 or 30 minutes in the gym per session. Work with free weights and/or pulleys, not machines. Vary your weight workouts from week to week. Do two to three workouts each week. They should last between 30 and 45 minutes no longer. Do one exercise in each of the following areas: Arms Pushing extend (straighten) elbows against resistance, press (standing, seated with barbell or dumbbell), bench press (flat, incline, decline), dips, pull-ups Arms Pulling flex (bend) elbows against resistance, row (seated, bent-over, one arm with barbells or dumbbells Abdominal static (Side Lying Bridge, Prone Plank, Supine Plank) or concentric/eccentric (crunch). Increase resistance, rather than increasing reps. Lower Back back extension (45 or 90 ), Good Mornings, stiff-leg dead lift Page 5 of 20
Squats. step-ups, lunge, leg press Do one to three sets of 6 to 8 reps for each exercise. Do all exercises with FULL range of motion. Use a weight of 80% to 85% of 1 Repeat Maximum (1RM) for 6 to 8 reps. You can also use 130% of your 10 Repeat Maximum (10RM). Speed Building Phase Many people will not need to do this phase of training. If speed is not important if your client s goal is just to improve their enjoyment or to increase their race distance, but time is not important then you can skip this phase. Only the serious competitive athletes should train through this phase. This phase is when you use short and very intense bouts of speed to train your body to move faster. It is very important to allow near full recovery between repeats of speed work. It is only possible to successfully build speed after the base (endurance) and strength phases have been completed. Never attempt to build speed until these first two phases have been successfully completed. This phase will focus on speed. When most people think of speed, they think of track intervals. I believe that this is a mistake for adult athletes. Unless the goal event is a track race, I suggest never doing speed work on a track. The surface is hard, the turns are tight and it is hard to avoid competition. All of these factors lead to increased risk of injury. Unless a runner is under 35 and has been training continuously since leaving school, and at a high level, I never use track work for my athletes. Instead, use time trials, races and speed drills on roads, trails and grass. The softer surface is important to avoid injury. This is a good phase to do races they will provide good speed work and athletes will gain competitive experience. Focus on Time Trials and racing during this phase. Schedule two hard workouts (speed workouts) in each sport each week. Continue with long workouts or add races or time trials to the weekend workouts. The goals of this phase are: Improve economy. Build speed. Improve velocity at VO 2 max (vvo 2 max). Improve time limit at vvo 2 max. Maintain muscular strength. Maintain Lactate Threshold. Page 6 of 20
Maintain Lactate enzyme response. Maintain capillary beds. Maintain mitochondria. Maintain cardiovascular and muscular endurance. Maintain VO 2 max. Maintain base mileage and distance of long workouts. Maintenance Phase (Taper, Goal Event) This is what you have been training for, your goal event. Enjoy! You should taper for 1 to 2 weeks prior to your goal event. Reduce you weekly mileage and eliminate your long ride. Do not cut back on the number of workouts you do. Cut back on the duration of each workout and the intensity. But, it s important to do some fast efforts during the taper. Also, practice for your event, i.e. transitions. You can do this in your living room. This is free time. No hard training is needed to take minutes off your time. This is the time to allow your body to recover from all the hard work you ve put it through. Get plenty of sleep, avoid stress and eat well. Stay focused on your goal. Stay positive. Recovery Phase Most athletes overlook this phase. This is the time to relax, reduce your mileage and effort. This will make you stronger the next year. The biggest benefits of training well are reaped the second year. If you do not take a recovery phase, your body will eventually break down. In addition, you will not continue to improve. Phases and Duration Phase Duration Description Endurance 12 to 16 weeks Build distances - weekly totals as well as long workout. Strength 8 weeks Strength Drills, Lactate Threshold workouts. Maintain distances and long workouts. Speed 6 to 8 weeks Speed Drills, reduce distances and long workouts, but don't eliminate them. Begin racing. Taper 1 to 2 weeks Maintain number of workouts, reduce duration and intensity. Maintain "fast" segments. Page 7 of 20
Racing 4 to 8 weeks Stay sharp, rest and enjoy. Recovery 2 to 4 weeks Rest, easy workouts, no racing. Recharge. Micro Periodization Four Week Training Cycles Four Week Training Cycle: 1. Base Week - "normal" or "average" weekly total and long workout distance. 2. Distance Week - increase weekly total, but not distance of the long workout. 3. Long Week - increase long workout distance, but not the weekly total. 4. Recovery Week - back to Base Week totals. The second four week cycle is a combination of weeks 2 and 3 - weekly total and long workout distance. For example if your first four week training cycle is: 1. Base Week: total distance is 30, long workout is 10. 2. Distance Week: total distance is 34, long workout is 10. 3. Long Week: total distance is 34, long workout is 12. 4. Recovery Week: total distance is 30, long workout is 10. Your second four week training cycle would look like: 1. Base Week: total distance is 34, long workout is 12. 2. Distance Week: total distance is 38, long workout is 12. 3. Long Week: total distance is 38, long workout is 15. 4. Recovery Week: total distance is 34, long workout is 12. And so forth. The advantages of this approach are: first - you can't be fast if you aren't strong and you can't be strong if you aren't fit. So, build the cardiovascular engine first, the muscular engine next and then the neuromuscular engine. This is simplified a bit, since an experienced athlete (running for 3 years) can begin to build strength after 2 to 4 weeks of Base Building. But, it is critical not to attempt to increase speed until after strength has been developed - otherwise injury will be your reward for doing speed work too early. In addition, speed work for adults - those over the age of 35 (not that those under the age of 35 aren't adults) that have NOT trained continuously since high school or college - should only be Tempo or Pace work, Pick-ups and races. I strongly believe that traditional speed work - track based intervals - are counter productive for most adult athletes and the same speed can be developed using other training methods and racing (the exception is if your goal race is a track race). Page 8 of 20
Second, the four Weekly Cycle plan allows for two benefits - a recovery week every four weeks and increasing only one aspect of training per week - weekly mileage OR long workout distance. For most athletes this plan is idea, providing optimal training and minimal risk of injury and burnout (direct burnout - athlete loses focus and indirect burnout - family or work loses tolerance!). The increases are gradual enough to allow adaptation and recovery. Some athletes can increase the intensity and distances by doing a Middle Distance run in the middle of the week on weeks 2 and 3. Supplemental strength work - which I believe is critical to success and injury avoidance - should be started after 4 to 6 weeks of Base Building. Strength building with free weights and pulleys, Planks and Plyometrics are my preferred workouts. The Grand Rapids Training Plan General Plan See the individual plans for Beginner, Experienced and Competitive runners. Base Building Phase March 28 through June 20, 13 weeks Goals: This phase will build economy and VO 2 max. The goals of this phase are: Increase weekly mileage. Increase distance of long workouts. Build cardiovascular and muscular endurance. Improve VO 2 max. Improve skill levels running. This phase will focus on building distance, workout time and distance, not speed. You may design your workouts to be for a specific distance or for a specific amount of time. Just do not figure out how fast you went! Build your distance up gradually. Use the Four Week Training Cycle described above to increase your mileage. Beginning marathoners should avoid hard workouts, other than long workouts, during this phase. It is okay, in fact you are encouraged to race regularly. Enter races to gain experience, confidence and build strength. Just do not let these races interfere with your training plan. Experienced marathoners may begin harder workouts during this phase, after you have at least 4 weeks of base building under you belt. Use one workout each week as a strength building workout. This will be a Lactate Threshold (LT) workout. The best LT workout is a Hill Workout. Page 9 of 20
Weekend runs are long. Schedule an easy week every 4 weeks. Typical Week: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Supplemental Run moderate effort, 80% 85% effort, 3 to 6. You can run a hilly course or do hill drills. Supplemental Run moderate effort, 80% 85% effort, 3 to 6. You can run a hilly course or do hill drills. Active Recovery Run easy/comfortable effort, 70% - 75% effort, avoid hills, 3 to 4 Supplemental Run moderate effort, 80% 85% effort, 3 to 6. You can run a hilly course or do hill drills. Or Or Sunday Race. Page 10 of 20
Long Run easy to moderate effort, 75% - 85% effort, with hills, 10 to 20 Workout Details: Relaxed running. Keep your heart rate low 70-75% effort only. Run tall, keeping your shoulder back and your head up. Focus on the ground about 20 yards ahead of you. Keep your arms relaxed and swinging easily along your sides. Your hands and arms should move in a straight line along your sides. Your wrists should be relaxed, but your hands shouldn t be flopping. Your hands should brush your hips with each stride. Always make sure that your foot fall is directly under your knee (when your foot hits the ground it should be under your knee). Days Off should not be scheduled, but should be taken as needed. When life (family, friends, work) makes demands on your time take a day off it ll reduce the level of stress. When feeling sick take a day off one day off is better than a week or two of being sick. When an injury starts a pain (not soreness) or general tiredness sets in, a day off will help you avoid serious injury or let you know you need to see a doctor to treat the injury. Totals: 26 to 50 Base Phase Notes: Saturday and Sunday can be reversed. Tuesday and Wednesday Supplemental Workouts should include hilly courses or Hills and Drills. If you race on the weekend, work-in your long workout. Do 3 hard workouts per week, no more! Hard workouts are: Hill Drills, Races and Long Workouts. Strength Building Phase June 27 through August 15, 8 weeks Goals: This phase will build strength and improve Lactate Threshold level. The goals of this phase are: Build cardiovascular and muscular endurance. Improve economy. Improve VO 2 max. Increase strength. Improve Lactate Threshold. Page 11 of 20
Increase mitochondria. Increase capillary beds. Improve Lactate enzyme response. Maintain weekly mileage Maintain long workouts This phase will build economy, speed (indirectly by increasing strength), VO 2 max, strength, improve Lactate Threshold, increase mitochondria, increase capillary beds and improve the Lactate Enzyme response. You will be building power and strength with drills. It is important to maintain your weekly distance and the distance of your long workouts. Use the Four Week Training Cycle described above. Beginning marathoners should begin strength building drills by doing only a few repeats at a time. As you get stronger, increase the number of repeats gradually. You should avoid racing during this phase. Weekend runs are long and with hills! Schedule an easy week every 4 weeks. Typical Week: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Supplemental Run hard effort, 90% 95% effort, 3 to 8. Hill drills. Supplemental Run hard effort, 90% 95% effort, 3 to 8. Hill drills. Page 12 of 20
Saturday Supplemental Run moderate effort, 80% 85% effort, 3 to 6. You can run a hilly course or do hill drills. Or Or Sunday Race. Long Run easy to moderate effort, 75% - 85% effort, with hills, 10 to 20 Workout Details: Hill Repeats the purpose of this workout is to build leg muscles, develop extra capillaries and improve the energy production system in your muscles. Run at least 2 hill repeats and no more than 8. You should focus on your body position going up the hill and going down the hill. On the way up: shorten your stride slightly, increase your knee lift and arm action and run up on you toes getting push from your hip, knee and especially your ankle and toe joints. On the way down the hill: lengthen your stride slightly by increasing your follow through (high foot in the back of your stride), drop your hands so they are near your hips/waist, lean down the hill (but keep your body straight don t bend forward from the waist), focus on landing on the mid-foot or forefoot, not on you heel (which will cause a braking action and tremendously increase the impact as you run down the hill) and lean down the hill. It is especially important to keep your foot fall under your knee when running down hill. Hill Drills these are Arthur Lydiard Hill Drills. All are done at a slow pace. The goal is to get lift off the ground and not to move forward at a rapid pace. Bounding elongate your stride and emphasize knee lift and arm action. Focus on getting high off the ground. Skipping skip slowly up the hill, emphasizing knee lift and arm action. Focus on getting high off the ground. Springing emphasize knee lift and remaining off the ground for a longer period of time than you normally do. Do not emphasize forward movement. Lactate Threshold (LT) This is a critical workout of the week you should work towards raising your heart rate up to 95% for 4 minutes at a time. Allow your heart rate to drop down Page 13 of 20
between these hard efforts. Start with four 4 minute hard efforts and increase that number each week. Running hills is the best way to raise your heart rate. Don t worry about speed during these hard efforts. Note: these are Lactate Threshold workouts. They are designed to be done at 95% effort or greater. Run up the hill has hard as possible. Turn around and go down the hill very slowly and easily. This is a key workout to building all aspects of your running. It is a VERY HARD workout. But, the benefits are enormous. Without doing any speed work your race performance will increase dramatically after just a few weeks of doing this type of workout Leave 1 to 2 days between the LT workouts in the same sport. Days Off should not be scheduled, but should be taken as needed. When life (family, friends, work) makes demands on your time take a day off it ll reduce the level of stress. When feeling sick take a day off one day off is better than a week or two of being sick. When an injury starts a pain (not soreness) or general tiredness sets in, a day off will help you avoid serious injury or let you know you need to see a doctor to treat the injury. Supplemental Strength Workouts: Spend 30 minutes to 45 minutes in the gym per session. Work with free weights and/or pulleys, not machines. Vary your weight workouts from week to week. Do two to three workouts each week. They should last between 20 and 30 minutes no longer. Do one exercise in each of the following areas: 1. Arms pushing extend (straighten) elbows against resistance, press (standing, seated with barbell or dumbbell), bench press (flat, incline, decline), dips, pull-ups 2. Arms pulling flex (bend) elbows against resistance, row (seated, bent-over, one arm with barbells or dumbbells 3. Abdominal static (Side Lying Bridge, Prone Plank, Supine Plank) or concentric/eccentric (crunch). Increase resistance, rather than increasing reps. 4. Lower back back extension (45 or 90 ), Good Mornings, stiff-leg dead lift 5. Squats. step-ups, lunge, leg press Do one to three sets of 6 to 8 reps for each exercise. Do all exercises with FULL range of motion. Use a weight of 70% to 75% of 1 Repeat Maximum (1RM) for 6 to 8 reps. You can also use 100% of your 10 Repeat Maximum (10RM). Totals: Page 14 of 20
30 to 60 Strength Phase Notes: Saturday and Sunday can be reversed. Tuesday and Wednesday are Hill Drills. You can substitute a hilly run 4 to 15 for the Hill Drills. Avoid races during this phase. Do 3 hard workouts per week, no more! Hard workouts are: Hill Drills and Long Workouts. Speed Building Phase August 22 through October 10, 8 weeks Goals: This phase will speed. You will be building speed with drills. The goals of this phase are: Maintain cardiovascular and muscular endurance. Maintain economy. Build speed. Maintain VO 2 max. Maintain Lactate Threshold. Maintain Lactate enzyme response. Improve velocity at VO 2 max (vvo 2 max). Improve time limit at vvo 2 max. You should reduce your weekly mileage and the distances (or frequency) of your long workout. It is important to rest and fully recover from each workout. The only way to develop exceptional speed is by being able to tune the neuromuscular pathways. These cannot be developed or refined when you are tired. Always allow a sufficient recovery period between speed intervals. Use the Four Week Training Cycle described above. Traditional Interval workouts are NOT recommended. Instead, you should be using Time Trials, Tempo/Pace workouts and races to improve speed. Beginning marathoners should begin speed building drills by doing only a few repeats at a time. As you get faster and are able to maintain good form, increase the number of repeats gradually. You should race frequently during this phase. Weekend runs are long and with Tempo/Pace intervals! Schedule an easy week every 4 weeks. Page 15 of 20
Typical Week: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Supplemental Run hard effort, 90% 95% effort, 8 to 12. Speed drills. Supplemental Run hard effort, 90% 95% effort, 8 to 12. Speed drills. Supplemental Run moderate effort, 80% 85% effort, 3 to 15. This should be a Time Trial or a race. Or Sunday Long Run moderate effort, 75% - 85% effort, with hills, 12 to 20. Sample Speed Drills: Speed Drills the purpose of these workouts is to build leg speed. Fully recover between Speed Drills. Gradually accelerate to near top speed. Hold your speed for 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Focus on running tall and light on your feet. The quicker you get your feet Page 16 of 20
off the ground the faster you can run. Avoid over striding by reaching with your front leg. Additional speed workouts include: Tempo/Pace rides middle 30% to 50% of a workout done at race pace (or slightly faster). Race as frequently as possible without interfering with your training plan. Days Off should not be scheduled, but should be taken as needed. When life (family, friends, work) makes demands on your time take a day off it ll reduce the level of stress. When feeling sick take a day off one day off is better than a week or two of being sick. When an injury starts a pain (not soreness) or general tiredness sets in, a day off will help you avoid serious injury or let you know you need to see a doctor to treat the injury. Speed Phase Notes: Saturday and Sunday can be reversed. Race frequently during this phase. Do 3 hard workouts per week, no more! Hard workouts are: Speed Drills, Time Trials, races and Long Workouts. Taper Phase October 17 through October 24, 2 weeks Goals: The purpose of the Taper Phase is to allow you body to rest, recover and rebuild from the hard training that you ve done for the past months. You should taper for at least one week and no more than two weeks. The goals of this phase are: Reduce weekly mileage to 15 to 20 per week Rest and Recover Get ready for your Goal Race! Do not reduce the number of workouts you do during this phase. Just reduce the length and intensity of each of your workouts. Maintain your normal diet. Increase your intake of water. Eliminate supplemental strength workouts during the taper phase. Get 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night and get to sleep between 10 and 11 o clock each night. Be Prepared: Prepare for your race running clothes, shoes, fuel and hydration supplements. If you have been racing during your Speed Phase, you should just need to review what you will bring to your goal race. Double check EVERYTHING! Just because you ve used a piece of equipment, doesn t mean you shouldn t double check it. Page 17 of 20
Typical First Week: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Fast and Short Run JOG about 2 to 3 and add 30 seconds of fast running every 3 to 4 minutes Fast and Short Run JOG about 2 to 3 and add 30 seconds of fast running every 3 to 4 minutes Fast and Short Run JOG about 2 to 3 and add 30 seconds of fast running every 3 to 4 minutes Second Week: Monday Tuesday Race 5 mile to 10Km race, at moderately hard effort, 80% - 85% Fast and Short Run JOG about 2 to 3 and add 30 seconds of fast running every 3 to 4 minutes Page 18 of 20
Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Active Recovery Run easy/comfortable effort, under 70% effort, avoid hills, 2 to 3 Active Recovery Run easy/comfortable effort, under 70% effort, avoid hills, 2 to 3 Fast and Short Run JOG about 2 to 3 and add 30 seconds of fast running every 3 to 4 minutes Active Recovery Run easy/comfortable effort, under 70% effort, avoid hills, 2 to 3 Active Recovery Run easy/comfortable effort, under 70% effort, avoid hills, 2 to 3 Grand Rapids Marathon! Taper Notes: Drink lots of water. Eat your normal diet. Get lots of sleep Friday night is the most important night to get to sleep early and sleep 8 to 9 hours. Get packet pick-up over with as early as possible in the week. Don t spend a lot of time on your feet. Drive the course. Check-out your equipment and clothes. Don t do anything new the last week. Don t wear anything new the last week. Marathon Recovery October 31 through November 7, 2 weeks Page 19 of 20
The two weeks after a marathon are critical to recovering and being able to continue to race. Run every day start with a 1 to 2 mile jog or brisk walk. Gradually build-up your distance to 3 to 4. Alternate days of 1 to 2 with days of 3 to 4. Racing Phase November 14 through December 19, 6 weeks During the Racing Phase your training should be consistent and only moderate effort. Your mileage should be about 50% of what you were doing through the Base and Strength Phases. Weekends you do not race, do a longish run. During the week do Speed drills to stay sharp. Recovery Phase December 26 through January 30, 6 weeks During the Recovery Phase stop training seriously. Continue to run but only casually. Efforts should all be very easy and distances should be short. Use this period to rebuild strength, recharge your commitment and to generally recover from your training. It s also a good idea to do other activities the ones that you ve avoided because of your training. Page 20 of 20