Forget the 3 R's. The 5 P's are where it's at if you're a runner. If you haven't got a Plan then you're going to be found out when you least want to be. Somewhere around mile 20 by all accounts....
It's five years since I first tackled the 10 miles of the Great South Run, and for three years now I've been run at least one GSR and half marathon a year. Twelve weeks out from an event I'll search out my trusty training plan, dust it down and spend the next three months largely ignoring it as I bring myself to the peak of physical well being (everything is relative). I'm confident that I know what to do now. Ideally I'll run three times a week when I'm "in training" but I'm a realist and life can get in the way. If it ends up being just twice a week I won't worry too much. If it ends up being just once I'll make sure it's the long run and vow to try harder next week.
First time up I wasn't sure what to do. First time up I didn't know whether running that far was something I was capable of, so I followed the plan to the letter. Now though I know what's involved and I know what my body can do. There's no doubt as to whether I'll make it to the end, the doubt is whether I'll make it around as fast as I want to. Bragging rights at work (which is actually an exercise in not holding the wooden spoon), impressing the family, beating last years time, running a negative split. These are all challenges but they don't hold the same level of fear as that very first time.
Now that 2012 is largely over and I'm beginning to look forward to 2013 and my first marathon, I'm once again going to be striding into the unknown and I'm going to need a Plan. The limited research I've done shows that most marathon training plans are 16 weeks long and will have you running 5 days per week. For me that's not going to work so I've borrowed bits from here and there and written my own. Having struggled to make time for 3 runs a week for the last year I've realised that 5 is just not going to happen. I've also decided that getting myself to the start line injury free is going to be a feat in itself and decided to add a four week build up schedule to the front of my plan to ensure I'm adding miles in a more manageable way. Last, for some reason my mind responds with less alarm to a schedule that is based on time of runs as opposed to set miles to run. Somehow "run easy for 85 minutes" reads better than "10 Mile Long Run" to me even though I'll have to work out a 10 mile route to accommodate the time. Not sure if this makes me weird or not? My schedule contains all the right elements - weekly long slow run of increasing distance, easier weeks once in every 4, strength work for the first period and then adding in some speed sessions, plus lots of "recovery runs" (conceptually illogical to my lazy brain) - and is now safely installed on my PC for ready reference and possible further tinkering as I go.
Week one starts Monday 26th November, after which I'll officially be "in training", meticulously following The Plan and ensuring as far as I can that I don't end up with Poor Performance come 14th April.
It's five years since I first tackled the 10 miles of the Great South Run, and for three years now I've been run at least one GSR and half marathon a year. Twelve weeks out from an event I'll search out my trusty training plan, dust it down and spend the next three months largely ignoring it as I bring myself to the peak of physical well being (everything is relative). I'm confident that I know what to do now. Ideally I'll run three times a week when I'm "in training" but I'm a realist and life can get in the way. If it ends up being just twice a week I won't worry too much. If it ends up being just once I'll make sure it's the long run and vow to try harder next week.
First time up I wasn't sure what to do. First time up I didn't know whether running that far was something I was capable of, so I followed the plan to the letter. Now though I know what's involved and I know what my body can do. There's no doubt as to whether I'll make it to the end, the doubt is whether I'll make it around as fast as I want to. Bragging rights at work (which is actually an exercise in not holding the wooden spoon), impressing the family, beating last years time, running a negative split. These are all challenges but they don't hold the same level of fear as that very first time.
Now that 2012 is largely over and I'm beginning to look forward to 2013 and my first marathon, I'm once again going to be striding into the unknown and I'm going to need a Plan. The limited research I've done shows that most marathon training plans are 16 weeks long and will have you running 5 days per week. For me that's not going to work so I've borrowed bits from here and there and written my own. Having struggled to make time for 3 runs a week for the last year I've realised that 5 is just not going to happen. I've also decided that getting myself to the start line injury free is going to be a feat in itself and decided to add a four week build up schedule to the front of my plan to ensure I'm adding miles in a more manageable way. Last, for some reason my mind responds with less alarm to a schedule that is based on time of runs as opposed to set miles to run. Somehow "run easy for 85 minutes" reads better than "10 Mile Long Run" to me even though I'll have to work out a 10 mile route to accommodate the time. Not sure if this makes me weird or not? My schedule contains all the right elements - weekly long slow run of increasing distance, easier weeks once in every 4, strength work for the first period and then adding in some speed sessions, plus lots of "recovery runs" (conceptually illogical to my lazy brain) - and is now safely installed on my PC for ready reference and possible further tinkering as I go.
Week one starts Monday 26th November, after which I'll officially be "in training", meticulously following The Plan and ensuring as far as I can that I don't end up with Poor Performance come 14th April.
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