Minimum Marathon Training Plan

Minimum Marathon Training Schedule The purpose of this training schedule is to articulate a MINIMUM baseline of training that is advised for a beginning runner who aspires to run their first marathon in the fall. This schedule provides only basic mileage that will get you to the starting line with enough training to simply finish the marathon. The optional Sunday run is suggested to be easy so that any soreness from the long run on Saturday can be relieved by blood flow in the muscles. A bike ride is also effective and will alleviate the impact of running for a day. If you bike, you should bike 2 to 3 times the distance that is suggested for the run. NOTES: It is suggested that each run have a purpose. To support this concept, the Saturday runs are to build aerobic fitness, the Tuesday runs can be for speed, the Thursday runs can be for strengthening, and the Sunday workout for recovery. Suggested workouts are: Speed – Start in May running a one mile easy warm up run followed by 2 miles of “speed play” (known to veteran runners as fartlek) followed by one mile warm down easy run. Speed play is running hard for short periods (1 to 2 minutes), then slower for a rest period (3 to 4 minutes). This trend will progress to 4 miles of speed play by September. Alternative speed workouts can be given to runners that are interested. Contact the MCP coaches at coach@marathoncharitypartners.org for individual advice. Strength – Start in May by running on a rolling course to gain strength and familiarity with running hills. Progress to running a warm up mile followed by hill repeats on a hill that is no longer than ¼ mile. Run up the hill; jog back down and repeat. Start with four repeats in May and progress to 12 to 16 repeats by September. Finish with a one mile warm down run. The Thursday run can be replaced with the Wednesday evening track workout with the Potomac Valley Track Club in Arlington, VA or you can attend the strength training workout hosted by Ramesh in Silver Spring, MD on Thursday evenings. The GREEN week portrayed once each month is representative of a recovery week that should be taken one out of every four weeks to allow your body to plateau and recover before you continue building further. The mileage suggested in November will allow your body to slowly recover from the marathon. Beginning December 1^st, you should be recovered from the marathon and can continue a base of about 20 miles a week to maintain a basic fitness level. Tips for beginners: · Rest is as important as running. Your body needs time to heal and adapt to the increasing stress. · Don't increase your mileage more than 10% from week to week. · Cut your mileage in half one week a month to give your body a chance to heal and strengthen. · Listen to your body, if you are injured or sick; take it easy. · If you are feeling overwhelmed by the training or other life stressors, cut out the Sunday run and just take a leisurely walk.
May
MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
						1
2	3 4 miles	4	5 3 miles	6	7 30-minute MCP training run	8 Optional: 3 mile easy run or bike
9	10 4 miles	11	12 4 miles	13	14 30-minute MCP training run	15 Optional: 3 mile easy run or bike
16	17 4 miles	18	19 4 miles	20	21 40-minute MCP training run	22 Optional: 3 mile easy run or bike
23	24 4 miles	25	26 4 miles	27	28 50-minute MCP training run	29 Optional: 3 mile easy run or bike


June
MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
MAY 30	31 4 miles	JUNE 1	2 4 miles	3	4 60-minute MCP training run	5 Optional: 3 mile easy run or bike
6	7 4 miles	8	9 4 miles	10	11 70-minute MCP training run	12 Optional: 3 mile easy run or bike
13	14 3 miles	15	16 3 miles	17	18 45-minute MCP training run	19 Optional: 3 mile easy run or bike
20	21 4 miles	22	23 4 miles	24	25 90-minute MCP training run	26 Optional: 3 mile easy run or bike
27	28 5 miles	29	30 4 miles


July
MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
				JULY 1	2 100-minute MCP training run	3 Optional: 4 mile easy run or bike
4	5 5 miles	6	7 4 miles	8	9 110-minute MCP training run	10 Optional: 4 mile easy run or bike
11	12 5 miles	13	14 4 miles	15	16 120-minute MCP training run	17 Optional: 4 mile easy run or bike
18	19 3 miles	20	21 3 miles	22	23	24 13.1 miles Riley's Rumble
25	26 5 miles	27	28 4 miles	29	30 140-minute MCP training run	31 Optional: 4 mile easy run or bike


August
MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
1	2 5 miles	3	4 5 miles	5	6 150-minute MCP training run	7 Optional: 4 mile easy run or bike
8	9 5 miles	10	11 5 miles	12	13 160-minute MCP training run	14 Optional: 4 mile easy run or bike
15	16 3 miles	17	18 3 miles	19	20 90-minute MCP training run	21 Optional: 3 mile easy run or bike
22	23 5 miles	24	25 5 miles	26	27 180-minute MCP training run	28 Optional: 4 mile easy run or bike
29	30 5 miles	31


September
MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
			1	2	3 190-minute MCP training run	4 Optional: 4 mile easy run or bike
5 LABOR DAY	6 6 miles	7	8 5 miles	9	10 200-minute MCP training run	11 Optional: 4 mile easy run or bike
12	13 6 miles	14	15 5 miles	16	17 120-minute MCP training run	18 Optional: 4 mile easy run or bike
19	20 3 miles	21	22 3 miles	23	24	25 National Capital 20 Mile Run
26	27 5 miles	28	29 5 miles	30


October
MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
					1 150-minute MCP training run	2 Optional: 4 mile easy run or bike
3	4 5 miles	5	6 5 miles	7	8 120-minute MCP training run	9 Optional: 3 mile easy run or bike
10	11 4 miles	12	13 4 miles	14	15 100-minute MCP training run	16 Optional: 3 mile easy run or bike
17	18 3 miles	19	20 3 miles	21	22 80-minute MCP training run	23 Optional: 3 mile easy run or bike
24	25 3 miles	26	27 3 miles	28	29 2 easy miles	30 Marine Corps Marathon


November - 2005
MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
31	1 Celebrate! Wear your medal all day!	2 Celebrate! Walk it off	3 3 miles	4	5 3 miles	6 Optional: 3 mile easy run or bike
7	8 3 miles	9	10 4 miles	11	12 6 miles	13 Optional: 3 mile easy run or bike
14	15 3 miles	16	17 4 miles	18	19 8 miles	20 Optional: 3 mile easy run or bike
21	22 4 miles	23	24 4 miles	25	26 10 miles	27 Optional: 3 mile easy run or bike
28	29 4 miles	30


December
MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN
			1 4 miles	2	3 10 miles	4 Optional: 3 mile easy run or bike
5	6 4 miles	7	8 4 miles	9	10 10 miles	11 Optional: 3 mile easy run or bike
12	13 4 miles	14	15 4 miles	16	17 10 miles	18 Optional: 3 mile easy run or bike
19	20 4 miles	21	22 4 miles	23	24 10 miles	25 Optional: 3 mile easy run or bike
26	27 4 miles	28	29 4 miles	30	31 10 miles	New Year’s Day!