Marathon and Half-Marathon (8 page)

Is there a pattern to my training program?

During the third week, we have suggested Saturday or Sunday as your long-workout day, and it follows a 2-week pattern of increased volume followed by a recovery week. Remember, you will be gradually training to cover the distance. You will need to measure the distance of your weekend sessions in order to be certain that you are covering the suggested distance in the program.

The shuffle

• As crazy as it sounds, do the first minute of the running interval on the spot
.
It becomes clear how the run is truly meant to be a shuffle.

• The shuffle technique: upright body carriage, a short swing of the arms, and little steps with no knee lift. You are not bouncing. It is a shuffle. Think of how a boxer looks running in training, or even a dancer doing the cha-cha!

• Your weight should be distributed on the mid- to forefoot, unlike in walking, which is clearly a heel-toe action.

• Remember, the goal is to eventually mesh the walking with the shuffle-jog, so that the body and mind hardly note the difference. The speed is irrelevant: you are learning to run. The speed will come later.

What is a “shuffle,” and why do I have to do it? Why
can I not just run right away?

Running is a high-impact sport, which makes it very demanding on the body. The impact of running must be absorbed by all of your muscles, joints, ligaments, and tendons. It takes your body a long time to adjust to these demands. You’ll remember that the goal is to keep you healthy and to gradually, through a process of incremental increases in running, build the strength and stamina to complete your goal distance. To avoid injury, you need to build up your running pace very gradually. In the initial stages of your program you want to be moving very slowly in order to be comfortable— the pace can be described as a “shuffle.” It is a pace that is similar to a fast walk during which you can easily maintain a conversation. If you cannot maintain a conversation at the shuffle pace, you are going too fast and need to back off.

Will I be expected to have the strength and know-how
to run in the first week of training?

No, you are not expected to be able to run right away. Remember, whether you’re training for the marathon or half marathon, you will be doing a combination of walking and shuffling for the entire 26-week program.

How does the walking and running
combination work?

You will notice that the two midweek sessions consist of timed portions of walking and running. It would be helpful to have a sport watch so that you can keep track of the time. The progressions are designed in such a way that as the walk portions alternate with the shuffle or jog portions, over the next many weeks you will gradually progress to jog timed sections of 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, and on up to 30 minutes. The whole idea is that the walking meshes with the jogging so that your body and mind hardly notice the difference.

Warming up is important. Note that the times shown do not include your warm-up and cool-down times; for those, we suggest a minimum of 5 minutes at the end of each workout. Be sure to allow extra time in your schedule for these essential components. Please note that the distances and estimated times found in your program are just that—estimates, based on a walk/run time of approximately 15-minute miles. In other words, we are suggesting that the average time it will take a beginning distance runner to walk/run 1 mile is 15 minutes. You will have to go by how you feel, which is why we encourage you to measure a route to be certain that you are covering the suggested distance. Some of you will go slower than 15 minutes per mile, and that’s fine; others will take significantly less time. Just remember that it depends on the individual, and you just need to be concerned about maintaining a comfortable pace for you. Don’t worry about the length of time it takes you to cover your distance.

The run portion of the training should be a very slow jog, more like a shuffle. The pace should be slow so that it almost feels effortless. In fact, it might feel as if you could walk as fast as you are running. If the run is not always at a comfortable “talking” pace, then please slow down!

What is the difference between the half- and full-marathon
programs?

The midweek walk/jog sessions, whether on Tuesday and Thursday or Monday and Wednesday, are exactly the same. The only difference between those and the weekend (Saturday or Sunday) long-run day is that the distances indicated are adjusted to correspond to whether you are training for the half or the full marathon.

What are the training programs like?

We’ve divided the 26-week programs into six 4-week phases and one final 2-week phase. Take each manageable block of training one at a time, and try to stay focused on the workouts, on the advice within each of the workouts, and on the advice within each phase. Don’t get too far ahead of yourself. By focusing only on one specific day’s scheduled workout, you’re less likely to get overwhelmed.

What do I do if I feel I’m not ready to advance to the
next week’s training schedule?

The best personal monitor is to make sure you are honestly and consistently using your logbook. Regularly record how you felt each day of training; for example, “I completed my Saturday run and felt great,” or “I managed to get through the workout, but my hamstring was really bothering me from the halfway mark.” Be sure to include lifestyle concerns such as being out late, stressful times at work, sick kids, or whatever else might interfere with optimum training conditions. Trust your instincts—if your recent logbook entries indicate you’ve been having various difficulties (perhaps a cold, or a nagging pain) it may not be the best time to progress; instead, repeat the same week’s training. Remember, everyone progresses differently, so be sure to build a few extra weeks into your training schedule to allow for repeating certain weeks if you need a little extra time to build up strength and endurance before progressing to the next week’s challenges.

If you find you have an ache or pain, refer to chapter 9 for detailed information on rating your pain and how to know when you should take a few days’ rest. Or, if you catch a cold or flu bug when training and wonder how sick you need to be before taking a day off, refer to chapter 9 for information on what to do if you’re sick. Finally, if you do need to take a break of 1 or even 3 weeks, refer to the section at the end of that chapter for guidelines on how to best resume your training program.

Why do the programs increase the length of the long
run only every second week? Why don’t we just run a
little farther each week?

Our training programs use what’s called the “overload principle,” where each training phase alternates between building and recovery weeks. The objective is to systematically and conservatively overload the body in order to build strength. Although you need to stress the body to prepare it for the demands of the marathon or half marathon, you don’t want to be in a continual state of stress, because stress without rest just leads to more stress and in turn to fatigue, burnout, and eventually injury.

I’ve decided to start with the half marathon, but how
do I find a race?

In 26 weeks this beginner program will take you to the half-marathon finish line as safely and comfortably as possible. Find a race that interests you, either by visiting a local specialty running store or by going on-line to find an event farther afield that interests you. Many runners choose a “destination” event so that they can enjoy some well-deserved downtime after such a huge task as completing a half marathon. Or maybe you could think about doing your half marathon with a charity in mind and asking your friends to pledge some dollars for every kilometer of your race.

I’ve decided to go for the full marathon, but can I
do it?

This is a big commitment, but it’s doable with the right attitude. We would prefer you start with the half-marathon program and progress from there, but we know that people are making the marathon their initial goal, so we have created a beginner program that will take you to the marathon finish line in 26 weeks. But we want you to be cautious—if, at any point in your training, you don’t feel ready to move to the next week of the program, we encourage you to repeat the same week until you feel ready to push forward. The 26 weeks are just a guideline. Beginners will be approaching their training with varying levels of fitness and experience. Our generic programs cannot take into account all of the variables contributing to your individual training.

Before You Get Started, Some
Last-minute Advice

Under ideal circumstances the progression of this training program will be smooth and uneventful. However, we’re not always dealing with ideal circumstances. You have jobs, children, leaking roofs, and grass to cut. Your training progressions are only one of many demanding aspects of your life, unlike professional athletes whose training is their primary focus. For example, when you have a 7:00
AM
10-kilometer training run and your child wakes up at 3:00
AM
having wet the bed, you’re not entering your workout under optimal circumstances. Your training progress and response to it are modified by events surrounding it. It is impossible to control all of the variables, and emotional ups and downs are inevitable. The key is to recognize this is a healthy and normal part of any training program. Don’t be upset or put off. A word of warning: at some point in your training you will likely experience feelings of extreme fatigue, both physically and mentally, which commonly results in some degree of emotional turmoil. In other words, you will likely encounter emotional highs and lows. But don’t be overly concerned—it’s all part of being a distance runner and nothing a little extra sleep won’t cure.

And finally, remember that all runners experience guilt and disappointment. All runners, even beginners, have performance expectations. When a person misses a workout or performs below expectations it is common to experience guilt and emotional lows. What’s surprising is that this makes the process more rewarding, not less, because people find out they have more strength than they thought or ever imagined possible.

The Marathon and Half-marathon Programs

The difference between the marathon and half-marathon
programs

The programs for the half and full marathon are identical with the exception of the long run. The scheduled long runs for the marathoners are longer distances than those for the half-marathon runners.

Phase 1: Weeks 1–4

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
—Lao-tzu, Chinese philosopher

Congratulations! You’ve taken the first few steps in your half- or full-marathon journey.

Goals for phase 1

1. To begin to establish a comfortable “shuffle” pace as your first stage in learning to run for a few minutes at a time

2. To confirm your commitment to this new exercise program and to make your three weekly training sessions a priority in your busy life

Phase 1 Programs