[NOTE - If you randomly found this post searching the web for info on putting together a running schedule, then, Welcome! Just so you know, I'm a 32 year old guy, 6'1, about 165 pounds and I've been running 20-30 miles a week for about 9 months. Nothing I write below reflects any medical consultation, only what I've pieced together by researching and running.]
So, many of you have left encouraging comments on Facebook about my progress on running over the past couple of weeks. Thanks! One of the things I’ve read recently is that regular training will lead to periodic spurts of progress [it's not slow and steady progress like we would imagine.] Recently, I’ve hit a spurt and lowered my pace pretty significantly. I’ve set a couple of PRs even just in training.
I figured, it might be worth it to explain what my weekly schedule looks like. I’ve done a fair amount of reading that has gone into putting together a routine that is meant to not just keep me fit but make me faster.
So here goes:
MONDAY – TEMPO/FARTLEK RUN (6-8 miles). I start off the week with a run that is a pretty long distance usually on a road. It is the second longest run of the week for me. It is also usually the fastest pace I’ll run all week. A tempo or fartlek run is one where you vary your pace throughout the course of the run. Sometimes I pick a mile near the half-way point and try to run it at a faster pace. Sometimes people pick a landmark and speed up to reach it before dropping their pace back down. Another great way to vary your pace here in Little Rock is to choose a really hilly road to run on. I did that this past Monday and tried to increase my speed everytime I went uphill (probably 4-5 times through the run).
TUESDAY – RECOVERY RUN (3-5 miles). I try to take it easy on Tuesdays. My pace should be about a minute per mile slower. I run on trails to give my legs a little extra cushion. I find that being disciplined enough to run slow can be really hard. I need to be more intentional about keeping my pace down for my recovery runs. I’ve read that your recovery runs can actually be more important than your hard days.
WEDNESDAY – SPEEDWORK (3-5 miles). Ideally, I’m on a high school track on Wednesdays. Speedwork consists of a 1 mile light jog followed by 3-5 400 or 800 meter sprints. Between each sprint I jog half that distance to recover [with 400s I jog 200s]. I top it off by cooling down with another 1 mile jog. The trick has been to figure out what a “sprint” means for a distance like this. It isn’t truly a sprint, more like whatever speed you could keep up for one mile all out. It took me a couple of weeks to feel that out.
THURSDAY – RECOVERY RUN (3-5 miles). Same as Tuesday.
FRIDAY – OFF.
SATURDAY – LONG RUN (8-12 miles so far). Saturday is my day to increase my overall endurance. This should be run at a conversational pace. Since I moved here to Little Rock, this run has been with a group of people, which gives me a chance to literally have conversations. I’ll slowly buildup toward maybe 20 miles over the next couple of months. I’ll try to add 1-2 miles per week and “step back” my mileage by about 25% every 3rd week to rest [13...14...10...15...16...12...etc.]. This is a great day to go run in new places. That helps a long run to not get boring. Since I’m up to 12 miles so far, that means I’m running for over an hour and a half.
SUNDAY – OFF
So that is the long and short of it. I don’t keep this exactly. But that is generally where I’ve come to. I’ll probably continue to tweak and refine.
