Below are one-week samples of Joe’s two most popular marathon training plans (one for a 3:30 marathon and one for your first marathon). Most of his plans are 11 to 12 weeks long. For suggestions on how to choose the right plan for you see “How to choose a training plan”.
Run a 3:30 Marathon
For triathletes
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Week 5
Monday
Recovery day.
Focus on recovery today: 1) stay off of your legs all you can, 2) watch nutrition closely (fruits & vegs, protein, and good fats), 3) gently stretch, and 4) drink to satisfy thirst. Other common recovery aids include massage, napping, elevating legs, floating in water, and listening to music.
Tuesday
Run. Race Pace Rehearsal. 1 hour, 10 minutes.
BT: Warm up 10–20 minutes and then start a continuous 45-minute tempo run at a pace of 7:50–7:55/mile (4:53–4:58/km). This is the pace you will run for miles 4–20 in the marathon. Cool down with slow jogging or walking for a few minutes afterwards and then stretch.
Your heart rate should not exceed the 3 zone on the tempo portion of this run. If it does you MUST slow down.
Wednesday
Run. Easy Run. 45 minutes.
Run in heart rate or pace zone 1 on a flat, soft surface such as on a trail or in a park. VERY easy. This is best done alone. If feeling very tired, shorten this run or don’t do it. You may also opt to do one or both of the accompanying swim and bike workouts in place of this run as cross-training. Regardless of which you do, the idea is to keep it easy so you are recovered for tomorrow.
Bike. Recovery Spin. 1 hour.
Do a very easy recovery spin on a mostly flat course (or on indoor trainer) in small chainring. Heart rate in zone 1 or power in zone 1 or 2. Light on the pedals. Comfortably high rpm focusing on smooth pedaling skills. Upper body “quiet” with legs spinning easily. OR, take the day off if very tired. Be ready for tomorrow’s more critical workout. This is an alternative recovery workout that may be done in place of running to reduce the stress on your legs.
Swim. PDLC Swim. 30 minutes.
(Print swim workouts for each session—put today’s in a ziplock bag and take it to the pool.)
This is an alternative workout that may be done in place of running to reduce the stress on your legs.
PDLC Swim (intended to improve your swim technique, which is the major contributor to swim times).
Swim for the scheduled workout duration doing only 25 repeats moderately fast while focusing on only Posture, Direction, Length, or Catch. Focus on only one of these—your worst (“limiter”) of the 4 (20–30 sec. rest after each).
POSTURE: Head in neutral position (nose pointing at bottom of pool). DIRECTION: Extended arm pointing directly forward at wall (no crossover). LENGTH: Extended arm reach is so long that body rolls slightly onto side. CATCH: At full arm extension fingers point at bottom of pool and maintain that position until hand exits. Read more about PDLC here.
Thursday
Run. Cruise intervals. 1 hour, 15 minutes.
BT: Cruise intervals. Warm up for 10–20 minutes including 4 strides (see Saturday for details on strides). Then run 4 or 5 x 1 mile (1600m) at a pace of 7:35–7:40 per mile (4:43–4:48/km) with 200-meter jog/walk recovery intervals. Record times and heart rate averages for each. Heart rate should not exceed the 4 zone on this workout. If it does, slow down. This is best done on a track or measured course (or treadmill which isn’t quite as good as on the road). Do NOT try to “beat” the workout by running faster. Stick with the planned pace! Cool down slowly for the remainder of the workout.
Friday
Run. Easy Run. 45 minutes.
Run in heart rate or pace zone 1 on a flat, soft surface such as on a trail or in a park. VERY easy. This is best done alone. If feeling very tired, shorten this run or don’t do it. You may also opt to do one or both of the accompanying swim and bike workouts in place of this run as cross-training. Regardless of which you do, the idea is to keep it easy so you are recovered for tomorrow.
Bike. Recovery Spin. 1 hour.
Do a very easy recovery spin on a mostly flat course (or on indoor trainer) in small chainring. Heart rate in zone 1 or power in zone 1 or 2. Light on the pedals. Comfortably high rpm focusing on smooth pedaling skills. Upper body “quiet” with legs spinning easily. OR, take the day off if very tired. Be ready for tomorrow’s more critical workout. This is an alternative recovery workout that may be done in place of running to reduce the stress on your legs.
Swim. PDLC Swim. 30 minutes.
(Print swim workouts for each session, put today’s in a ziplock bag and take it to the pool.)
This is an alternative workout that may be done in place of running to reduce the stress on your legs.
PDLC Swim (intended to improve your swim technique, which is the major contributor to swim times).
Swim for the scheduled workout duration doing only 25 repeats moderately fast while focusing on only Posture, Direction, Length, or Catch. Focus on only one of these—your worst (“limiter”) of the 4 (20–30 sec. rest after each).
POSTURE: Head in neutral position (nose pointing at bottom of pool). DIRECTION: Extended arm pointing directly forward at wall (no crossover). LENGTH: Extended arm reach is so long that body rolls slightly onto side. CATCH: At full arm extension fingers point at bottom of pool and maintain that position until hand exits. Read more about PDLC here.
Saturday
Run. Long Downhill Strides. 45 minutes.
Warm up 15–20 minutes with light running. Then on a slight downhill (less than 3% grade) with soft terrain such as grass or dirt, run 1 minute fast but not quite all out. Do NOT run on concrete or asphalt. Focus on good technique. Do a total of 4 such one-minute, downhill runs in this workout with a walk/jog recovery back up to the starting point. Cool down with an easy run and stretch, especially your quads (front of thighs). This workout will help to “inoculate” your legs against the soreness that develops in the thighs during the latter stages of a marathon.
Sunday
Run. Long Aerobic Threshold Run. 2 hours, 30 minutes.
BT: Warm up 20–30 minutes in zone 1. Then on a mostly flat to gently rolling course run 1.5–2 hours at 28–33 bpm below your lowest heart rate in the 5a zone. Focus on good form with a high cadence (84+ rpm) and flat footstrike with weight toward ball of foot (not on toes). Walk for several minutes after to cool down.
If you are in good aerobic condition your pace will not slow down while you hold this heart rate. Here’s how to gauge that. If using a GPS pacing device, after the run divide your normalized graded pace (NGP) into 60 to find your normalized graded speed (for example, 60 / 8.5 pace = 7.05 speed in mph). Then divide speed by your average heart rate for the aerobic threshold portion to find your efficiency factor (EF). EF should gradually increase over time showing that your aerobic fitness is improving. Of course, there will be some weeks when it decreases. You are watching the longterm trend, however.
Your First Marathon
12 weeks to the Finish Line
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Week 1
Monday
Recovery Day
You will be taking every Monday off over the next 12 weeks to allow your legs to recover from the preceding weekend’s training. This will help you to prevent injury, which is your greatest challenge in training for Your First Marathon. Never compromise these days off. You will do the same thing on Fridays. The coming Mondays (and Fridays) will suggest what you can do to speed recovery and help your body bounce back from the weekend training.
Tuesday
Run. 30 minutes.
This is an easy run-walk workout today. Start by walking briskly for a couple of minutes before breaking into a slow run. Walk whenever you feel like it.
Wednesday
Day off or Bike 30 minutes
Either take today off to make sure your legs are getting enough rest, or ride your bike for 30 minutes easy on a flat course. This ride may be on a stationary or indoor training bike.
You’ll be riding your bike quite a bit over the next several weeks. Buying a pair of good bike shorts will make this a much more enjoyable experience. And always wear a helmet when riding a bike!
Thursday
Run. 30 minutes.
Run-walk for 30 minutes just as you did on Tuesday. No need to push yourself to go faster or farther today. We’ll do that on Saturday.
Friday
Recovery Day.
Actively focus on recovery today: 1) stay off of legs all you can, 2) watch nutrition closely (healthy carbs, lean protein, and good fats), 3) stretch, and 4) drink plenty of fluids. Other common recovery aids include massage, napping, elevating legs, floating in water, and listening to music.
You will take these rest breaks every Friday. Never skip a rest day the day before your long run on the weekend. You’ll go into the week’s most important workout rested and ready to go by taking today off.
Saturday
Run. 1 hour, 15 minutes.
This is your longest run of the week. If Saturday doesn’t work for you it’s OK to swap the Saturday and Sunday workouts although it is not quite as good that way as your legs won’t be as fresh. But life isn’t always on our side, is it? Run for 10 minutes easy and then walk for 1 minute briskly throughout the workout. Drink 1–2 mouthfuls of the same sports drink that will be at the aid stations in the marathon (go to their website to find out what that will be). Start the first run conservatively. In other words, hold back a little at the start. It will feel very easy at first. But if you start too fast it will come back to haunt you in the last part of this run.
You can buy a water bottle holster at a running store. This will make it much easier to carry the bottles. It’s best to get a holster that holds 2 bottles for when your runs get longer.
Sunday
Bike. Easy Ride. 1 hour.
Ride at an easy effort on a flat course, stationary bike or indoor trainer. Low effort, light on pedals. Comfortably high rpm. Avoid pushing a hard gear slowly with a lot of effort. It is best to “spin.” Riding a bike will also boost your aerobic/cardio fitness but without placing undue stress on your legs after a long run.
Use a sports drink on the bike today, taking in about 1 water bottle in an hour. Use the same sports drink that the marathon will have at the aid stations.