Right, here's my first draft of a plan for next month or so. Criticism and discussion fully expected...
Great. We can use that as a basis and common language, and just discuss differences. Specifically that 5k will give us some guidance on training paces.
I think the iPhone gizmo gives it away. I'm going to suggest tempos and long reps at Daniels' exact pace guidelines.
There are two parts, really. The first is just planning: if we want to break up the year into chunks, have a weekly pattern, and vary the training in each, it's easiest to plan in the vacations and business trips and use them for downtime, rather than being a slave to an arbitrary 24-week schedule.
The second is about rest: training gets to you after a while and I am a huge believer in trying to take an easy week before nature inflicts one on me. I tend to come back way stronger a week after an easy week. Some examples:
a. The official coach education literature when I was growing up (aimed at people doing a UK year, from October base work to August peak) was very clear and recommended
- a rest day or easy day every week
- 3 days rest every 6 weeks
- 3 weeks active rest at the end of the season
This is in Peter Coe's books, and Seb himself told me the most important session of the week was the rest day. (Although for a 5k+ runner, I'd modify that to say a day when you just have one easy session - often a 'day off' just makes you sluggish).
b. People pushing up the mileage often do best with 2 weeks up, 1 week down. You have to run through some fatigue that way, but there is an end point to aim for
c. Salazar and Canova often tell athletes to take 3 days easy running in a row when they feel below par.
I deliberately plan to take this kind of downtime to help with family and work. If there's a really busy family weekend I won't fret about getting up extra-early or running late at night, I'll just treat that as part of my rest allowance; likewise if I'm at a conference or something, I'll call that my easy week and be content with one run a day.
OK. I'd suggest to focus on the training rather than dieting, but keep one eye on the scales. We'll try to use all the tricks we can with the gym work to keep your metabolism going.
8 mile morning runs are good - done while fasting so should burn fat - but don't rush them. We'll do stuff in the evenings which is really short and sharp, as this will hopefully speed up your metabolism in the next few hours, and also leave you a bit more stimulated for family rather than wanting to just pass out. Details suggested below.
Don't trust new gadgetry for pace judgment ;-) I used my Garmin footpod to try and set the right pace in a 5k in October, it went about 8% off that day and I went off too slow. Try to pick the pace up as you go round, way more fun to finish storming than crawling.
OK, so you have healthy muscles now but aren't really progressing it. This is a good 'strength base' but we can now try to phase this to work with your running, and to burn a bit more fat off.
OK. 9-10 weeks to half marathon? I suggest we split it into two four-week blocks with an easy week where we can reassess and change the schedule. First 4 weeks are to get you used to running faster, then we'll make a plan for the next block. I think it's generally accepted that masters (and a lot of youngsters) will do better with 2 quality sessions each week than 3, plus a long run.
Personally I like to repeat a pattern 4-6 times, then change it. I really like having a well defined progression: repeat last week's session but add one more rep, or shave off a second, or whatever. So that's how I have laid this out.
Here are the elements to slot into the week...
1. Morning runs: the morning 8-milers are great, keep them up. Keep them as easy as they need to be; if you're tired the morning after a quality session or weights, by all means shorten one.
2. Tempo run: let's base the pace targets on your 5k this weekend and Daniels' tables, and err on the soft side. Thus, if you ran 19:00 but think you could have run 18:30 with better pacing, we'll go for 19:00. I'd suggest doing this when the kids are in bed on the treadmill. Hopefully with a few light lunges and stuff earlier in the evening you won't need too long a warmup. Start with just 3 miles. Aim to lengthen the run a bit each week. If it feels mentally tough, feel free to switch to 'cruise interval' mode e.g. run a mile, then have 1min easy, then another mile. Use the time on the treadmill to focus on your form and relaxation. One game I play on treadmill tempos is to try and will my heart rate down as far as possible.
3. Repetitions: we need some shorter faster running. This will be fun, develop your running skills, and make harder sessions later. I'd suggest two choices here.
- if you like to do them on a Saturday and can find a gentle hill within a mile or two, work out a section about 30-45sec long and try to run up with good form. jog back and repeat. Start with 6x45sec or 8x30sec, add a couple each week. You want to be breathing hard at the top but still under control and not screaming with lactate. Do not time them all.
- if weekday evenings suit you better, I presume your treadmill has some interval program; do reps of 30-45 sec with maybe a minute rest, and note a pace which feels good but finishable. Again, progress the extent: 6 reps, 8 reps, 10 reps, 12 reps.
This is your first interval training in a long time so we want to be careful, and finish each session feeling like you could do the whole session again if you had to. Think about it as a skill practice, not an endurance test. Make sure to cool down (mile easy?) and stretch afterwards.
4. Circuit session: we will work out a series of 10-15 exercises where you can do at least 15 reps of each as a starting point (starting AFTER the 5k). We'll do these in fairly quick succession, and include a few 'metabolic' exercises to push the heart rate up - burpees, jumps etc - and a few classic running conditioning exercises. This is strength-endurance work for your running muscles, but we might as well try to use your core, chest and back to burn off some extra fat too. There will be no real cardio benefit to your running, but this kind of stuff apparently is very good for burning calories over the next 24 hours. You could progress with extra reps (15, then 20, then 25), or with an extra circuit.
5. Strength/power session:
We'll do a bunch of core, lunges etc to get the whole body really warmed up. Then, we'll do a handful of exercises that need real strength - things where you can only do 3 to 8 reps well, or where you aim for some explosive movements. Mike Boyle's book, "Functional Strength Training", is really good on this. The key one at home, without a barbell, is the single leg box squat or pistol squat (possibly assisted with a post or strap). DON'T try it now. This can be combined with some speed work such as the short hill sprints, or with some form drills.
6. Long Sunday run: exactly as you are doing now. I see no need to go beyond 14 in the next month.
As for phasing it: we want to do Quality; Gym; Easy Run; then repeat. The running sessions matter more than the gym work so are scheduled before; but you will definitely be tired after the gym work for up to 2 days and will want to run easier the next day. I find I run a whole minute a mile slower the morning after weights.
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This reflects my own bias that we masters really need to regain strength in our running and stabilising muscles, and practice the skills to run fast. Others may disagree and say the gym stuff could be minimised in favour of more miles. There are lots of other types of sessions that would fit in here too.
Let me know what you think, and if you like this I can expand on the gym stuff tomorrow.