My Training Schedule

I wanted to list out the training schedule that I have been using for my marathon so far and break down what I have done in the past few weeks and what the upcoming calendar looks like.

When I finished the Thanksgiving Point Half Marathon, I immediately began looking for a full marathon that I could get ready for. The reason that I chose the Top of Utah Marathon was because it was far enough away that I could adequately prepare. I wanted enough time to take a breather for a week, then follow a complete 16 – 18 week plan. That narrowed it down to two choices – the Top of Utah and the Mt Nebo. Both in September.

They both look great, but the TOU won out.

The new schedule calls for short runs of 3-4 miles on Monday and Wednesday each week. I decided a week or two ago to make Mondays Interval Training where I go to the track and try and work on my speed a little bit. Then this last week, I decided to make Wednesdays from now on Trail running days. I have tons of trails right around my house and it would be a shame not to take advantage of them.

Tuesdays are a little longer runs each week ranging from 5 – 8 miles per run. This is perfect because it allows me to get a little longer run in before I have to go to work and I can get them done before the day begins.

Thursdays are days off. No running. Rest is important and I enjoy Thursdays because of that reason.

Fridays are a mix of just normal easy runs to tempo runs where I run the tempo I want to run in the race. They vary in length from 3 – 8 miles. I did a 6 mile tempo run today that went great. More on that later.

Saturdays are the long run. They range in distance from 8 – 20 miles each run. The point of these runs is to get the distance in. I try not to worry about my time on the long runs – although I still carry a watch.

Sundays – another rest day.