Training Tips for Beginners and Advanced Runners

Well, you are “in” and now it’s time to make your journey satisfying and memorable (for all the right reasons). We can do this. I want to help.

2016’s race was my most enjoyable half marathon ever. Why? I let my body do what I had prepared it to do and “I” just went along for the ride. Easy for you to say, you say? Well, I say anybody can enjoy a half marathon from start to finish whether it’s your first or your 100th. 

And, here’s the secret = set a reasonable goal, start training early, be patient and don’t over train. If there is one thing I have learned from 60 years of running, and I’m somewhat embarrassed to say it took my stubborn self a long time to get the message, it’s that recovery time is just as important as training time. The road to running fitness is not a straight line: You don’t run straight up the training pyramid to get to the top. No, like a climber acclimating herself to climb Mt. Everest, you establish a base camp and you climb up a little, then climb down and rest, then climb up a little higher, until you are ready to take one last break and then go for the summit.

“Periodization” is the fancy name for this training technique. A rule of thumb is that it takes your body about three weeks to adapt to applied stress (quality workouts). This adaptation by your body is also called “training effect”. Picture the elevation profile of an ascent up a mountain (your training pyramid). In this case it’s a 12-week climb. Within each week you schedule 2 quality workouts (intervals, hilly runs, longer runs with “tempos”) surrounded by easy runs and rest days. Within each one-month block, you increase your weekly mileage gradually for three weeks, then you back off for a week. The 3 one-month blocks (12 weeks in all) follow a similar pattern with the exception of the last week of the third block, in which you taper back your efforts and prepare for the big day.