My 2017 Eugene Marathon Training Plan
Introduction
I’m planning to run the 2017 Eugene Marathon on May 7, 2017. I chose this race because from what I’ve read it’s a) fairly flat, b) in a city I’d like to visit, and c) it finishes on Hayward Field.
Thinking about this next training cycle, I still liked the idea of moving away from pre-packaged plans and trying to find something tailored for me. Even though I didn’t hit my race goal at the 2016 Boston Marathon after basing my training off of, Run Faster: From the 5K to the Marathon, How to be Your Own Best Coach, by Brad Hudson, I thought I ran well. Since that time, I’ve been reading The Science of Running, by Steve Magness and a lot of what I read seemed to explain why I’ve struggled with some other approaches. I wanted to apply some of the ideas from that book. And, of course Advanced Marathoning by Pete Pfitzinger and Scott Douglas is part of my running DNA at this point.
For this training cycle, I wanted to blend all three training philosophies into a plan that would work for me.
The Plan
Step 1: Choose a Peak Race and a Race Goal. I think this is the first step for every plan.
Goal Race: The Eugene Marathon on Sunday, May 7, 2017.
Step 2: Choose a Race Goal. This is tough. My last marathon time was 3:33:34 (8:10 pace) at the 2016 New York City Marathon. If I can stay health and train consistently, I think I can shave a minute or two off that time. Of course, a PR would be nice, too.
Achievable Goal: Sub-3:30 (8:01 pace).
Stretch Goal: Sub-3:23 (7:45 pace).
Step 3: Pick a Start Date and Plan Duration. Typically, a marathon plan is 18-24 weeks. I’m going with something in between – 20 weeks. It should give me enough time to build a good base.
Start Date: Sunday, December 18th.
Step 4: Divide Plan into Phases. Last training cycle, I didn’t think I had enough base to support the speed work I was doing. I also continued to struggle with marathon pace workouts. This time, I want to spend more time building endurance and running at marathon to threshold pace. Finally, I think I’ll do a pretty short taper.
Base Period: 6 weeks (December 18th to January 28th)
Fundamental Period: 8 weeks (January 29th to March 25th)
Sharpening Period: 4 weeks (March 26th to April 22nd)
Taper: 2 weeks (April 23rd to May 6th)
Step 5: Decide on Weekly Workout Structure. I’m decided not to think too much about overall mileage and instead, focused on the workouts themselves.
Saturday: Endurance Development (Long Run). I’ll start with 14-16 miles and hopefully, work up to 22 miles during the base phase running “easy” to “steady” pace. Then, I’ll build the intensity and add progression runs and marathon paced runs in the other phases.
Thursday: Specific Development (Threshold Runs). During the base period, I’ll slowly introduce marathon pace during my long runs. Then, I’ll build this attribute through long tempo runs. Ugh, I’m already dreading that!
Tuesday: Speed Development (Speed Runs). During the base period, I’ll start with short intervals at 5K pace. I’ll transition to more work at 10K pace during the fundamental and sharpening phases, and then just do some maintenance speed work.
Other Days: “Stuff”. I put hills back into my weekly workouts this training cycle. I’ll do sprints during the base period and gradually lengthen them out. Bonus: they seemed to help with my hip pain last spring.
I’ll take the occasional recovery week or day off, but I’m not going to schedule them.
Step 6: Plan Your Peak Training Weeks. I tried blending all three training approaches in my peak weeks. I want to progress to steady 22 mile long runs with a substantial amount of tempo and goal marathon pace running.
Peak Week for Base Period: Sunday, January 22nd to Saturday, January 28th
Tuesday: Interval Run. 6 x 800m @ 5K pace
Thursday: Tempo Run. 6 mile tempo run
Saturday: Long Run. 22 miles steady
Peak Week for Fundamental Period: Sunday, March 19th to Saturday, March 25th
Tuesday: Interval Run. 6 x 1 mile @ 10K pace
Thursday: Tempo Run. 14 miles @ marathon pace
Saturday: Long Run. 22 miles easy
Peak Week for Sharpening Period: Tuesday, April 11th to Monday, April 17th. I’m planning to run the 2017 Boston Marathon as a long run, so I’ll need to adjust the schedule a little.
Thursday: Interval Run. 8 x 800m @ 10K pace + 4 x 800m @ 5K pace
Saturday: Tempo Run. 6 mile tempo run
Monday: Race. 26.2 miles w/14 miles @ marathon pace
Step 7: Schedule Tune-up Races: The plans differ in their approach to races during a marathon training cycle. I think I’ve raced best when I’ve done three or four shorter races before my goal event. I know I want to run these three races, but I may add another during the training cycle. (My complete racing schedule is here):
March 12th – Rock n Roll DC Half Marathon
April 2nd – Cherry Blossom 10 Miler
April 17th – Boston Marathon
Step 8: Schedule Progressions for Speed, Threshold, and Endurance Runs. All three plans have this step, as well. I sketched out runs for the base phase but thought I should revisit this step for the other phases once I’ve started training.
Step 9: Fill in the Remainder of the Schedule. To finish off my plan, I added easy or recovery runs, hill sprints, and strides each week.
Conclusion
I know this is just the framework for what my training will look like. I’ll definitely need to make adjustments along the way as I continue getting treatment for my piriformis issues and dealing with winter weather. But, I’m excited to start training for the 2017 Eugene Marathon on December 18th!
