Running Training Plans

In order to make systematic progress towards our goals in running, jogging, or walking, we need a training plan. We all have times when we suffer from a lack of motivation or burn-out, and a training plan will help us through those difficult periods. In addition, a good plan will help us avoid over-training and injury that may follow. There are, basically, two types of training plans.

Static Plans

There are books and web sites, including this site, that have training plans for beginner runners or walkers, plans for intermediates, and so on. If the plans are authored by experienced athletes, they will probably contain good suggestions and schedules for your training. I call these plans static plans because they are frozen in print and we take them as-is. Many runners and walkers get into trouble following static training plans, especially if they are new to running or walking. They believe they should follow the plans as they are written because the plans were written by world-class athletes or other well-trained persons. For example, suppose you find a plan for beginners, and you decide to follow that plan. You may do OK, but you may not. That plan was written for a particular stereotype of a beginner, and you may not fit that stereotype.

Dynamic Plans

There is a type of training plan that I call a dynamic plan. The word dynamic implies that the plan can be changed as you implement it. For example, suppose your plan has you running this many miles in week 1, that many miles in week 2, and a different number of miles in week 3. And, suppose you discover at the end of week 2 that you're tired and don't feel like running at all during the next week, much less increasing your mileage. If you're following a static plan, you may ignore your tiredness and force yourself to advance to week 3. But, if you're following a dynamic plan, you'll modify the plan to fit your body condition, perhaps having week 3 be a repeat of week 2, or having week 3 be a rest week with a reduction in mileage. One person may consider a plan as static while another person may consider the same plan as dynamic. Thus, the difference in the two types of plans is the attitude of the person. Dynamic plans are modified on a day by day basis according to your body condition. Some of these plans encourage you to modify your plan, while other plans don't encourage you, but I think that authors of all plans assume you will modify your plan as needed.

Modifying Your Plan

OK, how do you modify your plan? By listening to your body! Your body will let you know when it can't handle the stress you're giving it via your running. Your body will let you know when it needs more rest. These changes to your plan may be temporary -- you take an extra rest day and then continue with your plan, or the changes may be permanent, you reduce your distance by half and then continue your plan with the new distance.

Here are some of the signals that tell you that you need to modify your plan a bit to reduce stress.

• Feeling overly tired, sluggish, or fatigued at the end of a run or walk.
• Certain muscles are experiencing pain.
• Waking up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep.
• Losing motivation and excitement for your running or walking.
• Doing dumb things while driving.
• Suffering an injury

How do you modify your plan? By giving your body more rest. Keep in mind that running or walking destroys body cells, and it is during rest that your body reacts to that stress and becomes stronger.

• Reduce your distance.

• Reduce your pace.

• Following the 10% rule (or less) in increasing your distance and/or pace.

• Alternating heavy stress and light stress days. Light days can be reduced running, cross training such as light cycling or swimming or no exercise activity. Your body needs 48 hours or more to recover from a heavy stress run or walk, and following the heavy day with a light day gives your body that extra time it needs.

• Take a rest week every month with reduced running.

• Go to bed earlier and/or take naps.

One day while working in Massachusetts, I came in from a noon-hour run and the security guard called me over to talk with him. He told me he had recently started running and felt very tired at the end of his runs. That tiredness stayed with him throughout the day. I suggested that he reduce his distance by half and then make small weekly increases of 10% or less. He told me later that he had made those changes and now felt great during and after his runs.

 

Getting a Dynamic Plan

Where can you get a dynamic plan? A good source is from a book or web site or a training center that publishes training plans. Another good source is to create your own plan, following counsel from other runners, books, and web sites. That is, you get a good static plan that looks like it might work for you, and then you modify it as you use it. This approach works well as long as you have the emotional strength to actually modify the plan and not become a slave to it. A third source is from a person whom you admire and trust. This person could be another runner, a coach, or a professional trainer. Be aware, however, that unless the person is skillful in working with runners or walkers, they may give you a plan that would work for them but not for you. This occurs when that person is unable to come down to your level of needs. The person may author a plan based on their needs, and since that person is probably more experienced than you, they'll give you a plan that requires that you do more than your body can handle. Coaches especially have this problem, because they have a fixed competition schedule and don't have time to treat each runner individually. If you use a plan from another person, be sure that that person encourages you to modify the plan according to the needs of your body. By listening to your body and using signals from your body as indicators that your plan needs to be modified a bit, you will have enlisted the best trainer of all, your body, and you will reduce the stress on your body.

 

Published Training Plans

There are a lot of training plans given in books, magazines, web sites, and training centers. It is common for new runners (and experienced runners, too) to try to follow those plans, and often we discover that those plans "aren't for us". Let's look at this situation.

It takes a lot of faith to follow a plan given by someone we've never met, someone who doesn't know the current condition of our bodies, someone who is giving recommendations based on his/her experience with other runners but not with us. If we try to blindly follow such plans, we're putting our running career into the hands of a stranger who doesn't know us and who doesn't know the capabilities of our bodies to handle stress. If we do this, we'll likely be heading towards pushing ourselves too much in our training, and that can lead to injury. Symptoms that we are over training include heavy breathing during and after a run, cramps or stitches, sore throats, fatigue, excess soreness, feelings that we should give up running, difficulty sleeping at night, doing dumb things while driving (sorry, officer, I didn't see that light). Does this mean that we should ignore plans from the books, magazines, and web sites that we read? No. It means that we should operate less on blind faith and more on actual evidence from our bodies.

 

The Foundation of our Training

There are three principles that are so basic that they should form the foundation of our training, and everything we do in our training should be based on these principles.

1. Running subjects our bodies to stress. If we put too much stress on our bodies, injury will occur. Our bodies can handle small increases of stress better than they can handle large increases. This principle is the basis for the 10% rule that is described in running literature.
2. Stress destroys body cells. Thus running is destructive and does not build strength. The strength that we develop as runners comes from rest, the rest we have between our runs. This principle is the basis for the heavy/light method of training.
3. Our bodies know when we're pushing ourselves too much in our training, and they send us signals to back off and give them more rest. They also send us signals that we're OK in our training and to keep it up. The signals to back off were given above as symptoms of over-training. The symptoms that we're "on track" with our training are the opposite of the signals of over-training, including the so-called runners high. Keep in mind that these signals can change with every run.

Principle 3 means we should listen to our bodies and vary our training accordingly. By doing this, we can learn to run without pain and without injury, and our running will be a joyous and positive experience. Principle 3 is also the basis for our having actual evidence for how we train rather than having blind faith in recommendations from strangers who don't know the limits of our bodies

Some people are adept at listening to their bodies, and these fortunate folks are capable of establishing their own training plans, or of modifying plans from others to fit their bodies. Other folks have a hard time listening to their bodies, often due to strong drives to get fast improvement or to compete with everyone they encounter. These folks need to be especially careful in their training since they often "drive blind" in deciding how much to push themselves in their training. It would be wise for these runners to get training advice from someone who knows them and knows the capacity of their bodies to handle stress.

The Warm-Up Phase of Running

Before you start running, you should warm your body and get it ready for the stress of running. Proper warm-up consists of walking and light jogging to get your body started in adjusting to the stress of running, some light stretching, and then more light walking and light jogging to finish getting your body ready for the stress of your running or walking. Slowly increase your speed until you reach your desired pace for the run.

Beginning Running

People begin running for a lot of reasons. Many want to lose weight. Some are training for an athletic program. Others have joined the military service of their country and have to pass physical training tests. Some, like me, need to strengthen their body (my feet were starting to hurt, and I was told by a specialist to do what ever I wanted that would strengthen the muscles in my feet).

Beginners have a lot of questions: How do I get started? How fast and how far should I run? How much weight will I lose? Is it safe to run outdoors? Is running on a treadmill as good as running outdoors? What kind of shoes do I need? How much will running cost? How do I find someone to run with? This page will answer some of those questions and will give links for your further study.

 

Getting Started

OK, everybody, let's say very loud and in unison: WALK. There, that wasn't so bad, was it! Running and jogging put a lot of stress (see left-sidebar) on our bodies, and if we're not careful, that stress can lead to injury. In contrast, walking puts less stress on our bodies. I learned this many years ago when I had surgery for a hernia. I could not run for six weeks, and I walked for the same amount of time I had been running (an hour). After six weeks of walking, experiencing no pain or problems of any kind, I ran for the first time. Guess what? My knees hurt. I realized that my running was a lot more stressful than my walking had been. So, learn from my experience and begin your running program by walking.

However, don't overstride, because that can lead to shinsplints. Be sure that your feet, when they hit the ground, are behind your knees. It's common for new walkers and runners to take large steps such that their feet hit the ground in front of their knees.

 

How Far

Question: How far should I walk or run? As far as you want, as long as you feel great at the end, no fatigue, no abnormal pain, no injuries. For some of you, the distance may be 50 feet. For others the distance may be a mile or more.

 

How Fast

Question: How fast should I walk or run? Same answer as how far should you walk: As fast as you want, as long as you feel great at the end; no huffing and puffing, no gasping for air, no fatigue, no abnormal pain, no injuries. If you feel like a tortoise, that's OK. The fastest person alive today was once a tortoise. Average walking is a pace of about 20 minutes per mile (referred to as a pace of 20). Typical walkers might have a pace of maybe 15-20. We're all different, and there is no pace that is expected of us. Set your pace by how you feel during and at the end of your walk or run

 

Increasing Distance or Speed

Question: When should I increase my distance or speed? When your body tells you it's ready for an increase. Learn to listen to your body. It will tell you when it is tired. It will tell you when it is feeling fine. If, at the end of a walk or run, you're huffing and puffing or you feel tired or fatigued, you're doing too much and need to slow your pace or decrease your distance. Keep in mind that walking, jogging, running, swimming, biking, any physical movement in fact, put stress on our bodies. If we make big increases in our distance or speed, our bodies will have difficulty adjusting to the new levels, and injury may occur later on.

This leads us to the "10% Rule" (see left-sidebar) that is given in the running literature: Keep your increases small, typically 10% or less, and stay at each new level until you feel comfortable with it. The number 10 isn't a magic number. Some people can handle more than 10% increments, while others should have smaller changes.

 

Heavy/Light Schedule

Question: Should I walk or run the same every day? Sports scientists say it takes 48 hours for our bodies to adjust to heavy applications of stress, such as the stress from a heavy session of walking or running. Since a day only has 24 hours, we need to follow a heavy run with a "rest period" to give us the 48 hours needed for recovery. Some people do this by walking or running 3 or 4 times a week, with rest days in between. Others do this by following a heavy walk or run with a light walk or run. For example, walking 2 miles one day and 1/2 mile to 1 mile the next day. This is known as "heavy/light". When we speak of "heavy" or "light" walks or runs, we're not talking about the effort we expend in doing the walk or run; we're talking about the impact or stress of that exercise on our bodies. Also, notice that the "rest period" is not necessarily a day without running. Many people cross-train (see left-sidebar) on their light days.

 

Introducing Running Into Your Walking

Question: I've been walking for quite a while and want to do some running. What do I do? Great question! Basically, you want to increase your speed, and we discussed that above. Increase your speed in small increments by mixing a small amount of running with your walking. Let's say, for example, that you're walking a mile. In the middle of the mile, jog slowly for 300-500 feet. If you feel fine at the end of the jog, continue doing it in subsequent walks. If you feel achy or tired or are huffing and puffing, reduce the distance and/or speed of the jog. Follow the 10% (or less) rule and heavy/light in mixing jogging with your walking.

Referring to my comment that your running should be at the middle of your walk, our bodies need some light exercise to warm up before they do heavy running or walking, and our bodies need some light exercise to cool down from the heavy workout. Your walking can provide that warm up and cool down. Thus, walk before and after you run.

 

Treadmill or Streets

Question: Is it ok to use a treadmill, or should I go outside? It all depends on you, what you enjoy, and what you have available. The same comment applies to the use of an exercise bike. I have a friend who uses his exercise bike while watching the morning news on TV. He enjoys that, and that's great! I enjoy going out on the streets and experiencing the new day, watching the birds, ducks in the river, geese flying over, and an occasional Golden Eagle. That's great, too! So, do what you have available, what you can afford, and what you enjoy.

Be aware, though, that if you change from a treadmill to the streets, you may find it harder to use the streets (at first, at least). Streets are uneven and have a harder surface than a treadmill. They are also curved with a crown in the middle and a slope down to the edge. The wind may be blowing. It may be raining or snowing. Dogs may be barking at you. Jerks in cars may yell stupid comments at you. Again, do what you enjoy. If you change to the streets, give yourself some time to adjust to the new environment, and then enjoy it for what it is.

Some runners use the streets during good weather and their treadmill during inclement weather. Most people add inclines of 1% or so to their treadmill to simulate the increased difficulty of the streets.

Concerning specific models of treadmills, I can't offer suggestions, because I don't use treadmills. However, researchers at reviews.com spent weeks researching and testing 65 different treadmills. With the help of exercise physiologists and experts and evaluating specs and features and determining versatility, portability and technology of each, they narrowed down their list to the top three treadmills. Along with their research, you can find tips at their website (linked above) on choosing the right treadmill for you. 

While we're talking about treadmills, have a good laugh.

Here is another good link on treadmills.

http://jamieatlas.wordpress.com/category/running/

 

Time of Day

Question: What time of day is best for walking or running? It depends on you and your schedule. Some people enjoy exercising in the early morning when it is

cooler and the air is fresher and crisper. Many people use their lunch period at work. Others like to do it later in the day. Be careful, though, being out late at night. There are a lot of weirdos out there!

 

Walking or Running Partners

Question: How do I find a walking or running partner? As with most things in life, networking with others is a major key to success. Local running clubs and sports stores might be helpful in finding a running partner.

 

Losing Weight

Question: I want to lose weight. Will walking or running do that for me? This is discussed in my Losing Weight page (see left-sidebar).

 

Follow Your Brain or Emotions?

Question: Should I follow my brain or my emotions in making decisions about my running? That is an important question, because many runners get into trouble by following the wrong one. The answer is both. Huh? You can get into trouble by following the wrong one but you should follow both? Yes, let me explain. Many beginners know (brain) that they should make small increases in their distance and speed, but they are so excited (emotions) about their walking or running that they push themselves to go farther and faster. They should have followed their brain. Conversely, walkers and runners are taught to listen to their body (emotion) and reduce the intensity of their training when their body tells them it needs more rest. So, listen to your brain when you plan your walking or running schedule. And, listen to your emotions, how you feel during and after your walks and runs, and reduce the intensity of your training when your body tells you it needs more rest.

 

Becoming Addicted to Walking or Running

Many new walkers and runners discover they are becoming addicted to walking or running, and they like that feeling and they like being in charge of their body. I would suggest, however, that becoming addicted to walking or running can be dangerous, because it can cause one to overdo it. I would suggest that we should become addicted to the good feeling of a healthy body, the good feeling of feeling great during and after we run. Running is just one way to have those good feelings. Walking, swimming, biking are also ways of having those good feelings. Become addicted to the result not the "messenger" so to speak.

 

What Do You Conquer?

Some people conquer the waves with sailboats or surfboards. Others conquer the wind with hang gliders or para gliders. Many conquer the snow as they ski and snowboard. As a runner or walker, what do you conquer?

The basic reason people walk or run is to go to a distant location and then, in most cases, return to their starting point. These people are conquering distance. Many runners encounter hills during their run. In order to reach the top of each hill, they must overcome the effects of gravity on their body; they must conquer gravity. Many runners experience headwinds as storm fronts move through their area or because they live in areas of high wind. These runners must run against the wind in order to reach their destination; they must conquer wind.

Conquering distance, gravity, or wind puts increased stress on ones body and thus increases the likelihood of injury. It is wise for beginning runners to reduce stress by conquering distance before attempting to run their normal pace against gravity and wind. This means that the beginner should slow down when doing hills or experiencing headwinds. Later, after the person has developed more body-strength from running or walking, he/she can learn to do a faster pace on hills and against wind. As with most aspects of running or walking, the person should follow the 10% and heavy/light rules while conquering distance, gravity, or wind. Also, I think it is wise to only subject your body to one cause of stress at a time, and I recommend doing long slow distance (see left-sidebar)  first and then later speed (see left-sidebar) to conquer distance. Then do hills (see left-sidebar) to conquer gravity. It is hard to plan to run in headwinds, because the wind may not be there when you want to run against it. So, train against headwinds as you encounter them, first slowing down to reduce stress, and then, as you become stronger, slowly going faster as you run against headwinds.

 

Baby Steps, Baby Steps

This article, from Dr. Gabe Mirkin, explains why we need to start running (or walking) programs with low-level efforts and slowly work up to more intense training.

Injuries often occur when people start a new exercise program, change to a different sport, or return to exercise after a long break. In the enthusiasm to get started, it is easy to overstress muscles that have not been used before. That's why "background before peaking" is one of the most important principles of training. It takes several weeks or even months to build up strength and endurance for any new sport.

Competitive athletes in all sports use this principle. First they spend many months in background training, working out for long hours, mostly at low intensity, followed by a shorter period of peak training in which they do far less work, but at a much greater intensity. A few months before an important race, they reduce their workload but go as fast and hard as possible two or three times a week.

 

A Beginner's Training Program

Most runners want to run reasonable distances, whether it be a few miles or longer distances such as a half or a full marathon. I suggest that a new runner go through two phases of training to become ready to train for longer distances.

Phase 1: Use the suggestions given above to train to run 3 miles three times a week. Combine walking and running as you need to or would like to, and go at a comfortable pace such that you feel fine at the end and aren't huffing and puffing. Make small weekly increases in your distance. A Plan for Beginning Running (see left-sidebar) will take you through the training so you can run 3 miles three times a week.

Phase 2: An Intermediate Plan for Runners (see left-sidebar) will take you through the training to run 24 miles per week (6 3 6 3 6), a reasonable distance for new runners to run and the prerequisite that many plans specify as a starting point for half or full marathon training.

 

Other Resources

Other pages in this site will give you good information about walking and running. I especially recommend the two articles linked in the navigational bar: Coaching Running (see left-sidebar) reviews the basics, such as the 10% rule and heavy/light (important for all runners, not just beginners). Basics of Jogging (see left-sidebar) answers the questions, How fast, How far, How often.

There are many good sites for beginning runners and walkers. Do an Internet search on two or three keywords, such as running beginning.

A Plan For Beginning Running

You want to run or walk. Maybe to lose weight, maybe to have better health, maybe to fulfill a half-buried dream. For whatever reason, you've decided to run, and you are excited to get started. Here is a plan to get you going. This plan is a suggested approach that will help you become a runner or walker. This plan observes both the 10% rule and the heavy/light rule, and it includes a monthly recovery week of reduced running/walking that is followed by a week of the time you ran just before the recovery week. Because of the relatively small increases in time, this plan takes longer than some of you might want to spend. Feel free to adjust the plan to fit your interests and body condition. As you follow the plan, focus on completing the time and don't worry about speed. Just run or walk at a comfortable pace. In fact, this caution about focusing on time not speed should be your guide later on as you advance to longer times.

Do all of your running at a comfortable pace in which you can talk with a running buddy. No huffing or puffing or gasping for air. No sore throats. No pain in your side. All of those symptoms are signs that you've exceeded the capability of your body to handle the stress from running. Take relatively small steps, such that your feet hit the ground behind your knees. It's common for people to take larger steps when they walk or run, and this causes their feet to hit the ground in front of their knees. This is called over striding, and it can lead to shin splints or pain in the front of their legs.

 

Measurable Goal

1. You will first walk but not run three times a week, making small increases in the time you spend each week, until you are walking for 30 minutes. You will be walking approximately a mile, but you are walking by time not distance. This will help your body adjust to the increased stress of walking without having a high risk of injury, since walking is much easier on your body than running. Take as many weeks for this phase as you need. Be sure your feet hit the ground behind your knees.
   
   
2. Next, you will add small amounts of running, or a continuation of walking, a comfortable pace while continuing to walk the same amount of time that you did in the first phase. When you are finished with this phase, you will be running or walking for 10 minutes and walking for 20 minutes. Some runners may want to split the walking into two parts and put all of their running as one block between the walking. Other runners may want to mix the walking and the running in small segments. For example, walking for a minute and then running for a few seconds. The length of the running or walking is increased until it is equal to 10 minutes. The length of the walking is not changed. Take as many weeks for this phase as you need.
   
   
3. Third, you will continue to add small amounts of running or walking at a comfortable pace until you are running or walking for 20 minutes. You are still walking for 20 minutes. Take as many weeks for this phase as you need.
   
   
4. Finally you will slowly increase the amount of running at a comfortable pace and decrease the amount of walking until you are doing just running or walking and are doing it for 30 minutes. You are welcome to include short walking breaks with your running if you would like. If you do take walking breaks, it is your choice whether or not you include the time spent walking as part of the 30 minutes. I take short walking breaks every mile when I run. I enjoy the few seconds of walking, and I feel invigorated when I resume running. Most importantly, I have more energy for the final part of my run. Take as many weeks for this phase as you need.

All of the increases in time that you make should be small, typically about 10% or less of your time. Based on how you feel, you may make smaller increases in some weeks and larger increases in other weeks. At the end of this plan, you will be ready to graduate to the Intermediate plan for running. That plan will take you from your 30 minutes of running or walking three times a week (approximately 9 miles or 14.5 km a week) to 24 miles (38.6 km) a week.

It is important that you modify this plan to fit both your interests and the capabilities of your body. For example, you may decide to do more running and less walking. Or, you may decide to run/walk more than three times a week by adding additional days in which you run/walk about half the distance you do in the main three days of your training. These additional days could be days of cross training, such as light swimming or cycling. Remember that this plan is just a guide to help you manage your training. It is not something rigid that you must slavishly follow. As you modify this plan to be your plan, keep in mind the two rules of running or walking that should govern all of us as we run or walk: the 10% rule in which we make small increases in our distance or speed, and the heavy/light rule in which we follow days of heavier stress with days of lighter stress (easy running, walking, or cross training) to give our bodies the 48 hours (or more) that it needs to recover from the days of heavier stress.

 

Fall-back Weeks

It is critical that you give your body sufficient rest after your heavy days such that your body can repair the damage to its cells and in so doing become stronger. In many cases, running and walking heavy/light will not give your body sufficient rest. It is thus advisable to include fall-back weeks in your schedule such that once a month or so you reduce your weekly time by 20 - 50%. At the end of each fall-back week, take one or two weeks to return to the time you were doing before the fall-back week. Then continue with your training.

 

Deciding How Much Distance to Add

Some of you will be concerned that this plan doesn't tell you exactly how much to walk or run each day. Instead, the plan tells you to follow the 10% rule and the heavy/light rule and to make wise decisions about how much time to spend each day. For some of you, having this amount of freedom will be a new experience, and it may take you a few weeks to adjust to this freedom. Hang in there and do the best you can to slowly increase your distance while listening to your body, and you will soon enjoy the freedom. When you have reached your goal of 30 minutes of running you will be thrilled with your ability to manage yourself, not having to be told exactly what to do. After all, by listening to your body, you are listening to the greatest coach you will ever have. Remember, you don't have to run or walk for exactly the number of minutes given in the plan. On days that you feel fine, you may want to run more and walk less. On days that you are tired, you may want to walk more and run less. Listen to your body and react accordingly.

 

Be a Runner not a Slave

Don't feel like you must follow this plan, or any plan, exactly as it is written. You are different from all other people on this planet. This plan should serve as a guide but not a blueprint. Modify this plan to be your plan -- your plan becomes your blueprint. Learn to listen to your body and to make decisions about your walking and running based on how your body feels.

My page on Over Training has a nice list of symptoms that indicate you are doing too much in your training and need to back off a bit (see left-sidebar),

 

Graduate to the Intermediate Plan

When you are able to run for 30 minutes (approximately three miles), and you feel comfortable with that distance, you are ready to graduate as a beginner and to begin training as an intermediate runner (see left-sidebar). Congratulations!