Brr, it’s been cold here.

Sample Coach Jenny plan

When I was trying to put together a training plan for London, I looked at many options including the Hal Higdon one that I loosely followed in the fall for Chicago and NYC. After much consideration, I decided to follow Coach Jenny’s Advanced training plan.

The main deciding factors was that Coach Jenny’s plan incorporates a rest day on Sundays which allowed for me to have the flexibility to sleep in and not worry about an additional workout during a weekend day. Also, Coach Jenny calls for a cross-training day on Wednesdays which helps break up the week’s running. I’m about to start week 6 of the plan and so far so good except for the cold. I have chickened out of running outside more than 50% of the time in the last two weeks and that needs to change, especially after buying all that winter running gear!

Here is a rough breakdown of what my week looks like for training:

—Monday: 40-50 minute easy run + strength training – usually a barre class.

—Tuesday: speed workout – I ran my first workout with the Dashing Whippets (DWRT) two weeks ago and I’m hoping to run my speed sessions with them regularly on Tuesdays.

—Wednesday: cross-training + strength training – I usually go to a spin class this day and in the class, there is a short free weight session.

—Thursday: 40-50 minute (may increase the time in the upcoming weeks) tempo or progressive run – most of these have been on the treadmill recently, but I’m trying to incorporate a second speed day.

—Friday: 40-50 minute easy run – Fridays used to be my rest days, but I actually really enjoy running on Fridays. It gives me a way to decompress from the week.

Frozen post-Saturday long run and race

—Saturday/Sunday: Long run day – I prefer Saturdays for a long run because then I don’t have it hanging over my head all weekend, but depending on what our plans are, I’ve been interchanging the days as needed. I have run most of these by myself but soon the distance will be too long to do by myself. I am trying to incorporate some races into the long runs as well (this weekend, I ran some miles before and after the Joe Kleinerman 10K and ran the race at marathon goal pace) and hopefully once our schedule settles down in the next week or two, I’d like to join the DWRT for their weekend long runs.

There many things I want to focus on for this training cycle including:

—Running in the mornings. It gets dark so fast and with the cold, by the time I get out of work, I usually prefer to just run on the treadmill.

—Remembering that it is okay to have some off days. I stress out too much about not following the training plan exactly and I need to stop doing that.

—Pushing my limits more. This will be one of the first marathons that I am not training with a team and with the winter, I am getting wimpier. I am hoping by running with the Dashing Whippets that I will push myself more.

—Incorporating more core and strength training. I don’t want my body to get used to a schedule and one day a week is not enough core work. I don’t count the 5-minutes we spend in spin class with free weights (too short in my opinion). I’d really like to add another day of barre work but I have a hard time fitting it into my schedule. In the meantime, I try to incorporate more core work after runs when I am on the treadmill. Now, if I can run in the mornings, that will free up more time to take another barre class after work too.

I’ve been recapping my training in the Believe Training Journal and it has really helped capture goals and reflect on what worked and didn’t for the week. I highly recommend getting one of these even if a lot of your information is electronic. There’s just something so cool about having a red running journal!

What kind of schedule works for you during marathon training?

Any advice that you’d like to share? I love hearing new ideas.