Having a training plan is an important part of success for whatever running distance, race or event you are training for. But the wrong plan can be a recipe for disaster. Plans vary so much, they can look quite intimidating if you’ve never followed one before. How do you know which is the right one for you? Where do you even begin?
Why you need a plan.
I really recommend following a training plan if you’re aiming to step up to a new distance, taking on a new challenge or want to improve your performance over a distance you have already run. The right training plan will:
- Give structure to your training week
- Prepare you properly for your goal
- Keep you motivated
- Help to prevent you getting injured
- Help you feel confident about your running
When you use the wrong plan
I’ve been there and done that and started on a plan that just wasn’t right for me. It was too advanced for where I was at and I quickly felt exhausted and demoralised that I couldn’t reach the targets it was setting me.
A plan which is too high mileage will put you at risk of injury. A plan which needs you to run five times a week when you can only manage three won’t set you up for success.
Training plans for half and full marathons can be long, even as much as 20 weeks. A plan that doesn’t work for you will be hard to follow for that length of time and there’s a high chance you’ll ditch it.
What a good plan looks like
You need a plan which:
- Meets you where you are at. You need the correct starting point for your current running distance, pace and frequency. Be honest with where you are right now. Don’t take a big step up for week 1, in fact, I would choose a plan where you step down a bit for week 1 and can comfortably complete it.
- Fits into your life. If three runs a week is your max, you need a plan that’s designed around that. Just doing three of the five prescribed runs is not the same. Different types of runs are designed to work on different elements of your fitness and picking and choosing what you like won’t get the best out of the plan.
- Builds slowly over time. Stepping up the distances too quickly puts you at risk of fatigue and injury. You need to increase your mileage gradually so you’ll need a longer plan if for example, you’re starting at low mileage and aiming for a marathon.
- Has built in ‘easy weeks’. A good plan will take a step back every three or four weeks. This is important. You can’t keep on increasing and increasing the load on your body week after week and expect it to cope. Your body is very good at strengthening itself but it needs the time to adjust, repair and re-inforce itself. A simple easier week will allow that to happen and stop you getting exhausted. This has been so important for me in menopause, recovery just seems to take that bit longer.
- Is flexible and adaptable. Life happens, work gets in the way, you get ill etc etc, it’s rarely smooth sailing all the way through a plan. You want one which allows you to move sessions around, change things a bit and not get really panicked when you’ve missed a few days. Again, this is important if you are a runner struggling with menopause symptoms, you may have days or weeks when running feels really hard. Too rigid a plan with no give can make you feel stressed out.
Where to find the right plan
There are so many ways to get training plans. In an ideal world we’d all have them designed specifically for us by a personal running coach. If you can do this, fantastic, your coach can discuss where you are, what you need and adapt and change as you go along.
You can now use running apps such as Coopah Running or Runna which use technology to devise a plan and adjust it to your performance according to the data you upload when you complete sessions.
If you have a running watch and app then those companies such as Garmin, Strava or Nike offer training plans with sessions you can download to your watch. There are subscription fees for most of these of course.
You can get training plans in books, magazines and online. Of course these plans are generic and not personalised but choose the right one and they can work very well. I’ve always used the training plans from Women’s Running UK and found them to be perfect in terms of commitment and level.
Do your homework, ask your running friends which plans they use. Start looking in plenty of time so you can take your time to find one that suits you.
Once you’ve got it pop the week’s runs in your calendar and you’re ready to start. Pop your favourite plans in the comments below for other runners to read.
Featured image: Pixabay
