Marathon Training Plan

Dennis -
I'm training for a marathon and an Olympic Tri. So, I had to juggle the same as you.

A few thoughts:
-Don't take 2 schedules and build on top of each other. Take one and replace some days. If you start with a marathon plan, then replace the easy days with biking/swimming. If you start with a tri plan, then maybe swap out a day or two of biking/swimming for runs, and definitely increase those long runs on the weekend. I'm only running 4 days/week, but I make sure there's a long run (Long, long every other week), a tempo day and an intervals or hills day.
-I used an article from trainingpeaks.com by Joe Friel. It's all about marathoning for the triathlete.
-Another good source - the FIRST program, which was written up in Runners World an issue or two ago. It is technically a marathon plan, but has alot of cross training. There is a website - You probably can google it.
-As a first-timer, don't get too sucked into time. Run it to finish it. You don't need speedwork, you absolutely need long runs. And consider it building your base for your tri season. Speedwork, especially shorter stuff like quarters on the track, greatly increase your risk of injury. If you do some speed, I would limit it to mile repeats.
-The weeks of the long runs, I would actually do MORE biking and swimming, replacing some other runs. keep those legs fresh.

Good luck.

Here's the link to the FIRST program. I'm only a couple of weeks into it but I am enjoying the variety of workouts. It's a nice change from the 5 days a week of running that my last marathon training program had me doing.

It specifies three runs per week: One tempo, one interval session and one long run. The workouts are pretty intense and the long run is to be done at faster paces than a normal LSD. On top of the running, you need to do two hard cross-training sessions to help build up that cardio system yet not stress your running legs. I think that this program is perfect for triathletes wanting to fit in those extra bike and swim workouts.

Good luck!

Edited by marina 2005-09-27 8:26 AM

Thanks for the info - I remember reading about the FIRST program in R/W, and then promptly forgot about it again. I really like the concept of three days a week - cause I'm convinced that I actually train more effectively if I have at least one day of rest in between runs. I may take another look at it, and see how it works. I guess the advantage is that if it doesn't work very well for me, it will give me an easy target to beat with my second marathon!!!Good luck with your training, let us know how it is going in a few weeks - Dennis