Marathon & Olympic Distance Training

I am by no means an expert, adn can't tell you what you should do, but I can tell you my thoughts on this topic from  personal experience.  I have found that the swiming and cycling REALLY help my running and allow me to run less and do better.  I ran a 1/2 marathon back in September, which fell into the midle of my 1/2 IM training.  I incorporated a few long runs into my tri trianing on the weekends, and ran the best 1/2 marathon I've ever run.  With that said, I think that to marathon train while tri training, you'd be ok as long as you get in one long/slow run a week, and then do some shorter/tempo runs for your olympic during the week.  It works for me, but everyone is different.  What's your running history?  Are you a beginner runner or do you already have some miles on your legs?

I trained for a marathon with 3 runs a week while training for sprint and olympic tris . 1 session of speed training one session of recovery runs ( 6 miles easy ) and one session of long distance training , it worked for me .

HI: I am doing the same thing this fall. I figured out my training, the problem is that I had to scale down the triathlon training because of work... anyway... This is what I was doing:
Monday: Short swim / short bike
Tuesday: Short run
Wednesday: Medium run
Thursday: Long swim / short run
Friday: Off
Saturday: Long Run
Sunday: Long ride (Long is relative, no more than 40 miles).

Since my triathlon is in November (oh soo soon!) I will stop the long rides just in time to jump up the mileage in my long runs...
It is a good mix and I was doing well until work got crazy and I had to work overtime...
Good luck

This article was published in Runners World this summer. I was intrigued by it as it promotes cross-training with a 3 day a week run program, though not an easy one (page 6)!

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,5033,s6-51-56-0-8257,00.html

Don

depending on what your running background is, I might suggest as clfgrl does to switch your Sat and Sun, running long on Sat and riding on Sun. I don't have a lot of experience with this, but I know that after my long runs marathon training last summer there was no way I'd go out and ride 40 miles the next day! Riding after your long run should aid in recovery, and your legs will be fresher on Sat for the run.

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions & programs.  The link to the Runner's World article is particularly good.  I spent some time looking at next year's schedule and have pretty much decided to do my Olympic Tri in late July and the marathon in mid September.  Having 6 weeks between races will give me a little more flexibility in training.  I'm going to try the 3 day running program - I agree with others that swimming and biking will assist with the running.

Yes, in Florida. Miami Man, Nov 13.
I used to think 20 miles was a looooooong ride. I used to think 3 miles was a loooooooong run. It is all relative! You'll get there
Good Luck!

Dude I know Scott Muir. He's a USAT Pres in the southeast region and a heck of a guy. He's done tons of Ironmans. Cool.

Thanks for posting the article. I find it really interesting. I printed out the plan and am thinking of using it for next season.

Awesome