In college, I was kind of obsessive about creating my class schedule and maximizing the free time/good professor ratio. In my job, I love organizing schedules and workback grids. For running, I love creating the ultimate training schedule, mapped out with the idealistic combination of strength training, yoga, speed work and more. I will admit, the fantastic Aron sent me a training schedule a while back for Chicago and I loved it! That girl has mad Excel skills! I have since adapted it a bit for Boston and am anxious to see what this next bout of training can bring.
However, Boston isn’t until April and I’m not doing any fulls until then (just smaller races). So what’s a gal to do? Create a maintenance plan, of course. I scoured my running books and Googled until I could Google no more, but the maintenance plans out there weren’t cutting it. Thus, I’ve taken what I found and made (what I hope will be) a moderate schedule that will keep my legs and joints awake enough to easily transition into training mode in December. Here’s how I’ll break it down in complete layman’s terms:
Mondays: Light mileage that gradually builds each week
Tuesdays: A bit more than Monday, gradually building again
Wednesday: Strength training (still need to flesh out exactly what that will consist of)
Thursday: A bit more than Tuesday with a touch of speed word
Friday: Yoga and core work (i.e. prep/rest for Saturday)
Saturday: Long run that gradually builds each week
Sunday: Rest
I really wanted to focus on keeping this light and easy so I don’t burn out or get bored by the time the important training comes along. This plan started yesterday (new month, new plan!) and will last for eight weeks. I’m curious, what does your schedule look like in-between training programs?
Also, guess what came yesterday? Squeaaaal!
Don’t forget to get out there and vote today! Happy running!
Congrats on the confirmation! I still have mine from last year 😉
Sounds like a good plan, keeping the long run in the rotation will def serve you well! We should meet up to run!
I’ve started going to bootcamp at the Sutter & Montgomery 24Hour Fitness Monday/Wednesday and it’s awesome. 6:30am is rough, but the instructor is great and it’s a really good, varied and not too leg-destroying workout. Could be a good strength training option. 🙂
i need a maintenance plan! share some of your juicy deets with me!!!! i love making grids and charts!!!
CONGRATSSSSSSS!!!!! I know getting that in the mail must have been exciting 🙂
I’ve been looking up recovery plans right now since I have dug mysefl into a hole and need to start climbing my way back out. You maintenance plan sounds like it will be perfect for you.
that plan sounds perfect!! i like to build up to a base where the first week of training is the same amount of mileage, so its not a shock to the system (say week one is 50 miles per week, i like to have a few weeks at ~50 miles before then of mostly easy running). i also try not to keep things too regimented on my off time, just so i am not burned out from being on a schedule before training even starts. weeeeee boston training!
Congrats on the exciting Boston news!!! That would be super fun to open! Good luck on finding a great maintence plan!