Chicago 2014 Training Plan

During the last two training cycles, I finally listened to the advice of superior and more experienced marathoners about increasing my weekly mileage during training in order to improve.  I definitely did see the effects of higher mileage.  Even though the sauna-like weather in Corning, New York on the day of the Wineglass Marathon in 2013 on race day prevented me from really running my best, I chopped off a minute and a half off my half-marathon PR in the Philadelphia Rock and Roll Half-Marathon following a cycle of increased mileage.  For the Shamrock Marathon in Spring 2014, I increased my overall mileage a little more and ended up finally qualifying for Boston.

For Chicago, I am hoping to improve my time even more, so that I can increase my chances of being able to run Boston in 2016.  In Shamrock, I had beaten the qualifying standard for men 34 years old and younger by 13 seconds.  Since people who beat their qualifying times by larger margins get higher priority for entry into Boston, there may be a chance that the field will fill up before I am allowed in.  That happened for Boston 2014; only those who beat their qualifying times by 98 seconds or more were accepted.

Thus, for Chicago, my training will consist of significantly higher mileage than what I did for Wineglass and Shamrock.  Whereas for those two marathons, I was averaging in the high 40s in terms of miles per week during training and hitting mileage highs in the mid 50s, this time, I would be averaging in the high 50s per week, running 60 miles or more during several weeks of the cycle and hitting a maximum of 68 miles two weeks before my tune-up half-marathon, the Philadelphia Rock and Roll Half-Marathon on September 21.  I am keeping the structure of each week simple, borrowing elements from the Pfitzinger 18/70 training plan such as a mid-week mini-long run of between 10 and 14 miles.  Each week will consist of recovery runs on Mondays and Fridays, runs with tempo segments on Tuesdays, mini-long runs on Thursdays, easy runs on Saturdays, and long runs on Sundays.

But first, here are definitions of each of the types of runs in this training program:

Easy run: general putting-in-the-miles runs done at a very relaxed effort, which will typically translate to about 55 to 75 percent of 5K pace.  I usually do mine at about 8:00 to 8:20 per mile, which falls well within this range.  If you feel like you are pushing on these runs, you are running them too hard.

Tempo run: a run with a large portion of it done at a significantly harder effort than easy runs.  Tempo runs should be run at a pace that you could sustain for about an hour, which, on a day where the temperature is below 60 degrees Fahrenheit, is approximately 15 to 20 seconds slower than 10K race pace, which for me is about 6:25 to 6:30 per mile.  The purpose of tempo runs is to build speed and strength; these are not sprints, but rather, hard, controlled efforts; going much faster than the prescribed pace works a different physiological characteristic, one that is much less important to performance in the marathon than the one that tempo runs are supposed to work.

Long run: a run lasting 90 minutes to three hours to build endurance done at about 65 to 75 percent of 5K pace.  For me, this is between about 7:40 and 8:50 per mile.  Typically, I like to start at the slower end of that range and gradually progress toward the faster end by the end of the run.  In some of my long runs, particularly those later on in the cycle, I will progress right to marathon race pace.

Mini-long run: a scaled-down version of the long run, done during the middle of the week in addition to the long run in the later weeks of the cycle to help build endurance.  These are done similar to long runs, except they are shorter in distance.

Recovery run: a run following a hard workout such as a tempo run or a long run, done at a pace even slower than easy run pace.  My usual paces for these are between 8:30 and 9:00 per mile, with some of them being 10:00 per mile or slower, particularly following a race.  Similar to the easy run, if you are pushing on recovery runs, you are running them too hard.

Marathon pace run: a run done at target marathon race pace.  The marathon race pace runs in this cycle include a 16-mile long run with the central 12 miles done at marathon race pace, as well as a few shorter marathon pace runs ranging between 4 and 6 miles.  These occur only after the tune-up half-marathon, as the half-marathon will provide me with an idea of a pace that I could realistically run on race day.

Finally, although intervals (repeats) appear on many people's training regimens, I have decided to omit them during my training for Chicago.  The physiological characteristic that intervals work are less crucial to marathon performance, and I actually ran my best marathon without doing any intervals.  These types of workouts would indeed be very useful for shorter distances, but I am currently quite satisfied with my 5K and 10K times.  I will probably start those up again when I focus on improving in the shorter distances, but for now, I need to work on my endurance most of all.  Whereas my best recent half-marathon and marathon times are respectively 1:25:25 and 3:04:47, my best recent 5K time of 0:18:10 predicts that I should run the half-marathon in 1:24:07 and the marathon in 2:57:01 and my best recent 10K time of 0:38:10 predicts a half-marathon time of 1:25:05 but a marathon time of 2:59:04.

Week 1: June 9-15, 2014 (40 miles, including a Trail Ragnar Relay)
Monday: 5 miles easy
Tuesday: 8 mile mini-long run
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: 5 miles easy
Friday: West Virginia Appalachian Trail Ragnar
Saturday: West Virginia Appalachian Trail Ragnar
Sunday: 4 miles recovery

Week 2: June 16-22, 2014 (44 miles)
Monday: OFF
Tuesday: 6 miles easy
Wednesday: 5 miles easy
Thursday: 8 miles with 5 miles at tempo pace
Friday: 6 miles recovery
Saturday: 7 miles easy
Sunday: 12 mile long run

Week 3: June 23-29, 2014 (48 miles)
Monday: 5 miles recovery
Tuesday: 8 miles with 5 miles at tempo pace
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: 8 mile mini-long run
Friday: 6 miles recovery
Saturday: 7 miles easy
Sunday: 14 mile long run

Week 4: June 30-July 6, 2014 (40 miles)
Monday: OFF
Tuesday: 8 miles with 5 miles at tempo pace
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: 8 mile mini-long run
Friday: 7 miles recovery
Saturday: 7 miles easy
Sunday: 10 mile long run

Week 5: July 7-13 2014 (53 miles)
Monday: 6 miles recovery
Tuesday: 9 miles with 6 miles at tempo pace
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: 8 mile mini-long run
Friday: 6 miles recovery
Saturday: 8 miles easy
Sunday: 16 mile long run

Week 6: July 14-20, 2014 (58 miles)

Monday: 6 miles recovery
Tuesday: 9 miles with 6 miles at tempo pace
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: 10 mile mini-long run
Friday: 7 miles recovery
Saturday: 8 miles easy

Sunday: 18 mile long run

Week 7: July 21-27, 2014 (60 miles)
Monday: 6 miles recovery
Tuesday: 9 miles with 5 miles at tempo pace
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: 10 mile mini-long run
Friday: 6 miles recovery
Saturday: 8 miles easy
Sunday: 21 mile long run

Week 8: July 28-August 3, 2014 (50 miles)
Monday: OFF
Tuesday: 9 miles with 6 miles at tempo pace
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: 10 mile mini-long run
Friday: 7 miles recovery
Saturday: 10 miles easy
Sunday: 14 mile long run

Week 9: August 4-10, 2014 (59 miles)
Monday: 8 miles recovery
Tuesday: 9 miles with 5 miles at tempo pace
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: 12 mile mini-long run
Friday: 6 miles recovery
Saturday: 8 miles easy
Sunday: 16 mile long run

Week 10: August 11-17, 2014 (62 miles)
Monday: 6 miles recovery
Tuesday: 9 miles with 6 miles at tempo pace
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: 12 mile mini-long run
Friday: 7 miles recovery
Saturday: 10 miles easy
Sunday: 18 mile long run

Week 11: August 18-24, 2014 (65 miles)
Monday: 8 miles recovery
Tuesday: 10 miles with 7 miles at tempo pace
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: 12 mile mini-long run
Friday: 6 miles recovery
Saturday: 8 miles easy
Sunday: 21 mile long run

Week 12: August 25-31, 2014 (65 miles)
Monday: 6 miles recovery
Tuesday: 10 miles with 7 miles at tempo pace
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: 14 mile mini-long run
Friday: 7 miles recovery
Saturday: 10 miles easy
Sunday: 18 mile long run

Week 13: September 1-7, 2014 (68 miles)
Monday: 8 miles recovery
Tuesday: 12 miles with 9 miles at tempo pace
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: 14 mile mini-long run
Friday: 6 miles recovery
Saturday: 8 miles easy
Sunday: 21 mile long run

Week 14: September 8-14, 2014 (63 miles)
Monday: 6 miles recovery
Tuesday: 10 miles with 7 miles at tempo pace
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: 14 mile mini-long run
Friday: 7 miles recovery
Saturday: 10 miles easy
Sunday: 16 mile long run

Week 15: September 15-21, 2014 (37.1 miles -- tune-up race week)
Monday: 5 miles recovery
Tuesday: 7 miles with 4 miles at tempo pace
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: 7 mile easy run
Friday: 5 miles recovery
Saturday: OFF
Sunday: Philadelphia Rock and Roll Half-Marathon


Week 16: September 22-28, 2014 (48 miles)
Monday: OFF
Tuesday: 6 miles recovery
Wednesday: 5 miles easy
Thursday: 8 mile mini-long run
Friday: 5 miles recovery
Saturday: 8 miles easy
Sunday: 16 mile long run with 12 at marathon pace


Week 17: September 29-October 5, 2014 (34 miles)
Monday: OFF
Tuesday: 6 miles at marathon pace
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: 6 miles at marathon pace
Friday: 4 miles recovery
Saturday: 6 miles easy
Sunday: 12 mile long run

Week 19: October 6-12, 2014 (Race week)
Monday: OFF
Tuesday: 4 miles at marathon pace
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: 3 miles easy
Friday: 3 miles easy
Saturday: OFF
Sunday: Chicago Marathon