RunVassar

This training plan was designed by Dan Finanger, executive director of the Twin Cities Marathon, for runners preparing for their first marathon who have rarely run over 6 miles.  This plan is for the true beginning runner who is hoping only to finish the marathon, with little regard to time.

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Week 1

• Monday - Cross-train (XT) 0-30 min.
• Tuesday - Easy 3-4 miles
• Wednesday - Easy 2-3 miles
• Thursday - Easy 3-4 miles
• Friday - REST
• Saturday - Easy 4-5 miles
• Sunday - Easy 2-3 miles

Week 2

• Monday - XT 0-30 min.
• Tuesday - Easy 3-4 miles
• Wednesday - Easy 2-3 miles
• Thursday - Easy 3-4 miles
• Friday - REST
• Saturday - Easy 5-6 miles
• Sunday - Easy 2-3 miles

Week 3

• Monday - XT 0-30 min.
• Tuesday - Quality* (see below) 4-5 miles
• Wednesday - Easy 2-3 miles
• Thursday - Tempo 3-4 miles
• Friday - REST
• Saturday - Easy 6-7 miles
• Sunday - Easy 2-3 miles

Week 4

• Monday - XT 0-45 min.
• Tuesday - Quality* 4-5 miles
• Wednesday - Easy 3-4 miles
• Thursday - Tempo 4-5 miles
• Friday - REST
• Saturday - Easy 7-8 miles
• Sunday - Easy 2-3 miles

Week 5

• Monday - XT 0-45 min.
• Tuesday - Quality* 5-6 miles
• Wednesday - Easy 3-4 miles
• Thursday - Tempo 4-5 miles
• Friday - REST
• Saturday - Easy 8-9 miles
• Sunday - Easy 2-3 miles

Week 6

• Monday - XT 0-45 min.
• Tuesday - Quality* 5-6 miles
• Wednesday - Easy 3-4 miles
• Thursday - Tempo 5-6 miles
• Friday - REST
• Saturday - Easy 10-11 miles
• Sunday - Easy 2-3 miles

Week 7

• Monday - XT 0-60 min.
• Tuesday - Quality* 6-7 miles
• Wednesday - Easy 3-4 miles
• Thursday - Tempo 5-6 miles
• Friday - REST
• Saturday - Easy 11-12 miles
• Sunday - Easy 3-4 miles

Week 8

• Monday - XT 0-60 min.
• Tuesday - Quality* 7-8 miles
• Wednesday - Easy 3-4 miles
• Thursday - Tempo 6-7 miles
• Friday - REST
• Saturday - Easy 13-14 miles
• Sunday - Easy 3-4 miles

Week 9

• Monday - XT 0-60 min.
• Tuesday - Quality* 7-8 miles
• Wednesday - Easy 4-5 miles
• Thursday - Tempo 6-7 miles
• Friday - REST
• Saturday - Easy 10-11 miles
• Sunday - Easy 3-4 miles

Week 10

• Monday - XT 0-90 min.
• Tuesday - Quality* 7-8 miles
• Wednesday - Easy 4-5 miles
• Thursday - Tempo 7-8 miles
• Friday - REST
• Saturday - Easy 15-16 miles
• Sunday - Easy 2-3 miles

Week 11

• Monday - XT 0-90 min.
• Tuesday - Quality* 6-7 miles
• Wednesday - Easy 4-5 miles
• Thursday - Tempo 6-7 miles
• Friday - REST
• Saturday - Easy 17-18 miles
• Sunday - Easy 2-3 miles

Week 12

• Monday - XT 0-90 min.
• Tuesday - Quality* 7-8 miles
• Wednesday - Easy 4-5 miles
• Thursday - Tempo 7-8 miles
• Friday - REST
• Saturday - Easy 14-15 miles
• Sunday - Easy 3-4 miles

Week 13

• Monday - XT 0-90 min.
• Tuesday - Quality* 7-8 miles
• Wednesday - Easy 3-4 miles
• Thursday - Tempo 6-7 miles
• Friday - REST
• Saturday - Easy 20 miles
• Sunday - Easy 2-3 miles

Week 14

• Monday - XT 0-60 min.
• Tuesday - Quality* 6-7 miles
• Wednesday - Easy 3-4 miles
• Thursday - Tempo 5-6 miles
• Friday - REST
• Saturday - Easy 14-15 miles
• Sunday - REST

Week 15

• Monday - XT 0-45 min.
• Tuesday - Quality* 5-6 miles
• Wednesday - Easy 3-4 miles
• Thursday - Tempo 4-5 miles
• Friday - REST
• Saturday - Easy 10-11 miles
• Sunday - REST

Week 16

• Monday - XT 0-30 min.
• Tuesday - Easy 4 miles
• Wednesday - Easy 3 miles
• Thursday - Easy 2 miles
• Friday - REST
• Saturday - REST
• Sunday - MARATHON

On Tuesdays, choose from one of the following "Quality" workouts.  You should not sprint, but you should be working fairly hard.  Always do a warmup and cool down with these workouts, as well.

1. Fartlek: Pick up the pace for segments of 30 seconds to four minutes, interspersed with easy-paced segments of similar duration (i.e. 1 minute on, 1 minute off).  Go by time or run them between trees, street signs, or other landmarks during your run. 
2. Kenyan Outbacks: These are like tempo runs - a few miles at a challenging pace - but with the second half much faster than the first.  Example: Run an out-and-back route with the "out" in 20 minutes and the "back" in 17 minutes.
3. Track Ladders: Do a track workout up and down the distance ladder.  Early in the buildup the ladder range can be 200 to 800 meters; later on it can rise to 800 to 1600 meters.  Example: Run 200, 400, 800, 400, and 200.  Include an equal amount of slow jogging to recover between each faster repeat.
4. Yasso 800s: In the early weeks of the schedule run six 800-meter repeats with 400-meter recovery jogs.  Increase the number to 10 during peak training.
5. Hill Repeats: Focus on form, not speed.  In the early weeks, run four to six times up a moderate hill of 100 to 200 meters at an easy effort.  Walk or jog down.  In the middle of the training plan, simply do some tempo and long runs on hilly routes.  Late in the buildup, run three to eight hill repeats of 100 to 400 meters at a medium to hard effort.