I have written in the past about set training plans created by experts (of which I don’t pretend to be one because I simply am not….well unless someone out there thinks I am) and how much I am not a fan of them simply because of their rigidity. This didn’t mean that I was never going to log runs or have some sort of outline to what I am going to do in the lead up to this year’s Melbourne Marathon.

Below is something that I have tried to come up with to satisfy those who want a plan for the 7 weeks leading up to the big day on October 12. As with all planning (and this is something I learned whilst studying for a primary school teaching degree), the plan below is by no means definitively what I am going to be doing. For instance, there may be variations in the types of runs that I do, the pace which I do those runs, and even the events I do leading up to my personal “big dance”. To illustrate this, I have penciled in an event in Brisbane in a month’s time. However my participation in this event is subject to employment commitments and whether I can arrange someone else to work my shift.

There is also a colour coding for each type of run. Those shaded in blue are due to be completed as an early morning run while afternoon runs are in a light golden colour. Events are highlighted in BOLD text, designated Travel Days are shaded in grey, and planned rest days (an important part of any preparation, running every day does have an adverse affect on fitness) have a light green shading. Designated Travel Days are when flights are due to take place, so training for those days is virtually impossible, with the flights themselves to be booked shortly.

The plan is by no means something you may want to follow. If you want to follow this plan and think this will get you a result, then by all means do so. Just remember I am just someone living the dream, I am not a coach or guru and as what happens in so many problem areas of life, what may work for me may not work for you. Feel free to adjust running days, distances, timing or even planned events as you wish because at the end of the day, it’s YOUR plan for YOU, just like this is my plan for me that I feel like sharing with the world.

THE PLAN (Click to enlarge)

Note the week of rest after the main race precedes a training run on the Saturday Afternoon. With other events to prepare for in November those 5 days are about all I can afford to take off running if I want high levels of achievement in races in Sydney and Hobart. I try to base the bulk of my runs on time rather than distance goals. If I am able to reach the time goals then the distances that many try to run per week will take care of themselves. As a guide however the 12km run to kick off preparations on Sunday took 1:05, about 7 minutes outside my race best time in Adelaide last year which certainly is far from concerning. Active rest is simply walking rather than standing still and guzzling on a water bottle, this scenario may very well happen in a marathon (it did to me in Canberra in April this year) as well so being prepared for that can only help.

Hopefully next time I’m able to write about the adventures in the races, rather than the stuff people don’t see or necessarily want to know.