To get your times down, there is only one real training regimen to recommend, and that is intervals. What you want to do is have a weekly mix of short, medium, and long runs with a day of timed interval training thrown in there. Intervals suck to run, but they really do work.
What you want to be wary of is overtraining. Building up to your goal, you will need to keep a calendar with planned runs and maintain running discipline. Your short run days are just as important as your longer runs.
For interval training, divide your mile goal pace into 1/8-mile, 1/4-mile, 1/2-mile distances. (i.e. 6 minute mile)
Using the goal times, run the following routine sequentially.
- Run 1/2-mile at goal pace (3:00)
- Walk or jog 1/4-mile
- Repeat 3-4 times
- Run 1/4-mile at goal pace (90 seconds)
- Walk or jog 1/8 of a mile
- Repeat 4-6 times
- Run 1/8-mile at goal pace
- Walk or jog 100 m (45 seconds)
- Repeat 4-6 times
Do this workout once a week combined with your longer runs during the week. In a few weeks, you will see your running pace increase and your mile times begin to drop while making your pace easier to maintain.
In the chart below I have laid out a typical marathon training schedule. The Is are interval training, the T's are tune-ups (explained below) and the Rs are rest days. This schedule assumes that at week 1 you are already conditioned for 4 miles a day of running. In week 12 the distance diminishes as it is prepping you for your main timed event. You can scale this down to a 1/2 marathon easily by cutting the distances in half (But I would not run less than 2 miles in any given running day.
Every month you will need to have a tune-up run, this can be a PFT or a longer run if you like, but it is a timed event used to evaluate your conditioning. Your tune-ups should be roughly half the distance of your overall monthly target (i.e. 5k for a 10k, 10k for a ½ marathon, or a ½ marathon for a marathon). These are meant to test your pacing, mental conditioning, fueling, hydration, and gear in conditions that simulate what you will face in you goal.
Warm up. Do not stretch until you have warmed up for 5-10 minutes with jogging, jumping rope, or on some kind of cardio machine, but do stretch before each workout.
Get a GPS to track your progress on computer. I use a Garmin Forerunner 205 and it tracks my pacing and monthly progress very well. It also has nice lap features for running intervals.
Sleep as much as you can when training. Short afternoon naps (20 minutes or less) are very beneficial to recovery and try and get 8 hours per night if possible.
Test in the same gear you train in. Never break out something brand new for a test; be it a hydration system, shoes, shirt socks, etc! Break in your gear well before any testing.
As far as weight lifting goes, concentrate on upper body. Its okay to do some lower body training, but running and ruck marching will adequately build those muscles.
Nutritionally speaking, you will burn a ton of carbs when training for this and you will need protein to build your muscles. Im no doctor, but I do know that most distance runners average around 110 calories per mile with about 75% of those calories coming from carbohydrates. A typical runner can store approximately 1800 calories worth of carbohydrate in their muscles, liver and blood. That amount of carbohydrate will be depleted in about 22 to 23 miles which explains why most marathon runners hit the wall at that point in a race.
A training distance runner should be consuming a diet that is composed of between 65% and 70% carbohydrates. A typical runner's training diet is one that is around 65% carbohydrates 25% protein 10% fat. Of course all carbs are not created equally, you will want to focus on complex carbs that have a lower Glycemic Index or GI. These carbs tend to keep your blood glucose level and give you a steady supply of energy. You will be able to maintain your training runs for longer periods of time if your blood glucose is stable.
Below is a partial list of the GI of some common foods. This list uses glucose as the standard and has a rating of 100. The lower the number the better when selecting your carbs.
Breads
White bread 96
Waffle 76
Donut 76
Whole wheat bread 75
Bread stuffing 74
Kaiser rolls 73
Bagel, white 72
Melba toast 70
Tortilla, corn 70
Rye bread 65
Whole wheat pita 58
Pumpernickel bread 49
Cereals
Puffed Rice 90
Rice Chex 89
Crispix 87
Corn Flakes 84
Corn Chex 83
Rice Krispies 82
Grapenut Flakes 80
Cocoapops 77
Cheerios 74
Shredded Wheat 69
Puffed Wheat 67
Grapenuts 67
Museli 66
Life 66
Cream of Wheat 66
Bran Chex 58
Oatmeal 55
Special K 54
All Bran 42
Crackers/Cookies
Vanilla Wafers 77
Rice Cakes 77
Water Crackers 72
Golden Grahams 71
Stoned Wheat Thins 67
Shortbread 64
Dairy
Ice Cream 61
Pizza cheese 60
Ice Cream low fat 50
Milk skim 32
Yogurt with sugar 33
Yogurt no sugar 14
Fruits
Watermelon 72
Dried fruit 70
Pineapple 66
Cantaloupe 65
Blueberry 59
Orange juice 57
Mango 55
Fruit cocktail 55
Banana 53
Kiwi 52
Orange 43
Grapes 43
Pear 35
Apple 35
Strawberry 32
Grapefruit 25
Plum 25
Cherries 23
Grains
Rice instant 88
Millet 71
Rice white/not instant 70
Cornmeal 68
Rye flour 65
Couscous 65
Bran 60
Buckwheat 54
Bulgur 48
Spirali, durum 43
Barley, pearled 25
Legumes
Fava beans 80
Baked beans canned 68
Romano beans 46
Black eyed peas 42
Chick peas 33
Split peas 32
Lima beans frozen 32
Butter beans 31
Black beans 30
Lentils 29
Beans dried 29
Kidney beans 27
Soybeans 18
Pasta
Brown rice pasta 92
Refined pasta 65
Gnocchi 65
Whole grain thick 45
Angel hair 45
Star Pastina 38
Whole grain spaghetti 37
Vermicelli 35
Vegetables
Parsnips 97
Potato baked 85
Potato instant 83
Pumpkin 75
French fries 75
Potato fresh mashed 73
Rutabaga 72
Carrot 71
Beets 64
New Potato 62
Sweet corn 55
Sweet potato 54
Yam 51
Tomato 38
Green vegetables low
Bean sprouts low
Cauliflower low
Eggplant low
Peppers low
Squash low
Onions low
Water chestnuts low
Miscellaneous
Tofu frozen dessert 115
Maltose 105
Glucose 100
Rice cake 82
Jelly beans 80
Pretzels 80
Honey 73
Corn chips 73
Soft drink 70
Angel food 67
Sucrose 65
Hamburger bun 61
Sponge cake 54
Chocolate 49
Instant noodles 47
Fructose 23
I hope this helps you in your training.
Good luck pal.
Last edited by lallhands; 04-03-09 at 23:23.
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