Example Program - Emerging Elite Marathoner - Jane Runner

 

I thought it would be fun and helpful, to runners and coaches alike, to make-up an imaginary example runner (Jane Runner) with a real world situation and design a training program for them and post here on the Maximum Performance Running blog.  Then walk everyone through the how’s and why’s of the program over the next couple blogs.  And since most are fascinated with elite and emerging elite runners trying to make the leap to the next level, I decided to make the runner an emerging elite trying to make a go of it as elite professional runner post collegiately.

Example Runner – Jane Runner – Backstory

Jane Runner is a 23 year old female runner who just graduated from a D-1 University where she ran Cross Country and Track on a partial scholarship.  Jane struggled her first 2 years collegiately, dealing with several minor injuries, but really found her stride in last 2 years setting a big PR in her senior Track season with a 33:07 in the 10,000m at her conference meet to earn her team some points.  Jane’s success in college seems to be sparked when she added daily doubles to her training mix, with an easy 3-4 mile run each morning before her afternoon workouts with the team.  A moderate mileage runner in high school, Jane struggled at first adapting to the higher mileage collegiate world but with time and the adding of regular doubles, Jane thrived the last year or two and it has her dreaming of what post collegiate running might look like for her.  Jane’s training mileage was in the 75-85 miles per week range most of her senior year.  Jane’s strengths in college seemed to be more her natural endurance rather than her speed, she would often get the better of her training partners on the longer workouts and tempo runs while struggling more on the short speed workouts.  This has her eyeing the possibilities she might have in the half marathon and marathon distances.  After graduating in May and recovering from her senior track season, Jane has landed an entry level desk job at a local company where she works 8:30-5:00 PM Monday thru Friday, and had been ramping back up her training for her first half marathon in early October, doing many of the similar workouts she did in college except less speed work and slightly longer long runs.  She just finished her half marathon running 1:14:32 for 6th place women overall in a strong regional field.  She feels she gave it her all but is underwhelmed with the results, she was hoping for something in the 1:13 range in her HM debut.  In particular she struggled in the last 3-4 miles not having the pop in her legs she had expected and not being able to keep up with the pack of her competitors as they pushed for home.

Jane has secured an elite entry for her marathon debut in the spring and after her half marathon performance she realized she needs some professional help to get her get on track and be at her best this debut.   So Jane reached out to Hadley Running for help on this marathon cycle and her conversion into a professional marathoner.  Jane has set an ambitious goal of 2:30-2:32 for her marathon debut. 

After reviewing Jane’s background, training and goal.  Coach Hadley has established the following plan to successfully get Jane to her spring marathon, healthy, fit, confident and ready to hit her time goals. 

Coach Hadley has determined that a 14 day micro-cycle with 5 stress workouts will be the best micro-cycle for Jane with her need to do her long runs on the weekend given her work schedule.  Jane had used a 7 day, 2 quality workout and 1 long run micro-cycle in her prep for her half marathon debut.  The switch to the 14 micro-cycle will allow her to up her mileage a little as she adapts to the marathon.  That 14 day micro-cycle will look like this:

It gives her 2 recovery days after 4 of the stress workouts allowing her to carry a higher mileage level and 1 extra easy recovery day after 1 of her endurance workouts.  

This mixture of 2 endurance workouts to 3 quality workouts in a micro-cycle tends to work very well for most emerging elite marathoners in Jane’s situation.

Given Jane’s background, mileage level and goals, she will have an easy secondary run every day except her Endurance workout days during most of the micro-cycles.

Training Cycle Design

With a couple of very light weeks to recover from her half marathon cycle under her belt, Jane is ready to start her training for her marathon.  Coach Hadley has established the following training cycle design for Jane.

Phases

The first 2 weeks (1 micro-cycle) will be a Base Phase in which Jane adjusts to the new micro-cycle schedule and eases her way back into workouts.

The next 12 weeks (6 micro-cycles & 3 macro-cycles) will be in a Fundamental Phase where Jane builds the aerobic power needed to be strong and efficient for her goal.  With Macro-cycles focused on Stride Power, VO2 Max and Lactate Threshold. 

The next 8 weeks (4 micro-cycles & 2 macro-cycles) will be in a Specific Phase where Jane will leverage the gains made in the Fundamental Phase and stretch out her endurance and stamina to meet the specific demands of her marathon goal.  Her macro-cycles will focus on Aerobic Threshold and her marathon goal pace.

Lastly Jane will taper down and go racing in her goal marathon in a Taper/Race Week Phase.  Jane’s taper will actually start after the mid-week quality workout (11 days out) of her last micro-cycle in the Specific Phase but will be amplified in her taper week as the race gets closer.

Since Jane has a good amount of time for this training cycle, Coach Hadley is able to schedule in a race in both the Fundamental Phase (a 5k or 8k or 10k race) and the Specific Phase (a 20k or half marathon) allowing Jane to see the benefits of her hard work to build her confidence, and to continue to build her post collegiate resume and reputation of being a quality competitor.  Also since this is a longer cycle, Jane has plenty of time to slowly build her mileage and adjust naturally to the demands of a high level marathoner, with no need to rush things because of compressed time frames.

It's probably good to note that this is a long cycle, typically a marathon cycle would be between 12-20 weeks in length with 16 weeks being a sweet spot.  But given the situation of it being an athlete trying to make a jump to a new distance and performance level a slightly longer cycle makes good sense.  

Tune in next blog to as we go through the specific runs and workouts for the each phase and talk about why we are doing what we are doing.

Personal Success Programs

 

What is a Personal Success Program

Coach Mark Hadley has started Hadley Running solely for the purpose of providing distance runners with comprehensive Personal Success Programs (PSP). But what is a PSP and what does it include? It is a new term in run coaching so we wanted to write this article to fully explain it and its powerful benefits.

First lets clearly define what a Personal Success Program is and then we’ll go through all of the elements it includes.

Personal Success Program

A Personal Success Program (PSP) is a comprehensive training program designed for a distance runner by Coach Mark Hadley to help them achieve their goal for a training cycle. It is designed specifically for them taking into account their running and personal background, their strength and weaknesses, their goals, and their individual work/life schedule. Each PSP includes 12 insightful elements that make up a comprehensive plan for success.

What Does A Personal Success Program Include?

Every PSP included 12 key elements to your success as follows:

· Training Overview – a good look at how training for distance running works, clearly defining each elements and discussing what our focus should be and what pitfalls to carefully avoid. Whether review for the experienced pro or new insights for the beginner it’s the basis behind what we do and can’t be stressed enough in its value to helping us achieve success.

· Training Cycle Overview – this is the blueprint of how we will prepare you for your goal race, how we will sequence your training over the weeks, the types of workouts we’ll be using and how it will all fit together to achieve your goal. It is a great confidence booster to see it all laid out, to see how all the pieces will fit together and knowing you have the best possible plan to make it happen. 

· Detailed Training Schedule – this is the day to day guide of what training you will do each day with details on how to do each. You will never have to worry about what to do when, you’ll know exactly what the plan calls for that day and how best to do it. 

· Workout Guide & Notes – every run we do has a purpose and this section walks you through what each run/workout does, how to best execute it and some tips and notes on how to get the most out of it. Sometimes knowing the why helps us execute it with great confidence and purpose. 

· Training Paces & HR Guide – this element gives you the training pace range for every run and workout you do as well as the general heart rate ranges we want to stay within, so no matter how you like to track your training efforts this guide gives you spot on guidance. Additionally it shows you how much to adjust your paces for any warm and humid summer conditions you encounter, as well as showing you what your training paces indicate for your current race time fitness so you can track your progress towards your goal. 

· Warm-Up & Cool-Down Routines – these are short and simple, easy to execute warm-up and cooldown routines for before and after all your runs and workouts. A good warm-up and cool-down routine helps the runs go smoother, recovery happen faster, and helps prevent injuries. 

· Strength Training Program – this is a simple and straight forward strength training program designed for you by Coach Hadley, focused on helping you achieve your running goal and reducing the risk of injury during training. No fancy equipment or GYM memberships required. 

· Recovery Guide – this guide walks you through the recovery process, gives you a check list of things to consider and do, and tips on how to recover best for each run. We don’t get the physical benefits from the hard work we do until we have properly recovered from it. 

· Nutritional Guide and Tips – this is your guide on how to look at your nutrition/diet in terms of your training as a distance runner. It covers your basics to consider and pitfalls to avoid. It covers calories, nutrients and hydration consideration in general and in terms of your runs and races. 

· Racing Guide – a comprehensive racing guide with how we want to approach our races and why, plus specific course tips and guidance on your goal race. 

· Adjustment Guide – a complete guide to how to alter your run schedule for those times when something unexpected comes up. Sometimes work or life or a stomach bug gets in the way and we need to adjust our schedule a bit, this guide will show you how to do that most effectively. 

· FAQ – we all have running questions (form, shoes, treadmills, hydration, etc) in regard to our running and the internet is full of contradictory opinions. In this section Coach Hadley addresses the most common questions runners have and helps you cut through the noise and get some real, down to earth, and practical answers.

Bonus: Coach Hadley is offering an optional 15 minute call with each PSP to answer any questions you have about it once you have read over it.

As you can see, each PSP offers the runner all the elements they need to be successful and accomplish their goals for the training cycle. 

PSP Length

PSP’s are designed to be 1 training cycle in length and can last anywhere from 6 to 26 weeks in length. 

How long of a program you will need will depend a lot on how far away your current fitness is from your goal fitness. The further away you are the longer the program you will need to get there. Another factor is the length of your goal race and your experience with it, in general longer races will take longer to prepare for.

Here is a little guide of what program length we see most typically for each race distance. 

· 5k to 10k: typical length 6 to 12 weeks

· 15k to Half Marathon: typical length 8 to 16 weeks

· Marathon: typical length 12 to 20 weeks

· Ultramarathon: typical length 16 to 26 weeks

How it Works

There are 4 simple steps to getting your Personal Success Program:

1)  Once you have made your purchase Hadley Running will e-mail a receipt with a link to a detailed questionnaire to complete and submit so that Coach Hadley can gather all the information he will need to design your best possible program.

2)  Coach Hadley will follow-up with you if he has any additional questions.

3) Coach Hadley will send you your Personal Success Program in 3-5 days after having received back your questionnaire.  Primary delivery is via e-mail but also available through regular mail if desired. 

4)  You have the option of also having a 15 minute call with Coach Hadley (English only) to discuss your program if desired.

Runner Questionnaire

The Runner Questionnaire is a big key that enables the success of the Personal Success Program.  Take your time and answer the questions as best you can.  This is where Coach Hadley gathers all the information he will need to design you the best possible program to ensure your success.

Simple One-Time Cost 

Each PSP is purchased for a moderate one time cost, no subscription or recurring fees.  Just make the purchase on this site based on the length of program you want Coach Hadley will develop your PSP and send it to you.