My training plan for Chicago (Dr. Jack Daniels - Plan A)

Ok, let's get my fears out of the way first. The bulk of the training will be in the heat of summer. So one of two things will happen. I'll either become much more mentally tough, have a great training season, and have a great race, or I'll slack b/c I can't stand the heat and have a mediocre race day. I honestly think they're both equally likely right now. The thought of these long runs in July and August make me want to quit right now.

Because of how the plan is set up, I think it's something anyone can use. Reason being, you first determine the max number of miles you can/want to cover in your max week, and it then uses percentages of that max to set the weekly mileage totals for all the other weeks. In fact, if this goes well, I may use it from now on. I love the flexibility in the schedule.

I'm using his Training Plan A, with a max weekly mileage of 70, and training paces based on a VDOT of 50. My recent race times, for different distances, suggest VDOTs ranging from 41-53. JD says to use the highest value, but I just don't think I can maintain a full training season at a 53. The 41 is my Nashville time in April, when I got beat up by the weather a bit. Everything from half-marathon and shorter, my times yield a VDOT no lower than 47. So I compromised and will use a 50. Then after a few weeks, I'll reevaluate and adjust if necessary.

VDOT 50:
Easy - 8:32/m
Marathon pace - 7:17/m
Tempo - 1:42/400m, 4:15/1000m, 6:51/m
Interval - 1:33/400m, 3:55/1000m, 4:41/1200m
Repetition - :43/200m, 87/400m

Every one of these training paces I'm comfortable with...except that marathon pace. Whew, that's motoring. I have absolutely no reason to believe I can run at a 7:17/m clip. But I'll train at VDOT 50 and see how it goes. I believe in the science behind his tables. For me, it's actually an endurance issue. The shorter the race, the higher VDOT I'm at. My February half-marathon puts me at 47, my 5K at 53. So speed is not my issue, endurance is. Which is exactly backward of how I view myself. But I'll do what JD tells me to do, and see how it goes.

I'm of the mindset right now that I want to push myself hard in Chicago. Courses don't get any flatter, crowd support doesn't get any better, and there is no other marathon I want to run better than I do Chicago. Not Boston. Not New York. I just want to run those. Chicago is the one I want to excel at. So I'm already praying for partly sunny, no wind, 40*.

The reason I'm using Daniels' plan this time is that I like how I need only focus on the 2 "quality workouts" per week. The other days, I simply run enough mileage, at easy pace, to hit my target total for that week, with 6-8 strides after 2 of those runs. I like that flexibility, especially in the summer.

Also, I want to drop about 6 pounds and be at 155-156. I've been comfortably maintaining 161-162, without a ton of diligence on my diet. My goal is to be at 155 by the end of June and then maintain it. I don't want to be worrying about getting to race weight in September and early October.

Based on previous training, I think (no, I know) I need to do a better job of balancing training hard, but not so hard that I'm leaving some of my race on the training roads. I'm absolutely guilty of this b/c I love going for a run, even when I don't need to go. Or I run harder than I should b/c it just feels so good. Three years of running, and I'm still trying to learn some of the most basic lessons.

A little more explanation on how I decided to train at VDOT 50....

JD says to use your highest VDOT, based on a race performance. And for me, that's my 5K. If I do run sub-19 this summer as planned, my VDOT would be indicated at 53, not the 50 I am currently planning to train at. In March, I ran a 5K that would have put me right at that sub-19, but the race was unexpectedly short (the cop on the bike accidentally turned around too soon). It measured out at 2.83 miles, I ran that in 17:18, and I had a kick left to give if I wanted to. But once I realized the course got messed up, I just ran steady through the end. So, I'm 99.9% confident I have an 18:xx in me for this summer.

At 53, training paces look like this:
Easy = 8:09/m
Tempo = 6:32/m, 4:04/1,000m, 1:37/400m
Marathon Pace = 6:56/m

I could maintain that easy pace w/o a ton of trouble. But my heart rate would be higher than is to be targeted for an easy run, especially in the summer heat. My easy runs, I've learned to try to base more on my HR than pace.

If I feel good with my training at VDOT 50, I'll go to 51. And I'll go down if I'm not getting it done. He suggests sticking at a training level for 3-4 weeks before moving up. And then perhaps again 3-4 weeks after that.

As for his longest runs in the plan, some he describes as X miles, or Y hours, whichever is less. His longest in Marathon Plan A is 22 miles, or 2.5 hours. But he has many others where he combines easy/long runs with tempos or marathon pace runs, the longest MP run being 15 miles. I spent the time up front going through each quality workout, and estimating the mileage based on the paces for VDOT 50. In the middle of the plan, I go 11 straight weeks of running anywhere from 17-20.5 miles during one quality session, and 11 weeks of covering 11-14 miles during the speed quality workout. So while there are no strict 22-26 mile runs, these workouts seem quite challenging. Especially when done week after week for 11 weeks. This is one of those areas where I say to myself "just do what you're told, b/c he knows far more than you do". One thing I have considered is taking the week 15 "22 miles or 2.5 hours" and just doing the 22 miles.

First 6 weeks of the plan it's interval work, from there on out it's tempo. It's probably easier to understand seeing it than having me try to explain them.

Here are the quality workouts for the 17 weeks of training...excluding the 6 weeks of "base building" before beginning the program, and excluding "race week", week 18. Anytime it says "this OR that", it means whichever is less.

Week 2, Q1, I currently plan to do 40 minutes of ADJ TEMPO (7:05/m), not 20 minutes of TEMPO (6:51/m).

Week 1 - 56 total miles
Q1 - 14 miles or 2 hours
Q2 - Sets of 4 min HARD with 3 min recovery jogs, total 4.5 miles

Week 2 - 56 total miles
Q1 - 20 min EASY + 20 min TEMPO (or 40 min ADJ TEMPO) + 20 min EASY
Q2 - Sets of 4 min HARD with 3 min recovery jogs, total 4.5 miles

Week 3 - 49 total miles
Q1 - 2 miles EASY + 5 x 5-6 min TEMPO w/ 1 min rests + 1 hour EASY
Q2 - Sets of 1000m, 1200m, or 1600m INTERVAL pace w/ 3,4,5 min recovery jogs, total 2.9 miles

Week 4 - 63 total miles
Q1 - 15.75 miles or 2.5 hrs
Q2 - Sets of 1000m, 1200m, or 1600m INTERVAL pace w/ 3,4,5 min recovery jogs, total 3.8 miles

Week 5 - 63 total miles
Q1 - 2 miles EASY + 2 x 10-12 min TEMPO w/ 2 min rests + 1 hour EASY
Q2 - 2 miles EASY + Sets of 5 min HARD with 3-5 min recovery jogs, total 5 miles

Week 6 - 49 total miles
Q1 - 2 miles EASY + 6 x 5-6 min TEMPO w/ 1 min rests + 2 miles EASY
Q2 - Sets of 1000m, 1200m, or 1600m INTERVAL pace w/ 3,4,5 min recovery jogs, total 3.9 miles

Week 7 - 70 total miles
Q1 - 17.5 miles or 2.5 hrs
Q2 - 2 miles EASY + 4 x 10-12 min TEMPO w/ 2 min rests + 2 miles EASY

Week 8 - 63 total miles
Q1 - 2 miles EASY + 4 x 5-6 min TEMPO w/ 1 min rests + 1 hour EASY + 15-20 min TEMPO + 2 miles EASY
Q2 - 2 miles EASY + 4 x 1-mile TEMPO w/ 1-min rests + 5 min. EASY + 3 x 1-mile TEMPO w/ 1-min rests + 2 miles EASY

Week 9 - 56 total miles
Q1 - 2 miles EASY + 12-13 miles or 100 min MARATHON + 2 miles EASY
Q2 - 2 miles EASY + 2 x 15-20 min TEMPO w/ 3-min rests + 10-12 min TEMPO + 2 miles EASY

Week 10 - 70 total miles
Q1 - 17.5 miles or 2.5 hrs
Q2 - 2 miles EASY + 20 min TEMPO + 10 min EASY + 20 min TEMPO + 2 miles EASY

Week 11 - 63 total miles
Q1 - 2 miles EASY + 2 x 10-12 min TEMPO w/ 2 min rests + 10 miles or 80 min EASY + 15-20 min TEMPO + 2 miles EASY
Q2 - 2 miles EASY + 8 x 5-6 min TEMPO w/ 30 sec rests + 2 miles EASY

Week 12 - 49 total miles
Q1 - 2 miles EASY + 2 hours or 15 miles MARATHON + 2 miles EASY
Q2 - 2 miles EASY + 4 x 10-12 min TEMPO w/ 2 min rests + 2 miles EASY

Week 13 - 70 total miles
Q1 - 22 miles or 2.5 hours
Q2 - 2 x (20 min EASY + 20 min TEMPO) + 2 miles EASY

Week 14 - 63 total miles
Q1 - 2 miles EASY + 4 x 5-6 min TEMPO w/ 1 min rests + 10 miles or 80 min EASY + 4 x 5-6 min TEMPO w/ 1-min rests + 2 miles EASY
Q2 - 1 hour EASY + 6 x 5-6 min TEMPO + 15 min EASY

Week 15 - 49 total miles
Q1 - 22 miles or 2.5 hours
Q2 - 2 x (35-40 min EASY + 15-20 min TEMPO) + 2 miles EASY

Week 16 - 49 total miles
Q1 - 2 miles EASY + 15 miles or 2.5 hours MARATHON + 2 miles EASY
Q2 - 2 x (20 min EASY + 15-20 min TEMPO) + 2 miles EASY

Week 17 - 42 total miles
Q1 - 2 miles EASY + 2 x 10-15 min TEMPO w/ 3 min rests + 30-45 EASY
Q2 - 2 x (35-40 min EASY + 15-20 min TEMPO) + 2 miles EASY

Week 18 - RACE WEEK

The biggest challenge in this plan for me might be learning how to program the workouts into my Garmin, b/c there is no way I'm going to be able to remember them (e.g. 2 miles EASY + 4 x 5-6 min TEMPO w/ 1 min rests + 10 miles or 80 min EASY + 4 x 5-6 min TEMPO w/ 1-min rests + 2 miles EASY) I'll be delirious from the heat after that first set of tempo runs. LOL.

OK, that's about it. Let the games begin!