The Road to 26.2 … Spring Is Here!

I’m so happy that I’ve finally been able to peel away some of the layers, ditch the long underwear and wool socks and run hitting concrete instead of snow. Yes, spring has sprung up North and it couldn’t have come at a better time. I’m officially in my ‘really long runs’ stage (and only 6 weeks out from my race day). Two weeks ago I was up to 18 miles (seen in the picture to the right with my good friend Sarah. We were able to get a long run in while at the Natural Products Expo West show in California). Last weekend it was 20 miles and this weekend will be the longest training run at 22 miles. When training for a full, most training programs tell you to run up to 20 miles, but as I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I’m a big believer that training past the ’20 mile wall’ is beneficial come race day, especially for your mental capabilities. Here’s how the long runs work in a 16-week (aka 4 month training program). You should be comfortably able to run 6-miles/an hour before starting out the training program below. If not, start earlier and work your way up to this 8-mile mark.

• Week 1 – 8 miles
• Week 2 – 8 miles
• Week 3 – 10 miles
• Week 4 – 10 miles
• Week 5 – 12 miles
• Week 6 – 16 miles
• Week 7 – 14 miles
• Week 8 – 18 miles
• Week 9 – 20 miles
• Week 10 – 20* miles (this is the week I like to do 22 miles on, a lot of schedules will just tell you to run 20 miles three times during your training, I promise running the 22 miles once will be worth it)
• Week 11 – 14.5 miles
• Week 12 – 18 miles
• Week 13 – 20 miles
• Week 14 – 14.5 miles
• Week 15 – 10 miles (it’s your last long run before race day – run this race pace – make sure it’s at least a week before your actual event day)
• Week 16 – RACE DAY – You did it! Hooray! All your hard work will pay off today! Now go out there and enjoy your accomplishment.

And that’s it! Not so bad, right?! I like to do my long runs on Sundays as I have a Monday-Friday job so this works well for me. Mondays are then my day off. Every Tuesday I run 6 miles and after 8 weeks those 6 miles turned to running from a flat route to a hilly route to get more of a hill workout in. Some people also like to do hill training on a separate day and speed training 4-6 weeks out depending on what your goals are for the race. Do you want to improve your time and be able to kick it up the last half mile of the run? Then speed workouts might be a great thing for you. And don't forget your Ultima! There is no way I'm leaving the house on my long runs without a scoop of grape (my favorite flavor) in both water bottles. When I train with Ultima, I know that come race day I'm prepped and ready to be the best version of myself on the course! Hope this long run schedule helps in your training success. Do you have a training program you swear by and love to follow? Let us know! Leave a comment below and we’ll send you some Ultima Replenisher* for your next long training run! Happy trails, -Sarah *Offer expires May 31, 2015.