Hey Guys! I’ve decided to blog about my training for the Berlin Marathon, and I hope that you’ll enjoy this journey with me! I’ll post my workouts weekly and everything that I felt was good/bad about them. Please keep in mind that I have done a fair amount of base training to get me to where I am in today. I do not suggest anyone who wants to run a marathon start with my program. If you want to run a race of any kind, I would suggest getting a running coach and having them assess you first. ;-) Without further adieu week 1 baby!!

Marathon Training Week 1!

Monday – REST DAY! (I had run 12 miles on Sunday. Also, I suggest taking at least one day off a week, depending on your fitness level.

Tuesday – Yoga & Track Intervals (Break Down Miles) 1 mile warm up, 1600, 2 x800, 4 x 400 (Recovery Jog 400 in between 1600 & 800’s, and 200m in between 400’s.

SPLITS (GOAL: I’m not quite ready for the demand that mile repeats can place on you, so that why this workout is great for introducing the infamous mile. You get more rest, and mentally it is easier to complete. I started at a 6:40 pace and worked my way down to 6:00)

  • 1600 – 6:40
  • 800 – 3:14
  • 800 – 3:18
  • 400 – 1:36
  • 400 – 1:35
  • 400 – 1:35
  • 400 – 1:29

Tuesday’s workout was a success; felt amazing after it! In regards to Yoga, I took a Vinyasa class in the morning for 90 min. Some people do not agree with yoga & running, all I can say is from my experience, it helps me, my body and joints feel better and they are able to move through a better range of motion, and I feel less stiff. For anyone is the NJ area, I go to DIG Yoga, and Naime is my favorite!

Wednesday – Strength Workout (I normally track what exercises I did, and since I will be posting my workouts, I will do this in the future; however, I did not this week. It was a combination of activation, mobility, & strength exercises for your total body)

Thursday – Fartlek Run *AKA Speedplay (I ran with my client in NYC who is also super speedy! I would have done a tempo if I ran by myself, however this was way more fun running with him and I got a great workout to boot!)

  • Workout: 1 mile warm up, 3 min up tempo, 1 min back off, 2 min up tempo, 1 min back off, 1 min up tempo, 2 min back off X 3, 1 mile cool down
  • Splits:
    • First Set
      • 3 min: 7:48
      • 2 min: 7:26
      • 1 min: 6:49
    • Second Set
      • 3 min: 6:46
      • 2 min: 6:40
      • 1 min: 7:08
    • Third Set
      • 3 min: 7:08
      • 2 min: 6:47
      • 1 min: 6:20

Another successful workout!

Friday – Cross Train (50 min cycle session; outdoors) *Went nice and relax, and focused on turnover.

Saturday – It was suppose to be my Long Run, however over the past week I have been suffering with some GI issues, and I developed massive side stitches in my run, and I just could not breathe through them. So I cut the run short to a little over 5 miles and it became a nice Recovery Run. Average Pace – 8:45

Sunday – Long Run Attempt # 2: I was suppose to run 14 miles, but my stomach was still not having it. Every step I took, I cramped up and I was in a lot of pain. I tried to calm myself down, and give myself pep talks, but my emotions definitely got involved and my pain just kept on increasing. So, I cut it off at 10 miles. There was no point of making myself be in agony anymore. I’m hoping that my belly is just acting up because I OD’ed on too much dairy last week, and my digestive track is like “hey you just killed us,” so now they are getting back at me. (Too much info? lol)

Total Weekly Mileage: 25.5 miles

Solid First Training Week! Only thing I would hope to add this week is one more strength & yoga session!

 

 

 

 

***************Natalie Johnston is USATF & RRCA certified runner coach serving areas PA, NYC, & NJ.*****************