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Hi Frank,
I hope everything is going well with you and your family.
I wanted to let you know that I am attempting to train for a half marathon (on March 28) and am running with a friend who has done this before. Obviously I've never been a good runner so I am a little skeptical of my ability to do this. I was wondering what you thought of this type of schedule and any advice you might have, as you are the closest to an expert that I have access to. I am currently running Tuesday and Thursday in the morning, between 1-2 miles, with longer runs of 2+ on Saturdays. I will have to ramp it up at some point but for now this is really my max.
Let me know what you think when you get a chance. Btw, I’ve done your stretching exercises for my knee and I haven't had a problem since I started running.
Best,
Douglas P. Brunswick
Los Angeles, California
*********
Hi Doug,
Congratulations on signing up for a 1/2 Marathon (You'll be so proud of what you've accomplished once you cross that finish line) of course this means that a Marathon is on the horizon (but one step at a time).
Here is an outline that will get you to the line injury free and in fine form.
* for simplicity sake assume each mile is 10:00 or 6.0 on a treadmill.
Keep your Tue & Thurs schedule @ 2 miles or 20 minutes thru December; Add 1x weekly a 20-30 minutes bike ride (indoors @ gym if you have access) this will keep your knees strong and take some pounding off your body while building your fitness.
In January bump the Tue & Thurs workouts to 3 miles or 30 minutes, continue with 1x weekly of 30 minutes on the bike thru the training.
February & March, bump the Tues & Thurs run to 4 miles/ 40 minutes & 5 miles/ 50 minutes respectively.
For your Saturday or Sunday "longer runs" (which are the key to finish). Try this.
Starting December 6th: 4 miles or 40 minutes
12/13: 2 miles or 20 minutes
12/20: 4 miles or 40 minutes
12/27: 2 miles or 20 minutes
1/3: 6 miles or 60 minutes
1/10: 3 miles or 30 minutes
1/17: 6 miles or 60 minutes
1/24: 3 miles or 30 minutes
1/31: 8 miles or 1:20 of running
2/7: 4 miles or 40 minutes
2/14: 8 miles or 1:20 of running
2/21: 5 miles or 50 minutes
2/28: 10 miles or 1:40 of running
3/7: 6 miles or 1:00 of running
3/14: 10 miles or 1:40 of running
3/21: 6 miles or 1:00 of running
* we will touch base at this point to talk about your TAPER week to get you ready for race day!
Good luck; Email me with any questions you have!
Just one correction Douglas. I'm not the "closest thing you know to an expert" I am the expert! (simple mistake, happens all the time; don't let it happen again!)
- Frank Pucher
I've never finished a run and thought "that was a waste of time".
- August 2008
What does it mean to be happy? How does training effect happiness? How do results effect happiness? Are we truly happy with the training lives we lead or is it the lack of happiness in our lives that makes us run away from it all with miles upon miles of training?
Throughout my amateur running career, I always thought that good results were the path to happiness. Over the years however, I've changed my views on this. Through all the training I did, I found that happiness came more so from the act of training than in the results themselves. So why did I keep racing? Finishing a race (an winning) brought me great happiness. Then I started to question this process. Why should I have to put myself through such suffering in order to experience happiness? Not to mention the costs of obtaining this happiness. The Dali Lama was quoted as saying, "to achieve happiness, one must overcome suffering." I don't think he was directing this at Runners, but it's an interesting paradigm that we as endurance athletes have created for ourselves. The fact that we create the suffering in order to then experience happiness.
He [the Dali Lama] goes on to say that, "happiness is determined more by one's state of mind than by external events. That most people have a tendency to rationalize their happiness, not from what is inside of them, but from a comparison to others." As competitive endurance athletes, I'll say that far to often we define ourselves by our results in relation to others. By means of a point and classification system where if athlete A finished ahead of us in a race, then we are not as good as that person (at least on that day). Nike has a new ad campaign that talks about "My better is better than your better." My point exactly...
I, like the Dali Lama, make the point that happiness is an achievable goal that is worth pursuing, yet it is in more part due to how we define it rather than how we obtain it.
I've never finished a run and thought, "that was a waste of time."
-Frank Pucher
- July 2008
Strength Guru Mike Boyle recently mentioned "that many athletes/coaches have simply forgotten to train HARD" we've become so focused on form, tools and program design that we've forgotten the essential element to improvement, OVERLOAD. A similar principle applies in the distance running world.
Run more to become a better runner.
The Summer is a perfect time to increase running volume for HS Athletes as they have (usually) more sleep available and less stresses to combat. Most athletes can safely increase their running volume by 10-15% weekly if they wish; without injury. Today's HS Runners are running too few miles and Cross Training too much as a means to boost fitness. I'm not saying there's no merit, but the fact is and always will be, if you want to be a better runner; you've got to run.
High volume running isn't a new concept or an unproven science. Legendary Coach Arthur Lydiard is perhaps the most famous name associated with the success of high volume running. In the 1970's a high volume disciple Tom Flemming (2x NYC Marathon Winner) famously had a sign in his bedroom that read “Somewhere in the world, someone is training when you aren't. When you race him, he'll win.”
Modern coaches that are assessing their teams "summer running schedule" should ask themselves this question "Am I happy with my teams racing performance?" If so, keep doing what you're doing. But if your team has been stuck at a poor performance level for a while, and interval training or low volume running isn't giving you the improvement you want, think about having them run more miles. Not just on a day or so but on most days. Even HS Athletes can do it without getting hurt if they increase the distance gradually and run comfortably.
Intervals, hill repeats and tempo runs all have their place in a season but they all should be used when appropriate. Lydiard's system called for a high base mileage as a starting point, with hill repetitions and interval work to follow. Despite all the changes in the way our athletes train and prepare, it seems in building a successful runner "the more things change, the more they stay the same."
I've never finished a run and thought, "that was a waste of time."
- Frank Pucher
- May 2008
I don't know a lot of things, I'll admit. For example, I haven't the faintest clue what the difference between a ninja and a samurai is, or how cell phone signals---actual voices---travel through the air, or why it is that penguin's feet don't freeze, or why sock, sandals and shorts aren't supposed to go together, or why there's a website for Internet addiction?
I also don't know why so many trainers and physiologists debate the "best way" to train? They argue whether "quantity" might best serve the purpose or that "quality" might. Essentially, in their minds, it's a case of Volume versus Intensity…
It's a foolish dispute if you ask me---or even if you don't---much like the ongoing clash as to which device will benefit your training more: a heart-rate monitor or Rate of Perceived Exertion (neither, if you aren't actually training at the time).
First of all, why does it have to be a case of either/or? What about my proposed Triple Q Approach, my "quantitative quality quantity" slant? Why isn't anyone arguing about that?! And what exactly is "quality"? Can't "quantity" be "quality"? Can't volume be intense? Can't intensity hurt for a long time?
I personally feel that these sorts of arguments are like debating which way to hang the toilet paper roll. Does the paper drape next to the wall? Or does it hang closer to the lavatory user? This kind of squabble is best left answered by others, like Ann Landers or Ms. Abbey. You see, I'm not sure I've ever even hung the roll. As far as I'm concerned it can sit on the back of the toilet, on that big, ugly tank part, so long as there's some sheets of paper left when they're required---that's what really matters.
Anyway, let's just say, for a minute, that there is a "best way" to train--- it's unlikely any of us would ever fully approach it---there are just too many dynamics in life impeding us in reaching our truest potential, our uppermost capabilities. This goes for Lance Armstrong, Paula Radcliffe, and little old me, a guy with no other responsibilities than to work, sleep and drink good wine (not necessarily in that order).
Each champion follows a different path to the finish line, it's a direct link to the Law of Individual Differences. Let's celebrate that and not try to follow the homogenous Law of Generality.
I've never finished a run and thought "that was a waste of time".
-Frank Pucher
- April 8th ,2008
I feel like Carrie Bradshaw when I start to press my fingers against the keypad. I can even hear her annoying little voice asking all kinds of rhetorical hyperbole "if it feels this good, can it really be that bad?" It probably doesn't help that I'm sipping a glass of wine with a little Orange wine charm on it. I don't really know why my wife insists on having these? Am I going to forget that this glass is mine? I'm the only one in the room!
Last week my mind and body sought the sleep and sun of Miami Beach. Every morning I engaged in a morning ritual of Coffee, Reading, and Running (3 things I need more of). I had my IPOD each day during a little 5mile run along the boardwalk because it makes the run more enjoyable. But does it help my running?
Recently, a movement to BAN portable devices has arisen in most of the Marathons worldwide/domestic. The theory is that it's a "unfair advantage" to those wearing these devices. Really? I had no idea that my listening to Air Supply would give me the edge. Of course I was joking about the whole Air Supply thing! The other lame excuse is that it's a Safety issue. C'mon. Will I make the wrong turn (while everyone else is going right) and miss the Bridge Out Sign? I'm all for safety and fair competition but most of us aren't Olympic Competitors. How many people use the IPOD as a motivator to start running in the 1st place? Take a look at any Local Road Race and you'll see most people just running to finish, and if the guy listening to "Eye of the Tiger" out-sprints the Guy listening to "the Pina Colada Song" well that's justice in my eyes. For the record, my best races (which are behind me) have come without the IPOD. Actually, back in "my day" my arms would have gotten tired carrying the WALKMAN for 26.2 miles.
Banning the IPOD may still happen but policing it may be impossible. So keep listening, keep on running and by all means, keep ahead of Rupert Holmes.
My current playlist is all over the place: Supernova, Kiss, Coldplay, Lenny Kravitz, Live, Lifehouse, Default, Nickelback, Diana Ross (I'll admit it), Prince, Evanescence, Alterbridge, Tesla and the timeless "November Rain" by GNR (So never mind the darkness, we still can find a way 'Cause nothin' lasts forever, even cold November rain). Still get's me every time, and that's all the edge I need.
I've never finished a run and thought, "that was a waste of time".
-Frank
March 8th, 2008
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
"Move in the direction of where you want to go, if you do, you will."
"I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth."
(for all those that say "it can't be done")
"Do not follow where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave [your own] a trail."
"You'll never exceed the ceiling of your expectations."
"The harder you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war".
"The greatest teachers always remain a student."
"The things we believe and the choices we make [not the cards we are dealt] ultimately determine the people we become and the circumstances we call forth."
and of course "I've never finished a run and thought that was a waste of time."
-Frank Pucher
Class is back in Session
-Febrauary 1, 2008
Running a Marathon is a lot like Sex! If you perform well, you love to talk about it and you can't wait to do it again.
If your performance is not what you had hoped; you'd rather not talk about it, but...You still want another shot at it!
Just to be clear, I'm talking Running here!! Actually, It's not me we are talking about...My Marathons are fine. Well, more than fine actually! Anyway....We hit record high temperatures in Orlando. In all the years I've been going to the Disney Marathon, I've never stood at the starting line sweating...deep inside I knew it was a matter of time. As to not freak out an already nervous Francesca I reminded her to drink water at each station and take some Powerade every 3miles. We were running right on pace for our expected finish of 3:40 (8:20 per mile pace). We hit the 13.1 mark in good shape, but at mile 18 Francesca caught a cramp in her calf. Each mile from that point on was a series of stretch, walk, run, cramp. We were still on pace by mile 20..but with the sun beating down, the humidity rising and the fluids not getting in fast enough, there was little that could be done. Francesca was starting to break into tears as we walked past Mile Marker 21 as she quickly did the math in her head (knowing she wouldn't finish in her goal time)...I explained to her, this is a test "Anyone can finish a Marathon when everything is feeling great. The ability to keep going, despite the pain..that's what real toughness is about!" We crossed the finish line together in 3:57. A very respectable time in any conditions! I think her ego was a little bruised for the next 48hrs..but after listening to the other finishers, all sharing the same story, I think she learned something about the sport and herself, that she couldn't have learned any other way!
I was certain that Francesca would want to jump right into another Marathon. After all, she knows as I do, that she is capable of that 3:40. To my surprise, she has decided to focus on some other distances and put the Marathon on the shelf for the time being. That kind of patience will serve her well in her next Marathon attempt. More importantly that kind of humility will serve her well in life. The Marathon isn't like Sex at all. It's like life, the tougher it gets, the more you have to keep going, and in the end, we learn what we are capable of.
And that's why folks:
I've never finished a run and thought, "that was a waste of time".
-Frank Pucher
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