The next race – Creating a training program

I’m in that awkward phase of the running calendar where I just completed joggling a marathon but it’s too soon to start training for the next one. I’ve already decided on the race that I want to do (Toronto Waterfront Marathon) and that happens on September 24, 2006. That’s 104 days away. I’m also going to do the Chicago Marathon but that isn’t until October 22, 2006.

In the past, I’ve followed a 100 day training schedule so I guess I’ll try that again. I created it myself based on a few training articles I saw in Runner’s World. To come up with this new program, I’ll have to modify the one that I followed last year.

A free training program creator

Then I found this handy utility at Runner’s World where you can create your own training program. It’s pretty simple to use and can work for any distance that you want to train.

To use it you first supply a time that you have recently run and the distance that you did it. Then you put in a distance that you are training for. You give an idea of how hard you want to train and how many miles a week you already run. You then pick the length of time that you want the schedule to go and just click Go!

The program then just spits out a training program for you. It’s so cool!

Unfortunately, it doesn’t let you pick the time you are targeting it only lets you put in the fastest time you’ve recently run. For example, I’ve never run faster than a 3:22 marathon. But if I wanted to run a 2:58 marathon, the training calculator doesn’t seem to work. I suppose you could just put in the time you want to run and see if you can keep up with the training program.

I did that and it doesn’t look like quite enough. The most I’d ever have to run in a week is like 35 miles. This is way too little. So, I’ll have to make my own program. It’s not easy trying to be a world class joggling star.

But if you just want to create a training program to allow you to complete a race, this is a pretty good tool.