How to use a training plan
What each session means, how hard it should feel, and what to do when life gets in the way.
Effort levels
- Easy
- Conversational. You could talk in full sentences. Most of your running should feel like this.
- Long run
- Easy effort, just longer. Slow down rather than speed up when it gets hard.
- Tempo
- Comfortably hard: you could say a few words but not hold a conversation. Roughly the pace you could hold for an hour in a race.
- Intervals
- Hard but controlled, around your 5 km race effort, with easy jogging between repeats.
- Marathon / half-marathon pace
- The pace you plan to run on race day. Practising it teaches you what it feels like.
- Strides
- Four relaxed 20-second accelerations to near-sprint speed, with a full walk back between them.
- Cross-train
- Cycling, swimming, brisk walking or strength work. Optional: rest is fine too.
Adjusting the plan
- Missed a run? Let it go. Do not add it to the next day.
- Missed a week? Repeat the last week you completed, then carry on.
- Sick? Rest until you are well, then return with a couple of easy days before any hard session.
- Something hurts? Pain that changes the way you run, or gets worse as you go, is a reason to stop and get it checked by a physiotherapist or GP.
- Moving days: any order works as long as hard days and the long run are not back to back.
Training in Australian conditions
Summer heat makes the same pace much harder. Run early or late, slow down on hot days and judge the session by effort rather than pace. Carry water on longer runs, wear sun protection, and check the Bureau of Meteorology forecast before a long run.
Race week
- Nothing new on race day: shoes, clothes, breakfast and fuel should all have been tried on a long run.
- The last week feels too easy on purpose. Resting is what lets the training pay off.
- Start slower than you feel you should. The second half is where the race is decided.
Want a plan built around you?
A written plan cannot see how your week is going. If you would like a program adjusted to your schedule, pace and history, Born to be Fit offers online coaching with Ashly Bailey (Certificate IV in Fitness, AUSactive registered), in English or French.