Dr. J on Running

Dropping the M-Word

21 January 2010

At the eve of the most important meeting of my professional career, I called my wife for strength and support. She shared with me her day in the country, and concluded with a stunning surprise. Our friend Stacey put a bug in her ear � training for the Wineglass Marathon on 3 October 2010.

In our running community, dropping the M-word brings a range of emotions from the memories of Marathons run to the tribulations of aborted training and unfinished Marathons. Yet this particular M-bomb triggered a surge of excitement and ebullience, and dissipated the stress and apprehension of the meeting ahead. I accepted immediately the challenge, and declared my intention to join Stacey and Marla in training for, and finishing the Wineglass Marathon.

Training safely for a Marathon requires 26 weeks of preparation on top of a sound base. The long run constitutes the basis for every training program. A gradual increase of the distance of the long run onto the vicinity of 26.2 miles increases the likelihood of a successful race. So, I set to develop a training program for the Wineglass.

The raining program requires three runs each week � two short runs and one long run. The short runs represent the base fitness at the start of the 26-week program, and range between 3 and 5 miles. The weekly long run increases by one mile each week initially until it reaches 10 miles, then increases by two miles every other week, allowing for a race or a tempo run in the off week. The following table illustrates a basic training program for a runner who seeks to complete safely the Marathon without a time target.

Week

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

Sun

Total

Comment

1

3

0

3

0

0

4

0

10

 

2

3

0

3

0

0

5

0

11

 

3

3

0

3

0

0

6

0

12

 

4

3

0

3

0

0

7

0

13

 

5

3

0

3

0

0

8

0

14

 

6

3

0

3

0

0

9

0

15

 

7

3

0

3

0

0

10

0

16

Race

8

3

0

3

0

0

5

0

11

 

9

3

0

3

0

0

12

0

18

 

10

3

0

3

0

0

6

0

12

Race

11

3

0

3

0

0

14

0

20

 

12

3

0

3

0

0

7

0

13

 

13

3

0

3

0

0

16

0

22

 

14

3

0

3

0

0

8

0

14

Race

15

3

0

3

0

0

18

0

24

 

16

3

0

3

0

0

9

0

15

 

17

3

0

3

0

0

20

0

26

 

18

3

0

3

0

0

10

0

16

Race

19

3

0

3

0

0

10

0

16

 

20

3

0

3

0

0

20+

0

26+

 

21

3

0

3

0

0

11

0

17

 

22

3

0

3

0

0

12

0

18

 

23

3

0

3

0

0

20+

0

26+

 

24

3

0

3

0

0

13

0

19

HalfMarathon

25

3

0

3

0

0

10

0

16

 

26

3

0

3

0

0

0

26.2

 

MARATHON

So, Wineglass here we come � ready or not.

Dr Kamal Jabbour runs and writes on the hills of Pompey. His RUNNING Column appears in Cyberspace whenever endorphines call.

© 2010 Dr Kamal Jabbour