Roadmap for the Next Level of Running

Posted on July 23, 2015 by resourcefulman

When you laced up your shoes for the first time, you probably had a short-term goal: to complete this run. Do it again soon. Maybe finalize to a short race. But if you enjoy running, you need a roadmap that takes you into the future. Here’s how to figure out what that goal is and then achieve it.

Take a look at the big picture

Since you will (hopefully) be working for years, goal setting is not the only end point. It’s more like a series of goals over time. Maybe you can look far into the future – perhaps you’ve always dreamed of a marathon – but it’s also okay to allow goals to evolve as you progress. However, think about what you really want to work on.

As an example, here’s my progress on goals over the past 15 years or so:

Become the person who can go jogging and not walk most of the time
Enter and complete the race that gives me the t-shirt
Running 5 miles
Run 30 minutes on a 5K run (roughly a 3-mile race)
Beat my last 5k times
Running 10 miles
Getting ready for the marathon
Complete the marathon
~~Run a marathon every year~~ Run a half marathon every year
Run really fast 1 mile

There is another goal that popped up so often that I didn’t even put it on the list: “Get back to running.” I weaned myself after having babies, injuries and breaks to focus on another sport or hobby or just be a little lazy.

It’s okay to stop and start, have to regain your lost fitness, or chase your personal best before the break. However, be realistic: as we get older, we tend to get slower, so at 40 you shouldn’t be trying to beat a time you haven’t seen since high school.

Choose focus

Your goal may be a marathon, but not necessarily a marathon. Here are a few directions that your goal setting can take:

Sequence. This is a great stepping stone for beginners and people returning from a break. Try to work up to four times a week (or whatever suits you) before moving on to the next goal. Or you can try running every day in a “ don’t break the chain ” style. Make a plan to gracefully recover if you miss a day or end up like this guy who kept the streak for 50 years, even after breaking bones in a car accident.
Racing events. When you learn to run around the area, you will probably aim for 5K – this is the most common distance for local races. From there, 10 km (six miles), half marathon (13.1 miles) and full marathon (26.2 miles) give you natural progression towards goals that will take you at least several years to reach. Some runners like to take a half or a marathon in a distant city as a kind of masochistic getaway.
Distance. You can focus on increasing the distance of the races as above, but even if you are not interested in organized races, you can still focus on distance: five miles, then 10, perhaps working up to a marathon length or more if that’s your kind of thing.
Speed. After you have finished a run (or a certain distance), you can try to run it faster. Many runners who never intended to compete in the Boston Marathon are still aiming for “BQ” or Boston qualifying time . You can also try to beat your previous PR at a certain distance, or get a good spot in your age group at a local race. (Casual runners may not notice, but results are usually posted post-run, ranked by age and gender.)

Once you have chosen a goal, you need a plan for how to achieve it. If you’re looking for consistency, we have a lot of tips for building habits . To achieve these other goals, you need a running-focused workout plan.

Choose a study plan

There are many training plans for regular races. As a rule of thumb, if a plan is marked “for beginners,” it will give you enough fitness to appear healthy on the starting line and make it to the finish line. Plans marked “intermediate” or “advanced” usually assume that you have covered the distance earlier and want to run faster this time. They’ll suggest you run more miles per week than the beginner plan, and usually include more speed and strength workouts like sprints and uphill reps.

Some good sources of training plans include Hal Higdon , popular with intermediate to advanced runners; Jeff Galloway , who specializes in running with frequent walking breaks (popular with beginners, but some experienced runners like his approach); and launching websites or magazines such as Cool Running , Women’s Running, or Competitor . Runner’s World offers programs on its website that cost a little more but cost no more than a magazine if you pick the right number.

Some running apps like C25K , RunKeeper and Endomondo have their own workout plans. You can also find a coach or workout group. They can follow the published plan or have their own. (The best way to find a trainer or group? Ask at your local running store.)

Here are some things to consider when choosing a training plan:

Where does it start? An eight week plan will only allow you to reach your goal in eight weeks if it is designed to start at your current fitness level. Most plans (unless they are for people who are not currently running) assume that you exercise for at least 20-30 minutes at a time, several times a week. Take a look at the first week of the plan: does it fit comfortably with your current schedule? If it feels like stretching (too many runs or too long), find a plan that starts out more gently. Or give yourself a few extra weeks to increase your mileage before starting work.
How long is it? You should plan your race goal ahead of time so you have a choice of plans – don’t force yourself to participate in the 12 week marathon plan, because that’s all you have. If you’re aiming for a long-distance race, longer shots are better than shorter ones: you will get closer to your goal more smoothly, and the long shot will be more forgiving if you have to skip a run. For example, missing a 20-mile run on your way to a marathon workout is a disaster if it’s the only one on the plan, but not as big of a problem if it’s one of two or three.
Does it include workouts that you enjoy and that fit into your schedule? All long-distance training plans will include a long run on the weekends, and most of them will include an average run somewhere in the middle of the week. (The rest of the runs are pretty short.) But if you hate long runs and love high-speed work, you can choose a plan that replaces your average run with a power run or a speed run. Likewise, if you are involved in another sport, you may find that a plan with fewer runs and more cross-training (that is, days without training) works best with your schedule.

If you are having trouble finding the right plan, ask a trainer or an experienced running partner to help you modify it to suit your needs.

Incorporate Your Workout Plan Into Your Life

Post your plan where you’ll see it every day – I love the hardcopy on the wall and Google Calendar reminders for key runs.

Schedule your runs, or at least key ones, and protect them as your most important appointments. Don’t miss a run without a really good reason, because if you missed week 6 it won’t stop week 7 from repeating next week – and you want to be ready.

Missed runs matter more when you’re following a plan than when you’re just running a routine. At the beginning of your workout plan, decide where each week will fall on the calendar. Move the days if you need to: You may have plans for Saturday for several weeks, so you will move Saturday runs to Sunday. Set aside time for vacation by doubling the weeks: for example, if you can’t run much in week 6, set it up so that you do week 6 twice in a row before moving on to week 7. be sure to make up for missed runs without missing anything later.

When you go to workout every day, know how it contributes to your long-term goal and what will make it successful in your mind. If in plan you have done four half-mile reps on a track, your goal is to do all four, not do one very fast, or run half an hour with slight variations in speed. If today’s run is an “easy” three miles, you are not following the plan if you run three miles as fast as you can. These directions exist for a reason.

Have an exit strategy

What happens after you reach your goal and run the distance (or distance)? It’s easy to give up your running habit again, only to start again later, wondering why you quit at all. After finishing your workout, make a plan for what happens after the race.

For a long run such as a marathon or one and a half, you can reverse the last few weeks of training (“taper”). As you gradually cut back on your running during these weeks, changing their direction thereafter gives you a smooth acceleration that allows you to recover and return to your normal habit again.

For a short race, sometimes the best follow-up is to plan another race: perhaps go 5K and do a second 5K after two months and try to improve your time. Or think about your overall roadmap: what would you like to work on eventually? What is the next intermediate goal that will lead you to this path?

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