Adjusting the 100 day plan

by Bob Walters
(Bronxville, NY USA)

Adjusting the 100 day plan :

"Doc,
I plan to run the NYC marathon in 2014 & the Yonkers 1/2 marathon in September of 2013. How can I use your plan to make these 2 runs happen. I've been running 5K & 10K's and doing the 9.1 qualifying plan with the NYRR for the 2014 marathon. I just got the OK for the longer runs from Dr Paul Thompsonafter 3 stents in my arteries, my cardiologist/marathon doctor so I'm ready to begin. How to start....I've got a lot of time!!!!!"

Answer: Hi Bob, thanks for your question and congrats on a comeback to running again!

I would simply start with the intro weeks of the 100 day plan and then extend these a little bit to get started (use 4-5 weeks initially, based on the intro weeks).

Then I would run the workouts in the 100 day plan leading up to the half marathon planned in there EXCEPT, you want to take away the longest runs (both the longest easy runs and the longest of the very hard interval sessions - limit these to a total of 40-50 minutes of hard running at the most in a single session)Point is : treat week 7-12 with resepect and be careful with the hardest runs those weeks.

That modification is usually enough for your half marathon.

For 2014, you want to use the 100 day plan as a "base" of your training but again be very careful with the marathon specific weeks (week 7-12) These are so demanding that you only want to use those weeks leading up to an actual marathon and not too many times yearly to avoid overtraining.

Do read the others posts I've written also concerning adjusting the schedule to a more yearly plan. It adds to the above information.

I wish you all the best!

kind regards,
Marius