3 Runs Per Week Schedule

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  • JFH1 - I know, I agree, its very busy. I'm with you too, three times a week and hoping for a PB although I don't really think I've got into things yet. Struggling with a foot problem last week and coughing like a smoker this week. I am supposed to be running home from work tonight - 20 miles - but I'm not sure it's wise. I have been cross training twice a week too which I didn't do last year - swimming and gym. My main tactic though is to lose weight. I'm almost back at my FLM weight last year then I plan to shift another half a stone before FLM this year. Us three time a weekers have to stick together and not be intimidated by the huge miles that others do. Are you doing Edinburgh this year?

  • Fish52Fish52 ✭✭✭

    Astride - Yes, I am at Edinburgh again this year. Hoping for even better weather and an even better run - but I'll get FLM out of the way first. I'm also planning to do the Fleetwood Marathon in September. Hope your cough improves and good luck with your 20 miler. My first 20 miler for this campaign is scheduled for this coming Sunday.

    Schmid - Go on - you know you want to brave the elements! Good luck with your tempo wherever you do it.

  • Schmid - I guarantee it won't rain hard for a considerable time - I bought a waterproof jacket yesterday.

    JPF1 - I think you only really appreciate the 3Plus2 schedule when you start to carry a niggle - just think how quickly this would become an injury on a 6 day a week running schedule?  Better to train for 18 weeks on 38 quality miles a week than 60 miles of averageness for 12 weeks with a gap - and remember an injury takes you back 2 days for every 1 off!  So keep those knees well and enjoy....

    Astride - my 20 miler is in 2 weeks - I'm following an 18 week schedule which is last years Furman approach - slightly different to the book schedule.  In this schedule you build 13, 15, 17, 18 and 20 which feels more steady progress than in the 16 weeker.

     I think I ran my 17 miler a bit too quick last weekend +39 secs to PMP (rather than 45-60 sec).  My right ankle is stiffer than normal and hasn't properly recovered with Xtrain and recovery run on Mon and Tues.  That'll teach me to move away from the schedule direction.  My 18 miler this weekend will be much more conservative.

    I ran my 3m tempo at 06:35 this morning and still hit the tempo pace - I seem to be getting used to early morning exercise.  Marathon commitment.

  • Hi everyone

    I am a 3 runs a week runner .

    I am 51 and this will be my first marathon.My recent  half marathon time was 1hr 30 which was quite comfortable,so i am hoping for about 3hr 20 in London.

    I am upping my long run by 1 mile a week and then maybe a couple of shorter runs in the week but every other weekend a race of somesort. Last sunday was 5 miler and in a fortnite a hilly half marathon.

    The longest race will be a 20 miler about 3 weeks before FLM.

    I dont know if this training regime will work but who knows

    Good luck everyoneimage

  • Quickstepper & JPF1:  It wasn't raining (just damp & windy) so I did run outside. Soooo much nicer than the dreadmill.  I dunno but a mile on it feels like 10 miles outside.  Pleased to say that I managed 7:55 minute miling throughout instead of the 7:59 I was supposed to do and it felt absolutely brilliant.

    Mad Mark: welcome & good luck on your first marathon.  You are seriously fast, so my hats off to you.  I'm a fair bit younger and this is my third marathon yet 3:20 is something I can only dream of.  I'll take 3:45 for now to get my GFA.

  • Cheers schmidtinatorimage

    I have just done 8 miles at 7.15 pace so i am happy with that though one of my calfs are acheing a bit.

    Hoping to do a very steady 11 miler on sunday and 2 weeks sunday is a hilly half marathon raceimage

  • Wish me luck...........20miler scheduled for today!- anyone else?
  • Schid: Fantastic achievement - you must be starting to feel confident.  Please note I'm sitting typing this with an ice pack on my right achilles which has been minor aching since my 17 miler 6:56 pace run last weekend.  Please learn from me, I went too quickly, it should have been 7:02 - 7:17, I felt good and pushed it - we still have 12 weeks to go and should take care to follow the schedule when our confidence is high! 

    Mad Mark: Welcome to the 3 a weekers forum.  It sounds like you have a realistic goal (I'm aiming at a sub 2:45 championship time - injury freeness permitting) - There's another runner on the forum with a 1:30 half (the Rat) with a very similar goal- see page 8 of this forum.

    I get the impression that most of us on the forum are following the  Furman Institute of Science marathon schedule and have access to the web and/or read the associated book "Run Less, Run Faster".  This is a 3PLUS2 schedule - run 3 quality sessions a week (interval, tempo and long run) at prescribed paces for you goal marathon pace coupled with to good effort cross training sessions (plus an optional recovery run or x-train).  It provides an excellent structure to your training.

    If you are interested tap in http://www.furman.edu/first/fmtp.htm following the link and scroll down to the marathon schedules.

    Ask away......

    All:  Anybody else done the 3x1600m (1 min rest) interval yet?  Phewwwwwwwwwwwww the burn in my lungs and legs..........and I forgot my MP3 so I just had to deal with the pain directly.  All good stuffimage

  • Tri - go for it - I'm an 18 miler tomorrow.
  • Hi everyone, looks like the training is going pretty well so far for everyone.  I'm sure we'll all have our ups and downs along the way! 

    Tricialitt, I was with you on the 20 miler today.  Painful, tough and also quite enjoyable in a strange way!  I feel quite invigorated now despite the sore legs.   I'm aiming for sub 4 on the day so very pleased to average 9.20's this morning, finishing 3 hours 6 mins.  Hope you got on well.

    I'm more of a Slowstepper - so quickstepper your long run pace is faster than my interval pace!  But how boring would it be if we were all the same?!  And yes 3 x 1600m was hellish!  I have to admit I cheated slightly by taking 2 mins recovery.  I was still hyperventilating after 1 min but will try 1 min recoveries the next time I do that session.

    Welcome Mad Mark - post all your training here - I find it really helps to motivate each other especially since we are following the same plan.  Where's Astride gone, the last few days?!

    Lou

  • Ouch my feet hurt...............knackered

    And I'm hungry!

  • Hi everyone

    Thanks for the welcomeimage

    Well done tricialitt.image

  • Lou7 - I chose my alias due to the double reference of pace and another hobby I have!  And by the way I speak with a guy whos tempo pace is my interval pace.  We are joined by a common focus and commitment - that's what counts to me.

    Tri - a mini celebration is called for - another half bottle of wine tonight?

  • Morning all

    Just done my 11 miler,7.46 pace with lots of hills

    .It was bloomin cold out there  ,but nice and warm now so I can enjoy the rest of the dayimage

  • Sorry to hear about the achilles, Quickstepper. Take it easy for the next 2 days. hope it's just a niggle and will sort itself out with some decent rest.

    Well done everyone on their long runs. Some really speedy miles going on here!

    Did my 20 miler today in the gale force wind with sleet in my face. Ugh - it wasn't nice. I pulled the breaks on the first half when the weather was still halfway decent but boy did I have to fight on the second half to keep the pace. I ended up being about 2 secs per mile slower in the end but what the heck - it was HELL out there. couldn't see where I was going at times but feeling like a million bucks now that it's over and I just murdered 2 bagels with salmon + cream cheese. Yum!!

    Re. the 3 x 1600 - oh yes, they are my worst nightmare. My training programme started with them (I'm following the 3.45 schedule for Boston from the Run less, run faster book). I was ready to throw up in the bushes after number two even though I cheated too and took 2min recoveries. My next lot is due on Tues. So not looking forward to it ...

    Have a lovely Sunday afternoon, everyone.
  • Fish52Fish52 ✭✭✭
    Quickstepper - Yes I'm following the Furman plan too and agree that the structure of the training plan is great. I'm glad that I bought the book, as it all makes so much more sense than merely looking at the website. I do 2 days of cycling as my cross training (which means a turbo trainer in the winter) + 2 days of circuit training (about 25 mins), with the 3 runs as recommended in the Furman plan. Impressed with your target time - good luck keeping injury free.

    Schmidtinator - 3x1600 must do us some good, they are excruciating. I must be in the same week as you, as I have the work out to look forward to on Tuesday too.

    Tricia - I was out with you and Schmid today for the first 20 miler of this year's campaign. Actually 20.7, which was pretty hard going with that strong wind. Managed to keep to the prescribed Furman time though.

    What cross training is everyone else doing?
  • Schmid - ice and eccentric stretching seem to be a god send (touch wood) so I got out for the 18 miler today but took care not to push and go faster than the recommended pace (required pace between 7:02 and 7:17 completed 7:09 with 1800ft ascent) I seemed to have the best of the weather down here in the SW, only a bitter cold wind to cope with.  Just think of the conditions as mental preparation to tough it out .

     JPF1 - I'm doing a swim approx 30 -35 mins, sometimes with kicking, a cycle of 35 - 45 mins (high cadence 95 -100 rpm) plus a recovery run (v easy 5 miler).  I'm thinking of chnaging the recovery to another harder x-train.  1 day off each week.  very much in line with the book.  I'm loving the variation - triathelete in the making?

    Week 6 of 18 complete - 1/3 done - only 12 to go. 6:20 start tomorrow and 54 lengths.........this is my 1st 20 miler week.

  • Fish52Fish52 ✭✭✭
    Good variety with your X training Quickstepper. I used to do a 4th run, but found that my knees would not stand the extra pounding. There was a time about 20 years ago, when they would stand 6-7 days running each week, but those days have certainly taken their toll on the old knee joints! I've found that replacing the extra run with 2 days of circuits has helped lessen the knee pain, whilst at the same time giving me an outlet for my need for daily exercise. Good luck with your early 54.
  • Lou7 - I've been busy and full of a cold.

    I did 20 last weds with a cold coming on then it wiped me out for 3 days. I then did an easy 10 yesterday. I've been running keeping my heart rate low, ie not breathing heavily, and I seem to be ok. Almost over it now. Strangley though last week I did my biggest mileage week, 35 miles, but everything was slower than marathon pace. Also no cross training. I'm no where near where I hoped to be by now but still 12 weeks to go.

    Mad Mark - if your training goes well, the you should get sub 3.15.

    Well done to everyone on their 20's, particularly if its your first. They do get easier, honest.

    JPF1 - glad your body is holding out. Mine is too - just about. Is your school closed today?

  • Hello everyone, Astride, and any other teachers I think my school was the only one in the south east to be open today! I too am on the Furmann schedule, I ran in the Watford half yesterday and knocked a couple of minutes off my PB to do it in 1.40.58, was amazed. It seems to be working, although the book schedule and what this site says is the 3 a wk schedule do not match.  I did not run a 20 miler this week as I was in the Watford half already.

     Other than that I am sticking with it. Legs feel good today. Amazing.

    Hope others who ran in Watford also feel good- it was cold!

  • Sorry to hear you've not been well Astride - hope you feel better soon.

    I changed my long run from fri to sat this weekend so was going to do sunday's usual session today - but all this snow has put paid to that - my car was sliding all over the place earlier.  I work in a school too (not a teacher though) but mine was open today. image  Also missed the tempo run last week.  Not sure whether to try and do 4 runs a week for a couple of weeks to catch up or not.  Will have to do something tomorrow even if I have to find a treadmill somewhere.  The snow is good fun but is not so good when training for a marathon.

  • JPF - I didn't think I could ever run 6 times a week. 

     Astride - I wondered where you'd been, hope you're fully reovered - better to have a cold now with 12 weeks to go.

    Despite the weather I managed to get down to the pool for 6:30 - on the way I spotted a car off the road, down a small grass bank, bonnet first into the sidewall of our police station!!!!!  I'd love to see their insurance claim.

    I'm really glad I made the effort to go early for 2 reasons 1) the pool shut down later in the day due to mechanical breakdown in the water system 2) my legs felt really tired from the Sunday run before swimming but now seemed revitalised.

    Here's hoping the weather breaks by Wednesday in time for the speed or tempo session.

  • There seem to be a lot of teacher's around. I'm not one of them though but I do have three kids at home as the school is shut again whilst my husband and I are both trying to work from home. I can vaguely hear the sounds of high school musical in the distance.

    Sore-hip - well done on a half pb. What are you aiming for in London?  

    I really don't think my training is going well at the moment, I need a few decent runs to get back into the groove, if you know what I mean. Cold still lingering, a foot problem seems to have returned and snow not really helping matters. The weeks are going far too fast. Still vaguely hopeful that it will still come together though. I too might have to give the treadmill a go today if I get a chance.

  • Astride: sorry to hear about your cold and injury problems interfering with your training plan.  If it's any consolation: I did zero running and very little else for about a month before starting a 10-week programme for Berlin last year and still managed to get a new PB by a whopping 13 minutes.  So, with 12 weeks to go not all hope is lost.  You are an experienced runner and it's not like you are starting from scratch just beginning to build up mileage.  An enforced period of rest is sometimes not the worst thing.  My fingers crossed you will feel better soon.  I'm sending you some good vibes.

    Lou: I would forget about trying to play catch up with those missed sessions.  My sense is that trying to force them in somehow will just result in making your other sessions even harder, and worst case resulting in injury.  I was so disappointed when I messed up my very first interval session that I vowed I'd try them again the next day rather than x-train.  To cut a long story short: I didn't even complete the first repetition... lesson learnt!

    Sore-hip: great result for your half.  I wish I could run that fast ...  I have a half coming up on March 15 and I'm hoping for 1.45 but I know it'll be tough to achieve.

    Quickstepper: bliddy hell, that's some impressive pace for your long run, expecially with that ascent.  You are going to love this: your long-run pace is about my interval pace for those blasted mile repeats.  I did them today - 7.11 and they always make me retch.  As there's ice and snow everywhere I had to go on the treddy but I set the incline to 2% & stuck to the 1 minute recovery.  Glutton for punishment ... 

    Now I just want that snow to go away so that we can all resume our training properly. 

  • Fish52Fish52 ✭✭✭
    Astride - I kept my school open, we didn't actually have that much snow. Enough that we could have a whole school Snowman Competition, not so much that we had to close! Hope you're feeling better from your cold and niggles. I reckon that this is the hardest time of the year to train, but it'll soon be warmer and lighter.

    SoreHip - Nice half marathon pb

    Quickstep - Good early morning swim, I'm sure you'll nail the speed session.

    Lou - Don't worry about having to catch up with the schedule. Just make this week's runs count and carry on as usual next week - or do an extra x training session this week.

    Just psyching myself up for tonight's speed session - I know that it will be good for me, but the open fire and comfy chair are beckoning me to take it easy and have my tea!
  • Hello all. School was shut today, fantastic! (if you're a teacher with a sick 7 month old at home who needs tlc).

     As for marathon target, it's to beat 4 hours. I would like to think I could do better (the Furman book says 3.38 I think off a half of 1.41- mental) but I have some solid experience that says it's hard!

     No run since Sunday due to dangerous ice covered paths and advice of 2 days of rest after a hard half from the book, who am I to ignore advice to rest!?!

  • Hi everyone, thanks for your comments on me catching up with a couple of missed sessions.  You are right of course, I should just let them go and concentrate hard on the three runs a week.  I was so determined at the start of this schedule not to miss a single session, due to there only being 3 a week, but I certainly don't want to get injured like I did last year. 

    I had a terrible run tonight.  imageThink I had too big a lunch too late and my stomach was in knots resulting in me walking the last half mile home.  However I did have a good run on Saturday so I'm trying not to get too upset about it.  It's amazing the difference 2 or 3 days makes!

    Sore-hip - I'm going for Sub 4 too.  3.59.59 will do nicely!

    Quickstepper - are you going to fill us in on your "other hobby" a little bit more?!!!!

  • Thanks for the comments everyone. I went to the gym yesterday and did intervals on the treadmill which was a new experience. I am still aware that I have a virus of some kind as not feeling 100% so did mile intervals about half a minute slower than normal pace but did an extra one for good measure. Also kept the treadmill at 0% incline to make life a bit easier. Felt loads better afterwards for doing a bit of speed and not feeling too bad.

    Lou7 - sorry I meant to comment on your missed session. I am often guilty of trying to play catch and think sometimes it's a gamble to do it but psychologically it does help if it pays off. But to be honest, with so many weeks left to go, it won't do you any harm. That's why I think it's good to get these 20's started as soon as possible as undoubtedly in a few weeks time, something will stop you from doing at least one of the later ones.

    JPF1 - well done for keeping your school open. I was glad our school was shut on Monday as it was great fun for them but yesterday too was a bit too much. So do you have a target time for FLM this year - 3:03:30 perhaps then maybe dip under 3 at Edunburgh?  

  • Fish52Fish52 ✭✭✭
    Astride - Not sure about my target yet. Furman charts suggest sub 2:55 based on my 5k and half marathon times, but I'm not sure that is possible on 3 runs a week. I'm training according to the paces from those times, but don't get near the track repeat times, although the tempo and long run times have been fine so far. At the moment, I'm happy to stay injury free, which I've been for 18 months so far, and run another PB at London, which means sub 3:05. FLM is my main marathon this year, so I don't expect to be quicker at Edinburgh or Fleetwood.

    Managed my speed session last night in the end and felt all the better for it. 25 minute circuit this evening.
  • MinniMinni ✭✭✭

    Hi everyone!  Some great running going on here.  I've not had much time to post the last couple of weeks but have dropped in to see how everyone is getting on.

    I did 17m last weekend but I had to miss a 'long' run this weekend due to work etc.  Instead did 9.5 off road on Friday then another 9 off road on Sunday followed by 2.5 on the road at well under marathon pace (but it was down hill!).  I felt I need to do the last bit because the off road hills are so slow - the need for speed!

    Club training last night - plan to do 1m reps but the ice was so bad on route we had to change plan.  Instead did a total of 5.5 miles with 3 x 1200m internals (2mins rest).  I completed in 5.12, 5.08, 5.05 and was thrilled, if not totally knackered!

    Amazingly, I have lost half a stone since I started training and  I put this down to the speed sessions.  Having never lost weight marathon training before and having never done speed sessions the two must be linked.  I feel much better for it, especially when running.  I can feel my using my abdomen when doing these sessions - ok it might just be that I'm searching for every drop of oxygen, but its making me feel fitter.

    I must admit that concentrating on the 3 sessions per week seems to be suiting me.  I'm cycling and running other days to but I know if I get these key ones in I can relax. 

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