The Data-Driven Runner: The Training Works if You Do
The early impact of training and exciting returns
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd85dee18-e731-411c-a58e-55aa7b675769_800x1200.jpeg)
The early impact of training and exciting returns
Four weeks have passed since my last post, recapping the base-building phase of my journey and attempting to run a Chicago Marathon qualifying time. Training has begun, which means the intensity has increased, the runs have gotten longer, and thankfully, the projected times have gotten faster.
Marathon training is an entire process in itself. Runners are challenged not only with running, but with logistics: fitting runs into the schedule, changing eating habits, the need for more sleep, and still needing to function at work and home are piled onto big training demands.
I was feeling the weight of this process as I completed my most recent week of training, feeling a bit discouraged as I tried to fit a 14-mile long run into a weekend where I was sleep-deprived due to being the parent of kids dealing with colds, the times where no one in the house is sleeping well. As I cut my run short, I worried about how it would affect the bigger goal. Can you achieve a big personal best while also being a normal person with responsibilities? Thankfully, the numbers were there to bring me some perspective.
By The numbers: The Hal Higdon Advanced 1 Training Plan
The Advanced 1 training plan by Hal Higdon consists of 18 weeks of running. It calls for runners to workout 6 times per week, and cover more than 600 total miles of training. It includes three 20-mile runs and incorporates speed training both at and faster than the goal race pace. It is a serious plan, for runners who are dedicated to their marathon training and are trying to do big things, like a personal best or major marathon qualifier. This makes it a perfect choice for my training.
Due to my race date, I had to combine the requirements of weeks one and two, and now am through four weeks of training. I’ve missed only three of the twenty-four runs the plan calls for in the initial weeks of training, due to personal commitments or taking an extra rest day to recover.
Four of the six runs each week are at an easy pace, with the others being some combination of track workouts, tempo runs, or runs at goal marathon pace. Speed training, the number of runs each week, and the length of the weekly long run in the first phase of the plan were the main differences between beginner and advanced plans. For my first marathon, I completed four runs per week, with little, if any, speed training while following a beginner’s plan. My first long run was only six miles, compared to the 10-miler in the first week.
The speed workouts made me the most anxious, especially the runs at the goal marathon pace. These runs would be a true test of my fitness.
Increased Training Load: Base Phase vs. Training Phase
Over the base phase of my training, I averaged four runs per week and nearly twenty miles per week. Long runs didn’t stretch past eight miles. Lo and behold the first realization of the training phase— the base phase is not, and should not look like a training block.
Weekly running volumes spiked right out of the gate. How much so? In January, the last month of my base phase, I averaged four runs per week and 15 miles. In the first week of February alone, I ran 27 miles, 44% in volume. This was followed by 26, 13 (I took two rest days), and 33-mile weeks respectively. I ran six times per week, except for my 13-mile week.
I’ll point out here that standard coaching tells us that runners should increase their mileage no more than 10% each week, to safely build mileage while minimizing injury risk. As runners, we know our bodies better than most people, and have an awareness of when we are overloading ourselves. I felt a 26-mile week was tolerable.
The Need For Speed
Speed training has been a welcome change to the monotony of easy running. When training for a race like the marathon, the number of runs and the length of those runs, many at a slow, consistent pace, can be a recipe for running disengagement. It is easy to lose sight of the bigger picture when the training plan calls for a six or seven-miler multiple times per week, slogging along at a snail’s pace. I can only appreciate the trees and along my normal route so much. Speed training is a welcome distraction and challenge.
I complete two speed workouts in the form of hill repeats, 800-meter sprints, or tempo runs, combined with a run at my goal marathon pace every other week.
We have to run fast if we expect to race fast, and I had to accept the challenge as I stepped on the treadmill and set it to a 7:15 pace for 6 miles for my first goal marathon-pace workout. Would I be able to keep up, or would I be shot off the treadmill like a human cannonball? After 6 miles, I was still standing.
While this type of training has biological benefits, I felt the benefits were more psychological. I could actually cover a portion of the distance at my goal pace. I know I can hit my splits and I know I have a foundation to build on.
The Training Works If You Do
Numbers don’t lie, even though sometimes how we feel on a run does. As I sat down to look at the data, I noticed I had trimmed over thirteen (!) minutes off my projected marathon time since the beginning of base building, with five minutes coming off the projected time since the start of training. I attribute it to the increased mileage and speed work in my regiment. And while that was expected and surely isn’t a novel discovery, it’s a good reminder that the training works if you do.
The goal is still a long way away. A projected finish now of 3:42 still leaves 32 minutes to shave off. There will certainly be diminishing returns on my training over time, but I do expect significant improvement as I enter the next eight weeks of training when I will hit my peak mileage. The goal is within reach, and although I can’t always feel it, I get closer one run at a time.
Thanks for reading along. Be sure to check out updates on the Runner’s Life publication as I prepare for an attempt at a Chicago Qualifier. You can read my previous entries about my grand running experiment here , here, and here.