5 Rules for Planning Your Training Schedule
I get a lot of questions about how to set up a week of training: how to schedule workouts, easy days, a long run, strength training and rest days.
My philosophy is to individualize for every runner, but there are some basic “rules” I follow without exception. These rules helped me set up my own training schedule as a pro athlete (I didn’t write my workouts, but I had control over my scheduling) and I still follow these rules now as I write programs for the runners I coach.
Rule #1. Variety Everywhere
In a week of training I aim to have short runs, medium runs, a long run, 1-2 workouts, and a day(s) off. Most days are easy, a couple days are harder. If there are 2 workouts, one will be more endurance focused (like a tempo run or fartlek run) and the other speed focused (such as intervals). If there is only 1 workout I will aim to include both speed and endurance aspects.
Intervals on the track
1 day per week at the most!
A week of training should include lots of variety, but each individual day does not necessarily need variety. Easy days are typically easy start to finish. Workout days involve easy running (warmup, cool down), moderate running (start of the workout, strides) and hard running (end of the workout).
Rule #2. Run more than you don’t
I aim to get every runner up to 4 days per week of running. We don’t always start there, but we will get there. That 4th day is so important because when we run 4 days per week, we’re running more often than we’re taking days off running. It’s much easier to build consistency with a plan that makes running the norm rather than the exception.
Rule #3. Easy Days Easy, Hard Days Hard
I aim for as much variety from day-to-day as possible. Rather than every day being moderately challenging overall, I load the hard days up and make the easy days easier. For example, I would schedule strength training after a workout on the same day rather than strength training on a day off running or an easy run day. That way the easy day or day off is protected, and the hard day is made harder with the addition of strength training.
Running easy on our easy days allows us to run harder on our workout days. When we run harder on our workout days, we value our easy days more, because we really need them to recover!
Rule #4. Recovery Trumps the Plan
A plan is exactly that - a plan. Plans can change. If a runner is feeling extra fatigued or has a little pain or niggle, any upcoming workout is postponed by a day or more. Workouts are never scheduled back-to-back. Young runners (20’s or under) can often get away with only 1 day rest between workouts, but I generally aim to schedule at least 2 or more days of easy runs/day off between workouts. Usually it is 3-4 days between harder efforts.
Rule #5. Long Run 20-30%
In general, a week of training includes one run that is longer than all the other runs. This is the “long run.” It is typically scheduled for the weekend when people have more time. However, it can be any day of the week. The long run is not considered an easy day even though it is often run at an easy pace. The length of the run precludes it from being an easy day.
There is a common rule of thumb that long run should account for approximately 20% of a runner’s weekly mileage or minutes. But that gets tricky when a runner only runs 3-4 times per week, so I allow that to go up to 30% depending on the individual.
What doesn’t really make sense is a runner training for a marathon on only 3-4 days per week, with long runs getting up to 20+ miles. This could end up accounting for 50-60% of weekly mileage in one day. It is more effective to run more often.
Bonus Rule: Exceptions are Allowed
There’s no reason why every training week needs to tick all the boxes. It’s ok if race week doesn’t have a long run. When a runner has a race, often the long run doesn’t fit because they need to recovery from the race. It’s also ok to just take a week off long run, or a week off workouts. Some weeks of training should have an overall higher volume than normal, and some should have an overall lower volume than normal. When there are no rules, there’s more room for variety. And variety is the #1 rule.
Nicole Sifuentes is a full-time Running Coach for adults of all ages and abilities. She is a former professional runner and 2-time Olympian, and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. Read more about her services, and schedule your free coaching consultation.