Help with Marathon Training

adrianegenette582

Hi! I am an avid runner who also lifts weights. I've been teaching college, so have had a very flexible schedule that allows me to work out twice a day. I am going to start a new job as a high school teacher in the fall, and am trying to anticipate the best way to keep up with my training. I have a marathon in September and January, and I like to keep up my strength training as well. I would love to hear from people who train seriously and still balance demanding jobs and busy lives. Thank you in advance!

twinmom_112002

It will all depend on your teaching schedule. I teach high school and my first class of the day starts at 6:56. This year I knew I was going to be training for a marathon so I asked my AP to give me a prep period before lunch. This gives me an 80 minute window to run during the week which is perfect because my longest weekday run is 60 minutes.

My husband is training as well and also a high school teacher. He does all his training runs when he gets home in the evening.

lporter229

The two pieces of advice I can offer are that you have to be flexible (and often creative) with your schedule and that you have to make training a priority over social engagements. When balancing a demanding job and family life, it can be hard to stick to a training schedule as written. You may have to swap your days around to fit your runs in when they best fit your schedule. Sometimes I run in the AM, sometimes in the PM, and sometimes, in a worse case scenario, I split my run into two separate runs. Making your training runs a priority over other engagements is also important. I do not commit to anything else until I have done my run. If I know I have something planned for the evening, I make sure I get my run done in the morning, even if that means getting up extra early. I once read an interview with a woman who was a mother of three with a full time job who was training for the Olympic trials. She was asked how she balanced her schedule and her answer was " I run everyday without apology or excuse". I kind of agree that this has to be the attitude if you really want to train well.

janejellyroll

Waking up early is the best strategy for me. I do my runs first thing so nothing that happens later in the day can interfere with it.

There's stuff we do each day regardless of whether or not we want to do it or what else is happening. For me, my training runs are in that category. Have to be at the airport at 5 AM? I'm waking up in time to get my run. Up late with a work emergency? Still getting up at the regular time to do my run. The only thing that will cause me to change my schedule is illness or injury.

MobyCarp

Much depends on how intense your training program is. The more miles your program calls for, the more time it will take. At the bleeding edge, you could be like I was in 1Q16, when basically all I did was work and train for Boston. It was a struggle to find time to go to the store to get milk.

With a less intense training program, the time won't be squeezed as badly. But it's still a significant time commitment to train for a marathon, even when you have the flexibility of choosing when to run. I agree that keeping up on the strength training is important, but you don't really need to lift heavy. You need to lift consistently to support the running. When I was working, I found that I had about 20 minutes I could use in the morning while my steel cut oats simmered. That's where light strength training went, and it has stayed there in retirement.

In my last 2 months of working (July-August 2016), I let the demands of the job squeeze out all my strength training. I paid for that after my September marathon, in the form of Achilles tendinitis that might have been prevented if I'd just kept up on my weighted calf raises. I won't make that mistake again going into my September marathon this year. But I won't have the issue of balancing work and training this year.

spiriteagle99

In part it depends on which program you are following, where you live, and whether you have access to a TM. There is a big difference between a 40 mpw program and a 70 mpw program. Your long runs will be on the weekend, so work shouldn't interfere unless you are involved in clubs or sports at your new school, but is there a MLR, and if so, when and how long? i.e. the program I followed for my marathons had a 90 minute run twice a week plus a long run on Sunday. Some plans have a 2 hour run mid-week. That can be hard to fit in a busy schedule. The TM can give you more flexibility in case of bad weather (summer heat or winter snow/ice) and for doing runs either before work or after dinner.

adrianegenette582

This has all been super helpful! For more info, I am shooting for the Advanced Marathoning Plan for up to 70 miles per week. The MLR is on Wednesdays. The weekly mileage begins with Mon off Tues 9 Wed 13 Thurs 5 Fri 11 Sat 5 and Sun 15. I've been told I can't count on my prep period or lunch because we are supposed to be available for students.

MobyCarp

adrianegenette582 wrote: »

This has all been super helpful! For more info, I am shooting for the Advanced Marathoning Plan for up to 70 miles per week. The MLR is on Wednesdays. The weekly mileage begins with Mon off Tues 9 Wed 13 Thurs 5 Fri 11 Sat 5 and Sun 15. I've been told I can't count on my prep period or lunch because we are supposed to be available for students.

I worked, trained for Boston, and about died from the scheduling in 2016 with a max week of 68 miles. You can pretty much count on not having time for anything but work and training on a plan that maxes out at 70 miles, unless you're running them noticeably faster than I was. (Max long run 22 miles, about 3 hours.)

rybo

adrianegenette582 wrote: »

Hi! I am an avid runner who also lifts weights. I've been teaching college, so have had a very flexible schedule that allows me to work out twice a day. I am going to start a new job as a high school teacher in the fall, and am trying to anticipate the best way to keep up with my training. I have a marathon in September and January, and I like to keep up my strength training as well. I would love to hear from people who train seriously and still balance demanding jobs and busy lives. Thank you in advance!

It's all about doing what's minimally required and maximizing recovery. No junk miles, no redundant lifts.
Google the book hybrid athlete by Viada and another resource is
Lift heavy run long

deannalfisher

for me, laying out my training plan with other engagements on a weekly basis helped - I color blocked stuff for key workouts (focused more on triathlon training than marathon); social life pretty much went bye bye; there were some mornings when I was up at 3am to get a treadmill run in (thankfully we had a gym at work, so I would drive in, do my run and shower there) - it can be done, but will take creativity