Half Marathon DONE - need maintenance running plan!!

Jess830409

Hello All :-)

I recently completed my first half marathon in mid February and plan on starting my training for a Full Marathon starting in June.
My question to other runner's - what type of maintenance running schedule do you keep to ensure fitness level is kept up but you are not at the full out training level.

I have made note that the first week of full marathon training has my long run at 6 miles and a total mileage for the week at 15.

I also lift 2-3 times a week and try to do some extra stretching/yoga when time allows

And the funny thing, on a side note, these last few weeks of not running as much as I was in training has actually made my scale go down for the first time in months - although scale weight is NOT my first concern I find it odd that less running equals weight loss.

Any tips on a good running schedule between training is appreciated!!

Thanks :-)

jeets888

Im making a comment here so i can respond tomorrow .....

davemunger

I would suggest moving to a more advanced marathon plan. That sounds to me like almost a 5k-to-marathon plan, if you're only doing 15 miles a week to start. If you've already done a half, you're in better shape than that.

How many MPW were you doing for your half? What are you planning to do for peak mileage during marathon training?

Normally I would suggest folks get up to at least 40 MPW in a marathon training program, so you would probably want a base mileage of 25 MPW or so before you start marathon training. Just do nice, easy runs, no need to follow a plan -- whenever it fits into your schedule is fine. You build this mileage up gradually, by adding 10 to 15 percent to your current weekly mileage, maintaining that for a couple weeks, then adding 10 to 15 percent again.

Jess830409

The most miles I did in a week for Half training was 25.
My peak week for the marathon plan is 40 miles on week 16 before a two week taper leading up to marathon day

So should I do about 20 miles or so a week up until I officially start training - seeing as it doesnt start til June?

Thanks for the insight for sure :-)

davemunger

The most miles I did in a week for Half training was 25.
My peak week for the marathon plan is 40 miles on week 16 before a two week taper leading up to marathon day

So should I do about 20 miles or so a week up until I officially start training - seeing as it doesnt start til June?

Thanks for the insight for sure :-)

Yep, though it sounds like you are pretty much already at that base level. You might even consider building to a training peak between now and then. Maybe run a 10K in May? You could look for an intermediate 10K plan, such as this one:

http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51123/10K-Intermediate-Training-Program

Then take a week or two recovery and start your marathon plan. I do think the plan you have might be a little too basic for you -- you might want to consider something like this one:

http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51139/Marathon-Intermediate-1-Training-Program

Jess830409

This is a great starting point for me - I went right thru 5K training, to 10K, to half marathon...knew I wanted to do a full but kinda got stumped with the whole time inbewteen.

Really appreciate the help and the links!! This is big help :-)