Monday 4th                 Easy/Light Run 35-40 minutes

Tuesday 5th                No Run - Cross Training Day

Wednesday 6th           Light Tempo Workout

Thursday 7th               Easy Recovery Run 30-35 minutes           

Friday 8th                    No Run - Cross Training Day

Saturday 9th               Easy Longer Run 70-80 minutes

Sunday 10th                Optional Easy/Light Run 30 minutes

Easy/Light/Recovery - Conversational Pace/Time on Legs/Relaxed Effort

Long – Run between 60-90 sec slower than your marathon goal pace

Tempo - Run between 65-75% effort of Max

Tom Watson Park - follow the Diagonal Highway to 63rd St. Go north on 63rd for about a half mile and look for the sign saying Tom Watson Park on your right. Parking Lot is opposite Coot Lake on east side of 63rd. DO NOT park @ Coot Lake.

As the "temps" rise and the kids are enjoying their "summer break"...you may feel you are lacking a "little motivation" to get out there and train right now. You are not alone.

We all know there's no better feeling in the life of a runner than getting fitter. When every workout seems both faster and easier than the last. However, there's no worse feeling than the dreaded plateau. When your speed and endurance unexpectedly level off, and before you know it you're training hard just to keep from sliding backward. and you ask yourself, "what happened?".

There are a few common causes of stagnation in training. Often it is an indication that you have peaked--that your body has reached the short-term limit of its adaptive potential. This is likely to be the case if you have been increasing your training steadily for many weeks without taking any downtime post-race. The only solution here is to take a short break from running, maybe do some cross-training for a couple weeks, and then begin a fresh. The above is the worst case scenario. Other times a plateau is merely an indication that you need a brief recovery period to absorb recent training before you resume your build-up. Factors in your life outside of training can also cause a plateau by sapping precious energy. These factors can include job stress, inadequate sleep, fatigue from travel, and poor diet. Such things are not always avoidable. However, always bear in mind that as your general well-being goes, so goes your running. So, do the best you can to maintain a balanced and healthy overall lifestyle at all times. Perhaps the most correctable cause of stagnating fitness is inadequate variation in your training. You have to continually challenge your body in new ways if you want to keep getting faster and stronger.

The first thing you should do when you encounter a plateau is to take a recovery week, the second thing you should do is to vary your training. Exactly how you vary your training, depends on what you've been doing up to this point. Any variation is good as long as it remains specific to the demands of your races and it represents an appropriate challenge. Stress depletes the Body. Running is a Great Stress Reliever. Work smarter not harder and take your recovery days seriously. Eat 5-6 balanced mini-meals. Surround yourself with loving people and don't OVER analyze your running.

Follow these simple guidelines and I'll guarantee your desire to training will be "re-juvenated".

Remember to follow the Base Schedule based on your Fitness Level right now:

Group 1 – been training consistently since Bolder Boulder and running on a daily basis

Group 2 – took time off after Bolder Boulder and back running 3-4 times a week now

Group 3 – no running since Bolder Boulder and minimal training right now