The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Marathoners

You see that thing to the left? Have you ever felt the urge to see what you're made of and given the Couch to 5k a try. Have you ever felt the urge to double down and go for a 10k? Have you ever felt half crazy or full on nuts and pushed yourself to a Half or Full Marathon?

Well, if you answered yes to any of those questions you not only recognize that document, you've no doubt scoured the inter-webs looking for a training program that is perfectly suited to your style of preparation. Regardless of your distance, following a set plan is one of the best ways to achieve your goal in the most efficient and healthy way possible.

My first race ever was the Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon 10k, and good ole Coach Purvis and her Nike Running training schedule (seen above) was the exact method I used to get me to the finish line. My original intention was to run the 5k with a group of friends but due to the Friday night start time, none of them could make it. So they talked me into the 10k the morning after and my goal was set, run 6.24 miles straight. The plan worked.

But that doesn't mean it has to be so damn boring, does it? I mean look at it; so bland, so monotonous, and un-inspirational. It is literally just exercises on a calendar.

So when I finally decided I was ready for my first Half Marathon, I wanted to come up with something a little more lively and impactful. Something that would change regularly and give you a fresh mindset on a regular basis. So instead of simply using your basic event training calendar, I found the program I wanted to use and wrapped it in a shiny new package.

I broke my calendar into a single page per week and I love it.

This structure is an absolutely amazing way to keep track of how far you should be going and when you should be running/lifting.

The best part of the single week structure is it prevents you from peering to far ahead. Seeing one week at a time, the farthest you can look ahead is your long run for the week. Let me tell you, seeing you have to go 7 miles in a few days is a hell of a lot easier to digest than seeing you 'll have to run 12 miles when you just worked yourself up to a 10k distance.

As you can see, I've also added an inspirational message into each week of my calendar. This is another great way to help push yourself in a manner that's best suited for pushing yourself. For instance, having run multiple 10k's, I no longer view the 6 miler as a challenge. So for the first month of my training program I used humorous runspiration pictures to help keep me in a jovial mood prior to the heart of my training program.

As the mileage becomes more difficult, I chose messages that had a much stronger motivating message behind them. An added bonus is you get to chose which messages you choose to motivate yourself. After all, who knows what messages have more impact on you than you?

Like I said, every one knows what works best for them, but I'd highly recommend you turn to yourself when looking for your next training motivation program.