From the August 2004 issue of Runner's World
Be a FIRST-Timer 2
5. Put More Variety in Your Speedwork
Many runners do no speedwork at all. Those who do often fall into a rut, running the same workout time after time. Pierce learned long ago that this approach makes speedwork much harder than it should be. "I used to run the same speed workout week after week," he recalls. "After a while, I would start to dread that workout. Speedwork is much easier when you change it around a lot." The FIRST runners do many different speed workouts at different paces, generally taking just a 400-meter jog between the fast repeats. For the sake of simplicity, we've narrowed the selection to four distances at four paces. (See "The FIRST Paces"). But be creative. Pierce has just one more rule for speed training: Start modestly, but after a month, try to get the total distance of all the fast repeats to equal about three miles or 5000 meters (i.e., running 5 x 1000 meters, or 12 to 13 x 400 meters).
6. Cross-Train Twice a Week...Hard
Last fall the FIRST coaches asked their subjects to cross-train twice a week, but they didn't provide any additional instruction. This fall, they will, because they think too many of the runners lollygagged through the cross-training last year. This caused them to miss out on some potential training benefits. "We believe that if you do cross-training correctly, you can use it to increase your overall training intensity, without increasing your injury risk," says Pierce. "At the same time, you can still go out and run hard the next day." But the point is this: Even though last year's test group didn't cross-train as hard as they could have or should have, they still set a slew of PRs.
7. Don't Try to Make up for Lost Time
Stuff happens. During a 16-week marathon program, lots of stuff happens. You get sick; you sprain your ankle; you have to go on several last-minute business trips. And so on. Result: You miss some key workouts, maybe even several weeks of workouts. Then what? "You can't make up what you missed," says Pierce, "and you certainly shouldn't double up on your workouts to catch up with your program. Often, if you had a slight cold or too much travel, you can recover and get back where you want to be relatively quickly. But if you have foot pain or ITB syndrome or something like that, you've got to take care of your injury first, and get healthy again." This can take weeks, and it's really tough if you've been looking forward to a big race. You have to accept it, though, and oftentimes you get better and can run an accompanying half-marathon. But you shouldn't try the marathon until you're fully prepared for it. Reschedule another in a few months' time.
8. Follow a 3-Week Taper
The FIRST program builds for 13 weeks, with the second 20-mile long run coming at the end of the thirteenth week. After that, the program begins to taper off, with 15- and 10-mile long runs during weeks 14 and 15. The speedwork and tempo runs taper down just a little, with a final eight-mile tempo run at marathon goal pace coming 10 days before the marathon. "The marathon taper has tripled in length during my career," Pierce notes. "When I first started out in the 1970s, we only did a six-day taper for our marathons. Now the conventional wisdom is three weeks, and that makes sense to me. It seems about the right amount of time to make sure you've got the maximum spring back in your step." If you feel sluggish doing just the easy running in the final week (this is very common, by the way), do five or six 100-meter strides or pickups after the Tuesday and Thursday workouts. Get in some extra stretching afterward as well.
