Furman First to the Finish Program

After trying to prepare for the MCM with a do-it-yourself plan based somewhat on the Furman plan and not really being satisfied that I am getting all that I can from my training...I took the plunge and decided to follow the Furman First to the Finish Marathon Program as set out without modifications. The program takes sixteen weeks but since the MCM is on 28 Oct, that only leaves me 13 weeks...so I start on the 13th week which is actually the 4th week of the 16 week program...no problem since I have been training hard since the last week of June. As with my past workouts, the majority of the workouts will be done on the treadmill.

First I filled out the Training Pace Worksheet to determine what my pace should be for the various workouts. I used my latest 5K time of 19:28 but rounded it up to 19:30...I like round numbers. So after doing all the math based on a 6:20 5K pace, I am left with the following:

Planned Marathon Pace (PMP): 7:20 (rounded up)
Long Tempo (LT): 7:10
Mid Tempo (MT): 6:55
Short Tempo (ST): 6:40
And for the Speed Workouts: 400M: 5:40; 600M: 5:45; 800M: 5:50; 1000M: 5:53; 1200M: 5:55; 1600M: 6:05

Now that I have the important numbers...On with the training!

Based on the training plan the actual running workouts...called 'Key Runs' are only done three times a week with the rest of the week devoted to cross-training or rest. Since I like doing my long runs on Sunday, I arranged the weekly plan to the following:
Monday: Cross-train or Rest
Tuesday: Cross-train
Wednesday: Key Run #1
Thursday: Cross-train
Friday: Key Run #2
Saturday: Off
Sunday: Key Run #3

So...to confuse you again...this week is Week 13 of the plan...which is really week 4 of 16.

Monday: Cross-training 60 minutes on the Elliptical set at Random, Level 12 good for 6.41 miles. Then 70 minutes on the Lifecycle set at Random, Level 10-12 good for 20 miles. Then ran on the treadmill for 3.5 miles starting with a set of hill workouts and finishing with two sets of speed work...I hadn't known I was going to jump into the Furman program until today. Finished with 10 minutes of stairsteppers set at Random, level 12. Went home and cooled down by swimming 10 laps.

Tuesday: Rest day

Wednesday...Today: Key Run #1 which calls for 10-20 minutes of warm-up, then 5 x 1000 meter intervals with 400 meter Rest Intervals in between and then finishing with 10 minutes of cool-down. I warmed up with 30 minutes on the elliptical (3.6 miles) and 30 minutes on the lifecycle (8.2 miles). Then on to the workout! I figured I needed to warm-up on the treadmill before doing the workout so 10 minutes on the TM at 7 mph for warm-up. According to the plan worksheet, I was to do the 5 x 1000m in 3:40 minutes each...a 5:53 mpm pace. I set the TM at 10.2 mph with 1% elevation...which actually comes out to a 5:52 pace...and off we went for 0.62 miles in about 3:40 minutes...TMs are soo great at keeping you on pace. For the Rest Interval (RI), I slowed down to 7 mph for 0.25 miles and then did my second 1K...the first one was relatively easy...but the second was a bit harder...the third was even harder and I could barely finish the fourth one...leaving me gasping for air and taking a minute more for my RI. For the fifth one I dropped the speed down to 10 mph and barely finished that one...thankful the series was over. I think for my next set of speed work, I'll do the cardio at the end of the workout...if I still have enough energy that is. But...What a workout! I finished up with cooling down at 7 mph to finish out 40 minutes total time. After the run I did 10 minutes on the stairstepper, went home and did 10 laps in the pool.

A very hard workout but I can hardly wait for Friday's Key Run #2 and the long run this Sunday will be 20 miles. I'm sure I can do tempo runs a whole lot better than speed intervals...we'll have to see.