Team Knight Striders

Fellow Striders of the Armored Divison and Sisters of the Skillet, here is where you walk the walk (or run the run).  I have posted some sample training plans for beginners to help you get started without getting injured.  I'll also try to post helpful tips I learned from my running club when I trained for the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon.  For you advanced runners, I'll try to post something interesting from the Runner's Handbook, but I make no guarantees about the interesting part....

On the Army Ten Miler website, it says that runners must maintain a 15-minute per mile pace.  For those that use treadmills, that's a 4.0 mile per hour pace minimum!  Remember during your training that in the actual race you want to allow time for water breaks, bathroom stops, and just plain slow walking towards the end.  That said, don't push the pace too hard while you're building your fitness levels up!  Start on whatever week is challenging, but possible for you to complete at least three times a week.  Take your pick of the two plans below, or mix it up to keep your workouts interesting.

Warm up with some brisk walking, and cool down with a few minutes of slow walking.  Run at a conversational pace (easier said than done!) and keep walking segments brisk.

Here's a program for those of you who can comfortably run a mile nonstop, but can't quite run for 30 minutes nonstop.  You can push yourself a bit more on the intensity of this program, just like Collin would!  You can also start to adjust the frequency of your workouts between three and five times a week.

These programs were made for those of you who are already running 30 minutes nonstop at a pace of 9 minutes per mile or slower.  If you're running faster than that, you've already got it all figured out.  As you start to run for mileage, it is important to go easy and work to increase the mileage, not your speed.  Keep your easy days at 30 minutes per run (approximately 3 miles).  Gradually add one day a week of longer runs, and the remaining training days will be medium distance runs of 4-5 miles. 

All these training programs are from Bill Glover (Runner's Handbook), and he recommends that when training for a race of a certain length, you should aim to get your weekly mileage up to 2-3 times that length.  So for the Army Ten Miler, it would be ideal to work up to 20-30 miles a week.  From personal experience, running tends to take over your life once you get over 30 miles a week, but 20 per week is definitely manageable.  The days listed are flexible, and you can even split up your easy/medium length runs into two-a-days if you're "running" short on time (pun intended).  The long runs are too important to split up, so be sure to allow the time they deserve!  Also, feel free to substitute cross training for an easy day of running to keep you going if you have a blister, nagging joint pain, etc.  Never train through sharp pain and be sure to see a doctor if you just don't feel right about your training.

One final note, you DON'T actually have to run 10 miles at one time to train for the ATM.  An eight mile run at least once is enough for a beginning runner.  Adrenaline and willpower will get you through the last two miles.  You're much more likely to injure yourself by pushing too hard than any potential gain by doing a longer run.  When I was training for the Indy Mini (13.1 miles), the longest run I did was 10 miles and I only did that once.  I made it through the race with no trouble, and you'll be fine too as long as your base conditioning is strong.

From 10 mile per week base to 20 miles per week

From 20 mile a week base to 30 miles per week