So, we decided to set the goal of running a new distance or starting a new workout to lower our race times. We looked for a training plan and began to see that we could not do many sessions on certain days, whether for personal, work, or logistical reasons.

Unless we have the opportunity to have a coach who knows our time constraints and structures a training plan, this will likely always happen to us.

The running training plans on our page can be followed to the letter or used as a guide to develop a personalized training plan. The most important thing when restructuring a training running plan is to be flexible enough to adapt if signs of overtraining, injuries, or any work/family emergency force us to pause our training.

Option 1: Adapt a training plan published in a reliable source

Restructuring a training plan is quite simple, and below, share the following tips to do it:

First, you should select the primary race for which you will train. The most important thing about your selection is not the distance or the time you want to do it. What matters is that it is an event significant enough to keep you motivated to train.

Once selected, plan “backward” by evaluating how long it will take you to prepare. It is essential to have at least 16 weeks to prepare for a marathon, while a 5K to a 21K takes at least twelve weeks. Based on this, you can structure the training cycle and know how many weeks you will dedicate to building an aerobic base, gaining strength and speed, etc.

Read more: Am I ready to run a marathon?

You must know how fit or prepared you are for the race you are preparing for. By this, we mean whether you are a novice, intermediate, or advanced runner. This will help you select a plan to restructure or plan your weekly mileage, lengths, and speed exercises.

Select races to improve your preparation. Going 16 to 12 weeks without competing is a long time, and “warmup” races will help you stay motivated and measure your progress. It is essential to select them in advance to be able to structure the training plan (weekly mileage and long runs) around those races. Do not select races that occur one closely after the other. Space them in the plan and choose one close to your primary race date. Of course, it is not good to overdo it with preparation races. More than three races can lead to injuries that take us away from our goal: the primary race.

The disadvantage of this option is that you must be an experienced runner so as not to affect the macro and micro training cycles created in the plan with the changes. Another possible disadvantage is overdoing it or, conversely, not challenging your body enough to see true progress.

According to the set goal, determine what your weekly mileage will be, what types of speed training you will use, the number of lengths you will perform and their distances, and what your rest and cross-training days will be. Remember to leave room for recovery and rest. Without this, you can run the risk of overtraining, and your progress will also be slower.

• It is important to keep training varied. Select new routes and different types of cross-training, such as spinning, swimming, cycling, etc., to avoid boredom and demotivation.
• Remember to be flexible with your training plan. A day when you can’t run or train for personal reasons or injury is not the end of the world. If, for some reason, you do not have the time necessary to do the session that corresponds to you, remember that 20 minutes is enough to do a good training session.
• It doesn’t matter what time you train. Training schedule selection is a matter of individual preference that does not lead to better performance on race day. If you can’t run in the morning for personal reasons, reschedule your training for midday or evening. Plus, this will help avoid boredom.

The most important thing is to evaluate your training plan as you execute it. When issues arise, don’t be afraid to make minor modifications, but always remember to believe in your plan and follow it as closely as possible. Plan your races by reviewing our updated running calendar.

Option 2: Use an app that creates your truly personalized training plan

If you want to save yourself the trouble of adapting your plan or don’t have enough experience as a runner, you can try our running.COACH app. There, the algorithm will create a truly personalized, dynamic, and easy-to-understand plan after you answer a few brief questions, including your primary race and preparation races.

Once the platform creates a plan for you (much more appropriate to your level and competence), you can adapt it by eliminating or adding training sessions.

You can try it for free.

Personalized plans with running.COACH

Soymaratonista.com together with running.COACH offers personalized English plans that fit your current conditions and future competitions. running.COACH is a customized plan for running with iOS and Android applications.

In addition, with this subscription, you get 30 days on the running. You can create a 100% personalized and dynamic training plan with the COACH app.

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Is it necessary to adapt the plan according to age?

According to famous coach Galloway, the most crucial reason why runners improve, especially older ones, is because they stay injury-free and avoid accumulating fatigue during training sessions.

They achieve this by reaching a correct balance between stress and rest. “It is crucial to be conservative,” says Galloway, suggesting that, at the first signs of a possible injury or fatigue, you should take a 3-day break and treat the discomfort area. “If you feel more fatigued, increase the rest time and decrease the duration of the training session or the number of weekly sessions,” he concludes.

Galloway provides this guide to recommended training days based on the age of the runner:

35 and under, no more than 5 days a week.
36-45, no more than 4 days a week of exercise
46-59, exercise every other day
60+, 3 days per week
70+, 2 days of hard sessions, and another with a longer but easy session
80+, One long, one short, and one easy low-impact session.