Flip Your Training Calendar

Reasons to modify or totally adjust your training based on your needs

Feb 16, 2024

When is it okay to flip your schedule upside down and do what works for you?

That’s the fun part I’m having with my very own training right now. I’ve picked up a weekday long run that has been very fun and rewarding, despite it beginning at 5:40 in the morning.

While getting up that early is never fun, I’m always glad that the longest run of my week is done before the sun peeks out over the houses.

Since Thursdays are my long days, I have a weekend day that’s now freed up to do as I please. And what pleases me right now? My workout day.

woman back flip under blue sky — Photo by Persnickety Prints on Unsplash

Sundays have been a variety of workouts as I gear up for a March attempt at breaking 5 minutes in the mile. From threshold (600s) to hill repeats (Covered Bridge Road) for all of you Cherry Hill runners, to speed workouts on the track…

I’ve used Sundays as a day to get a bit of sleep and wait for the sun to be out before plodding to the nearest unlocked track or road segment for the weekly workout.

The last day that has any significance has been Tuesdays. I looked back at last year’s log and remembered that I did some quick, quality work on the turf. After a longer warmup than normal - and in my workout shoes - I run fast diagonals on the turf field while recovering down the back of the end zone.

On Strava, it looks like a bunch of X’s on the turf. Fun stuff.

The rest of the week is maintenance: easy miles, cross-training, and a day off. These days seem the easiest on paper but are the hardest to complete. With tired legs and less emphasis on the importance scale, they are way more difficult to mentally "get up” for.

So here’s the long and short of it: if your schedule necessitates a bit of a shuffling of the deck, then that’s what you should do.

Keep in mind though, that you still need adequate rest days and days that complement the hard days. For me, that’s a few days of 3-5 miles, a day of cross-training, and my ever-important day off. These days are non-negotiable as they support the hard days that I do.

What does your weekly schedule look like? Do you have any goofy quirks to your schedule?

Are you ready to take your fitness journey to the next level? Do you want a copy of the 2024 training log? Get Your Copy Now!

🌟 Limited-time offer: Use code Pelly24 for an exclusive $15 training log.

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What I’m Exploring

What’s next for TrainwithMarc? Hopefully global domination. But if not, then I’ll “settle” for coaching more runners.

With the help of Bridget, she told me about Garmin Clipboard. This arm of Garmin allows me to create (running) workouts and sync them to your watch for you to do the workout. Workouts can be simple (tempo run) or elaborate (mixing paces and recoveries). I’ve pushed this out to a few of my runners already and as we move into 2024, I’m hopeful that I’ll add it as a service that I offer.

Want to try it out? Send me a message or email and I will get you started.

Share the post with your friends and family and comment below with any tips that have helped you keep a training log.

Thank you for reading and sharing. It’s great to hear the feedback from so many people - keep it coming!

Friday’s Action Plan

Your weekly schedule and training should reflect your life. Predictability is a good thing, so see if you can find a routine and stick with it until it no longer suits your needs.

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