This Mile Training Plan was written by Oiselle Haute Volée Athlete Rebecca Mehra. We have mapped out the plan to coincide with the four weeks leading up to Election Day. Below are some notes, tips, and tricks from Rebecca on preparing for this training plan.
MILE TO THE POLLS
There are 3 plans I have created—each 4 weeks— that you can self-sort into, including an “easy” plan at 15-20 miles/week, an “intermediate” plan at 30 miles/week, and an “advanced” plan at 40-45 miles/week.
The mileage can be adjusted to be more or less by shifting around the easy and off days. The days of primary focus are the workouts. Many of the workouts are written to be done on a track, but if a track isn’t available, either use a GPS watch for the distance, or estimate to the best of your ability using time. After all, it’s the effort that counts!
It would be a good idea to implement at least some core work 2-3 times per week. Check out “The Dozen Core Exercises,” which should do the trick.
THREE APPROACHES TO FIGURE OUT YOUR GOAL MILE TIME:
Long distance runners/marathoners: What pace do you run for a marathon or half marathon? Goal mile time should be, depending on the person, about 1-2 minutes faster for the mile than your marathon pace. For example, if you can run a marathon at 9:00 pace, an appropriate goal could be about 7:30. For the half marathon, I would take closer to 75 seconds off of the time.
No previous running experience: This is a little bit more of a guessing game. Pick a time that seems appropriate for you. A good gauge could be going out to run 2 laps on the track, or a half mile stretch, and see how fast you can run that distance. With some practice and training I would bet you can turn that into your mile pace!
Milers aspiring to come back: You know what you are doing. Pick a time that seems appropriate, and add 20 seconds ;)
TIPS, TRICKS, AND DICTION:
STRIDES: About 100 meters in length- a pace that is about your mile race pace or slightly faster. Pick up your knees and use good form. This is not a sprint!
WUP = Warmup run
CDOWN = Cool down run
DRILLS: A walk, A skips, B walk, B skips, high knees, butt kicks. If you are unfamiliar with these drills, there are many great examples on YouTube.
“EASY” JOG: This is a pace that feels very comfortable - you can have a full conversation running at this pace.
TRAINING RUN PACE:This is a pace that feels mostly comfortable, but just pushes the boundaries of what an easy run is. You should still be in the aerobic zone of your heart rate, if you know that info. This run can be easily swapped out for an easy jog, depending on how you are feeling.
CROSS TRAIN: Some form of aerobic exercise that isn’t running. Good examples include the bike, elliptical, or swimming/aqua jogging.
TEMPO PACE: A pace you can sustain without stopping for about 20-30 minutes. You should be able to speak in short sentences when running tempo pace.