Training Plan

Ten week plan for the 20k Great East Run – aimed at beginners / improvers who can run 3 or 4 miles continuously at a steady pace.
There are four sessions per week – ideally 2 weekday runs and 2 weekend runs but they can be rearranged to fit in with your weekly plans. The longest run on Sundays gradually builds up throughout the ten weeks.
If you can’t fit in all the runs then take an extra rest day but try to always do the long and the efforts session.

Week beginning Monday 27/08/12
Session    Date        Day
1            28/08/12   Tuesday    3 miles steady pace
2            30/08/12   Thursday   Effort session 1 – Warm up by jogging for 5 minutes. Run fast for 1 minute and then jog for 4 minutes, repeat this twice more so that you have completed three x 1 minute efforts, warm down by jogging 5 minutes.
3            01/09/12   Saturday   2 miles easy run
4            02/09/12   Sunday     Long run 5 miles at a steady pace

Week beginning Monday 03/09/12
Session     Date         Day
1              04/09/12  Tuesday    3 miles steady pace
2              06/09/12  Thursday   Effort session 2 – Warm up by jogging for 5 minutes. Run fast for 1 minute then jog for 3 minutes, do this 5 times. Warm down by jogging for 5 minutes
3              08/09/12  Saturday   3 miles easy run
4              09/09/12  Sunday     Long run 6 miles at a steady pace

Week beginning Monday 10/09/12
Session     Date          Day
1              11/09/12   Tuesday    4 miles steady pace
2              13/09/12   Thursday   Easy jog to save your energy for the festivities
3              15/09/12   Saturday   3 miles easy run
4              16/09/12   Sunday     Long run 7 miles at a steady pace

Week beginning Monday 17/09/12
Session     Date          Day 
1             18/09/12    Tuesday    4 miles steady pace
2             20/09/12    Thursday   Efforts session 3 – Warm up by jogging for 5 minutes. Run fast for 2 minutes then jog for 3 minutes, do this 3 times. Warm down by jogging for 5 minutes.
3             22/09/12    Saturday    4 miles easy run
4             23/09/12    Sunday      Long run 8 miles at a steady pace

Week beginning Monday 24/09/12– Easier week to recover
Session     Date          Day
1              25/09/12   Tuesday    3 miles steady pace
2              27/09/12   Thursday   Warm up by jogging for 5 minutes. Find a flat even place where you can run 50 metres fast and walk back, do this 6 times. Warm down by jogging for 5 minutes.
3              29/10/12   Saturday    2 miles easy run
4              30/10/12   Sunday      Long run 6 miles at a steady pace

Week beginning Monday 01/10/12 – building up again
Session     Date           Day
1              02/10/12    Tuesday    4 miles steady pace
2              04/10/12    Thursday   Effort session 4 – Warm up by jogging for 5 minutes. Run fast for 1 minute then jog for 2 minutes, do this 6 times. Warm down by jogging for 5 minutes
3              06/10/12    Saturday    3 miles easy run
4              07/10/12    Sunday      Long run 9 miles at a steady pace

Week beginning Monday 08/10/12
Session     Date            Day
1              09/10/12     Tuesday    5 miles steady pace
2              11/10/12     Thursday   Effort session 5 – Warm up by jogging for 5 minutes. Run fast for 2 minutes then jog for 3 minutes, do this 4 times. Warm down by jogging for 5 minutes.
3              13/11/12     Saturday   3 miles easy run
4              14/10/12     Sunday     Long run 10 miles at a steady pace
  
Week beginning Monday 15/10/12
Session     Date             Day
1              16/10/12      Tuesday    6 miles steady pace
2              18/10/12      Thursday   Effort session 6 – Warm up by jogging for 5 minutes. Run fast for 3 minutes then jog for 3 minutes, do this 3 times. Warm down by jogging for 5 minutes.
3              22/10/12      Saturday    3 miles easy run
4              23/10/12      Sunday      Long run 12 at a steady pace

Week beginning Monday 22/10/12
Session     Date             Day
1              23/10/12       Tuesday    4 miles steady
2              25/10/12       Thursday   Effort session 7 – Warm up by jogging for 5 minutes. Run fast for 1 minute then jog for 1 minute, do this 10 times. Warm down by jogging for 5 minutes.
3              27/10/12       Saturday    Tempo run – Warm up for 5 minutes then run slightly faster than your normal steady pace for 15-20 minutes. Warm down by jogging for 5 minutes.
4              28/10/12       Sunday      6-8 miles easy run

Week beginning Monday 29/10/12– Race week – tapering off
Session      Date            Day
1               30/10/12     Tuesday    4 miles steady run
2               01/11/12     Thursday   3 miles easy run
3               03/11/12     Saturday    Easy 15-20 min jog with some stretching
4               04/11/12     Sunday      Race day