After six years of being a marathon runner, I continue to use Hal Higdon's training schedules. They have worked so well for me and have become second nature in my schedule - long runs on Sundays, cross-training on Mondays, rest on Fridays, and some speed intervals and tempo runs thrown into the mix during the week.
Mr. Higdon's recipe for post-marathon training involves changing what your body has been used to for the past 18 weeks. After a week of slow recovery, he begins to focusing on short, fast runs. Instead of working on long endurance, you train your body to do short, fast bursts.
The Advanced program involves some great training tools once a week for four weeks:
Tempo runs - starting slow, building to race pace, then slowing back down, during the course of a 30 to 50 minute run.
400-meter speed intervals - on the track, doing a lap at 5K pace, then jogging a lap, and repeating four to eight times.
One-mile intervals - running three one-mile intervals at a designated pace, the first week at marathon pace, but the fourth week at 5K pace.
Mr. Higdon suggests a 5K race after four weeks of this training and it really is a perfect way to start a new season of running. I have gotten a few PRs at some of these first post-marathon 5Ks (and have come close in others), so it is worth putting in the work - and it is hard work at times.
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