Build Flexibility into Your Marathon Training Plan

The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

A training schedule to prepare for a marathon is a must, but you must build in flexibility both in your plan and in your mindset.  Things are going to happen.  Life is going to happen over the course of the months you will spend training.  If your schedule is too rigid it can cause frustration or worse, cause you to give up.

My 2018 schedule is loaded with
flexibility.  Sundays and Wednesdays can easily be switched around if weather happens, or family events on the weekend.  Strength day is ambiguous intentionally to add fun.  I love group fitness so I go to a class on strength day. Two days have "or" built in so that the routine can fit the mood of the day.

“The measure of a person’s strength is not his muscular power or strength, but it is his flexibility and adaptability.” ― Debasish Mridha

That's the flexibility in the schedule itself.  Your willingness to adapt is crucial to keeping a positive mindset when things go awry in your training.  There will be rain.  There will be business trips.  There will be social events.  You can avoid the feeling of defeat and frustration by making a few adjustments to your plan.  Here are some examples:

• Find an indoor track
• Use a treadmill
• Simply skip a day
• Shuffle your training schedule
• Get up earlier
• Use the hotel stairwell for a great workout
• Break away from the family fun and swim some laps
• Find a YouTube cardio/no equipment video

Your marathon success has everything to do with your planning AND how well you can modify along the way.