My training plan has evolved through several phases. I’ve done a lot of reading and I will pick up some things from different authors, some will stick around, some will not. Things have been a bit unusual with Christmas and New Years, including the Marathon Run on New Years Eve, but I will stick to what I have laid out for the 2 weeks after. Right now I’m planning to keep my training up so I can participate in the Mesa Half Marathon, an event I completed 2 years ago and really enjoyed.
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Monday
Morning: Swim 1000 Meters; this started with the Total Immersion drills but is now focused on normal switching with a different number of strokes between breaths. I do like to periodically repeat the drill sequence and may even attend an event in the future. I am much stronger when breathing to my left, so I try to alternate as much as possible because I would like to be able to use either/both in Triathlon, if anything right would be preferable in pool swims. This is followed by 10 minutes in the hot tub.
Evening: 30 Minutes Strength Training (Pull) followed by 20 Minutes of Running (Recovery). This started with the Bigger Leaner Stronger school of thought, but has evolved based on my equipment available and workouts that feel valuable. I revisit this book regularly and make adjustments, right now I’m most comfortable lifting weights at my apartment’s gym which gives me a Smith machine, but no free weights outside of dumbbells. I’ve tried the Smith machine but would like to spend more time using the machines and dumbbells to feel more comfortable first. This workout consists of 5 exercises, for each I will do 3 sets of 8-10 reps. I start a set every 2 minutes to give myself a fixed rest time between sets. If I hit 10 reps, I increment the weight up once until I get to 10 reps with the new weight. For my recovery runs, I run a minute, walk a minute, I watch pace, but do not push it to hard, most of this ends up around 18 minutes per mile.
Tuesday
Morning: Stair Climbing 20-30 Minutes. I’ve noticed that EoS (or other commercial gyms) have a lot of stair climbers and they’re a lot busier than I expected. I also recently learned about the September 11th Memorial Stair climb events and would love to participate in one next year. I am currently building time and speed on here, starting a new speed at 20 minutes, increasing 2:30 each week. After completing 30 Minutes, I drop down to 20 minutes and increase the speed 1 level. My last was 30 minutes at L4 which works out to 82 floors; my next will be 20 minutes at L5. This is followed by 10 minutes in the dry sauna.
Evening: Same as Monday though strength training is focused on push and my run is more of a tempo run where I run for 4 minutes, walk 1 minute, typically averaging a pace around 16:30 minutes per mile.
Wednesday
Morning: Same as Monday Evening though strength training is focused on legs, run is recovery.
Evening: Off
Thursday
Morning: Same as Monday Morning.
Evening: Same as Monday though strength training includes different pull exercises and run is the same tempo run as Tuesday.
Friday
Morning: Treadmill Incline 20 Minutes. This is something that is supposed to be a great workout, I’m hoping it helps prepare me for the stair challenge as well as hiking. My last was 20 minutes at 3 MPH with 9% Incline, my next will increase the incline to 10%. I haven’t decided exactly how I’ll increment this moving forward but probably adjusting a combination of time, speed and incline.
Evening: Same as Monday though strength training includes mixed exercises and run is focused on sprints; Run 30 seconds, walk 90 seconds.
Saturday
Morning: Off, ideally, though I also use this as a push day if something doesn’t work out earlier.
Evening: Off
Sunday
Morning: Alternate between long run and long bike. Building to the Marathon I had some long runs that were 4:50 and 7:45 of moving time. They will drop down to 3:00-4:00 as I pivot to the half marathon goal. My bike rides are buiding, my longest was 2:30 for 30 miles, I’d like to keep building endurance for the winter, hopefully getting up to 48-50 miles before the end of February.
Evening: Off
A schedule similar to this has worked well for me for the past few months. In mid-February there will be some adjustments as I pivot to training for a Sprint Triathlon. My plans adjust over time when I learn what does and does not work, along with what events I’m training for. I do try to do more running and cycling endurance in the winter, this summer I would like to see myself do more shorter high intensity work to build speed.
Last Updated: 29DEC2025