McMillan 6 Week Stamina Plan

I am sure it comes as no surprise that I have selected a plan to follow over the next few weeks before I start ultramarathon training again. It's not that I don't like running whenever I feel like it, for whatever distance I feel on that day. But winters in Chicago are tough, and I find that a plan helps hold me accountable and gives me something to follow and continue to improve. I enjoy the structure that a plan brings and I also like that guesswork is taken out of the equation.

Enter the McMillan Stamina plan. Because of my success with the McMillan marathon plan and the fact that I have continued with using a McMillan coach for my 50k, I thought it was fitting to choose another maintenance plan. I toyed with either the true maintenance plan or the stamina plan, but I was drawn to the stamina plan because of the focus on getting stronger towards the end of long or hard runs/races. While I have seen vast improvements in my performance at the end of races, it is hard to maintain great stamina at the end of an ultramarathon. I thought that the stamina plan would help address this.

First stamina run - strides

I really like the plan so far as the mileage is relatively low, which is great as this is not the time I need to be putting in high mileage. Rather the workouts are purposeful and are meant to focus on holding pace or increasing pace in the middle of a run. So far these are the three that I have completed:

• Strides: These were quick 20 second bursts of speed starting at 5k race pace down to mile race pace. After running easy for 15 minutes, completing 15-20 strides, and completing a 15 minute cool down, it was a good way to implement speed into a workout while still having to run over a mile afterwards. 
• Fartleks: The purpose of this workout is to run by effort over pace and encourage lactate pace. After easy running for 15 minutes, I ran 5 X 5 min at 10k race pace, followed by a 15 minute cool down. Similarly to strides, the burst of speed in the middle of a run followed by easy running afterwards builds stamina. 
• Steady state: This comes at the end of a long run after I have been running for over an hour. These runs focus on running at goal pace for the last 15 minutes of the run to encourage endurance and resistance to fatigue. I am sure anyone who slows down at the end of a run can appreciate how hard it would be sometimes to pick up the speed or hold to a certain pace, hence why this run is so important.

All of these workouts are pretty familiar to me after following the marathon plan, and I like that I can use the same paces as my marathon training. Because I fell a few minutes short of my marathon goal time, I find the paces are still appropriate - challenging but doable. My coach also suggested I use this pace for my 50k as this will translate to "trail pace", so I want to continue to train at this pace.

I'll keep you updated as I continue with the plan for the next 6 weeks. I highly recommend the McMillan plans, and if you are looking for something to keep you busy between training, check out the different plans and levels available to see what might be best for you. 

Stamina plans go great with snow!