Ask the Penguin: Shifting Workouts

Dear Penguin

Hello John! I am devouring your book, “Marathoning for Mortals”, and am currently training for my first half marathon! Thought I’d take a chance and just email you a quick question, see if you have the time to get back to me.

I’m trying out your program for a run/walk half marathon. I really want to stick to the schedule, but because of group fitness classes I teach, my rest days are Wednesdays and Sundays. Tuesdays and Thursdays I teach sculpting… because of this, I wonder if I can switch my “cross-training” days to Tuesdays/Thursdays, rather than Tuesdays/Fridays. Will this mess things up terribly?

It’s a great question. Thanks for giving me a chance to address it.

They two keys to a training program are consistency and sequence. By consistency I mean that you have to do the workouts every week, week after week, slowly building the mileage until you’re ready for your event. I get emails all the time from folks who “miss” a week ro two and wonder why their training isn’t working.

The second key is sequence. Coach Jenny worked very hard to create a sequence of training elements that would give you the best chance to achieve your goal with the least risk of injury.

You can shift the workouts if you need to, but try to keep the sequence of the workouts the same week after week. AND, as I’m sure you know, REST days are REST days. No fair pretending that just because you’re not running you’re resting. Rest is REST.

Congratulations on deciding to run a half marathon. And all the best in your training.

Waddle on, John

John “the Penguin” Bingham, Competitor Magazine columnist Author, The Courage to Start, No Need for Speed, Marathoning for Mortals and Running for Mortals.

Have a question for John? E-mail it to thepenguin@johnbingham.com.