The Program

This 13 - week, coached program will get you ready to run a spring half marathon! You will receive coaching at in-person group runs twice per week, a weekly email from your head coach with important training tips, and an online training schedule to follow for the duration of the program. Participants also receive access to our private Facebook group page with fellow runners and coaches to share tips, ask questions, and motivate one another with encouragement and funny memes. 

The Goal

Without a target, you have nowhere to aim.

Our Distance Training Program is designed for runners looking to make the leap to longer distances, set a new personal record, stay in good physical shape, or cross running a half marathon off their bucket list. Training will focus on gaining endurance, hill technique, hydration, nutrition, and pacing. Participants should be able to run at least three continuous miles prior to the start of training.

The Goal Race

 When all else fails, a goal race with friends can motivate you to keep your training on pace.

The goal race for this program is the Wineglass Half Marathon; however, the program is flexible and we can accommodate other spring goal races! Please don't hesitate to reach out with questions.

Register Here

The Coaches

Jennifer Murphy, Head Distance Coach

Questions? Email Coach Jen at jennifer.murphy@fleetfeet.com

The Details

• Who: Anyone looking to run a half marathon or similar distance. Runners of all abilities are welcome! Participants should be able to run three miles prior to starting the program.
• When and Where: Wednesday evenings for a speed workout at 5:45pm at Willow Bay; and Sunday mornings for a long run at 7:30am at Green Lakes State Park or Fleet Feet Dewitt
• Program Starts: Wednesday, July 10th, 2024
• Cost: $180 for 14 weeks. Receive $10 off if you're a Fleet Feet Training alumni (email Coach Jen for alumni code). Race entry NOT included.

 As a participant you will receive:

• Weekly emails with training tips and workout information
• 13 week training plan for the Wineglass Half Marathon
• Safe and organized weekly group long runs with pre-planned routes, water/aid stations, and coach led pace groups
• Coached weekday workouts including interval training, hill repeats, and fartleks 
• Online support through a private Facebook page
• Extra sessions and clinics to go through training principles and topics
• Support from our partners in footwear, nutrition, strength training and more!

What to expect at Wednesday Workouts:

The focus of the weeknight workouts is to work on our speed and power when running. Whether you’re looking to finish your first distance race or you fastest distance race - building a speed workout into your training is important. You work different muscle groups (fast twitch vs. slow twitch muscles), build endurance in your legs and lungs, and it helps keep our workouts from getting stale. We’ll cover a variety of workouts such as interval training, speed repeats, hill repeats, fartleks (Swedish for ‘speed play’), tempo runs, etc. We focus on pace and effort during these workouts.The workouts will last about an hour throughout the 12 week training period. Below is an example workout:

• Welcome/announcements/find your pace groups
• 10 min warmup easy jogging
• Pyramid workout: 1 min hard effort/30 sec easy + 3 min hard/1 min 30 sec easy + 5 min moderately hard/2 min 30 sec easy + 7 min tempo/3 min 30 sec easy + 5 min moderately hard/2 min 30 sec easy + 3 min hard/1 min 30 sec easy + 1 min hard/30 sec easy
• 10 min cool down easy jogging
• Stretching with your group
• Overall, you’ll have done 3-5 miles of speed work, but with recovery included in the workout

What to expect at Sunday Long Runs:

The Sunday long run focus is on time on your feet. We use the long run to build up our endurance so that we can finish our distance races healthy and happy! Overall, these long runs should be at a very easy pace. We don’t want to race through the long runs because it will feel like we’ve ‘raced’ every weekend - our bodies will be tired and it increases the likelihood of injury. Each group will be led by experienced coaches who will help guide and support you. A sample route can be found here. We run both loops and out & backs from our strarting point so that we can have access to water/bathrooms/coaches. 

Pace Groups:

Our groups are open to anyone! Yes, anyone. We group everyone based on a timed mile at the beginning of the season (don’t worry it’s not your gym class mile from middle school) and use that to help match you with similarly paced people. Your coaches will help give you suggested training paces once in your group! A general breakdown of our groups are as follows:

• Sub 9:00: LR (long run) pace 
• 9:00 - 10:00 LR pace
• 10:00 - 11:00 LR pace
• 11:00 - 12:00 LR pace
• 12:00 - 13:00 LR pace
• 13:00 - 15:00 LR pace (includes Run/Walk Interval Group)

We recommend coming into the training being able to run or run/walk 4 miles.

Run/Walk Interval Running:

There are many benefits to using a run/walk method in your training. We encourage beginning runners to start using a Run/Walk interval in our No Boundaries Beginner 5K training programs. But using a Run/Walk interval is not just for beginners - it’s an excellent tool to help you build endurance and help you cross the finish line of your distance race. Our interval coaches will help to modify the workouts to support our interval runners - they will assist with pacing, workouts, racing strategies, and much more. Some of the benefits include:

• Decreased chance of injury. The run-walk method causes less wear and tear on the body, decreasing the chance of injuries. Continuous use of muscle will result in fatigue much quicker. This method will allow a runner to go farther and/or longer before fatigue sets in.
• Quicker recovery. With less wear and tear on the body it’s also easier to recover after a run. 
• Breaks up distances into manageable units. Running is as much mental as it is physical – especially when you get into the distance races. Using the run-walk intervals will help with those long distances. Running 13.1 miles seems impossible, but by breaking it down by running for a set number of minutes, it’s much more manageable. 
• Motivating for new runners. This method allows just about anyone to run any race they want. It doesn’t matter your age, weight, gender, or physical ability, you can be a runner! As you start off slow, you can work your way up to running for a longer amount of time and having fewer walk breaks.

Register Here

REFUNDS

• A full refund will be given to anyone up to midnight of the first day of the session if a valid reason is given for needing to cancel a membership.
• A refund of 75% will be given for those that provide a valid canceling reason up to two weeks in to any 10-week program such as No Boundaries and FFXT or up to three weeks for any program that is more than 10 weeks long such as the distance or triathlon programs.
• After the two or three week period, depending on the length of the program, no refund will be given if a member needs to stop participating in the programs for any reason.

TRANSFERS

• A participant can transfer their program entry fee, in its full amount, to a future program if a valid transfer reason is provided within the first three weeks of the program.
• Fleet Feet will provide a 50% transfer value of the program entry fee if a transfer is necessary within the first five weeks of the program.
• After the five week period, no transfers will be allowed if a member needs to stop participating in the programs for any reason.