“You’ve made it through the toughest part of the program; you only need to maintain momentum, now.”

Now that you have invested so much of yourself in the progress and lifestyle changes, it’s time to enjoy more of your runs while focusing on the 6 month goal. Feel free to pick a different fun activity on each week: a different course, different person to run with, etc.

Choose your program!

Below you will find 3 programs based upon how quickly you want to progress At the end of the chapter, you will find a continuing program for the rest of the year.

•	The Gold program is for those who have followed the schedule to date, and are feeling strong.

•	The Silver program is for those who want to increase more slowly and/or have had aches and pains.

•	The Fat-Burning program has more exercise time. All walks and runs should be done very slowly.

Every week, I will suggest a slight increase in the amount of running. If you don’t feel comfortable with the amount of running suggested, then cut it back until it feels good.

We will start adding a cadence drill to each week after the first few weeks. You can move this drill to any day, but just try to get it in. More than any other activity, cadence drills improve your running efficiency, and ease of running while you subtly learn to run faster. This is not a workout that “hurts.” In fact, most runners say that the cadence segments break up a run mentally and physically.

Cadence drill [on the Wednesdays designated by a *CD]

(1)	Warm up the usual way.

(2)	After about 5-10 minutes, start your drill.

(3)	Time yourself for 20 seconds, and just count how many times your left foot touches. If you feel more comfortable with 10 or 15 seconds, just count for a segment of that amount.

(4)	Walk for 1-2 minutes and repeat, increasing the count by 1 or 2.

(5)	Repeat this 2-6 more times, attempting to increase by 1-2 in each segment.

(6)	You are focusing on getting more counts. Don’t try to run faster, but a slight increase might be the natural result.

(7)	After the cadence drill, just finish out the time you are assigned for that day.

(8)	Whatever time segment you choose (10, 15, or 20 seconds), stay with that amount.

*CD denotes “cadence drill”

Gold Program

for those who have followed the schedule to date and are feeling strong

Note: Continue by alternating week # 25 and week # 26, or choose one of the training programs in Galloway’s book on Running Second Edition: 5K, 10K or “Half- Marathon.” You could also use the “beginner” marathon program in my New Marathon book.

Silver Program

for those who want to go a bit slowe r, or have had some aches and pains

Note: Continue after this point alternating week # 25 and Week # 26

Fat Burning Program

The time spent walking increases significantly, so keep the pace very slow. The idea is to keep from huffing and puffing as you increase the distance covered. You can do two sessions on a day with the exception of the Saturday session. This is the long run and should be done at one time. See the fat burning chapter for more details on how more miles of easy exercise promotes fat burning.