My new running regimen--what do you think? (lift, treadmill, bench press)

[wutitiz]

I just finished a race Sunday, and have no real goal races planned until the Seattle marathon in Dec.

I always remember this article by Lorraine Moeller, ex-Oly marathoner, wherein she talks about comparing running to Chinese plate spinning.
Is the Long Run Overrated? | Running Times

If you are not familiar with the art of Chinese plate spinning, you can see some examples on youtube.

Originally Posted by Lorraine Moeller

The goal of the grand finale (race) is to have a number of plates (energy systems) affected at the same time. To achieve this the performer can attend to only one plate at a time, but must be checking in and tweaking the already-spinning plates with the minimal action required to keep them in orbit. And so it is with good training. The first erected (and therefore longest-spinning) is the large endurance plate. Once it has its own momentum it can be left while the other smaller energy system plates (strength, anaerobic capacity, various paces and speed) are set in motion.

In the past I've always followed a simple plan. I do an interval session and a tempo run pretty much every week. Usually I do a hill session on the treadmill once per week. The rest is easy running, and I tend to skip quite a few days, being incorrigibly lazy.

Now my new plan is to focus on intervals for 9 weeks, then hills for 9 weeks, then plyometrics for 3 weeks. I used to do a lot of plyos and got away from it, but have always wanted to get back. I don't figure it will help me too much in the marathon, but who knows. It's mainly just something I want to do.

I plan to train on a 21 day cycle instead of the usual 1 week cycle. Every three days I will do some kind of challenging workout, so that is 7 workouts for the cycle. The two days in between I will run easy, or take a day off.

My plan is a bit involved, so I won't lay out the tiresome details, but I sat down today and wrote it all out. It takes me up to mid October, when I'll start doing marathon specific stuff.

Basically the idea is to focus on a particular area for a while, and try to reach a peak. Then shift to a different area, while returning back at least once every 21 days to the previous area, to 'keep it spinning.'

Opinions?

[schmedes2]

I agree with the premise that once you have your base down, it's key to focus less on length and more on intensity. Another thing I would add into your routine is full body weight training with compound movements; squats or split squats, deadlifts and its variations, bench press, shoulder press, etc.

Also, check out crossfitendurance.com; great mix of energy systems training as well as weight training. I personally dislike a lot of things about crossfit however their spin off programing is solid and I haven't come across too many workouts with kipping pull-ups or high rep deadlifts. Sometimes stuff I don't like will show up and I'll do my own thing but's it's been fairly solid.