Training Plans Maintenance running plans

When a race build ends, most runners drift one of two ways. Some coast, and the fitness slips away a little each week. Others keep training as if the race were still coming, and arrive at the next block already tired. A maintenance plan sits between the two. You keep the week you have, with a little faster running so it doesn't go flat, and nothing builds toward a peak.

It looks flat, and that's right. Most plans you've run climbed. These don't. The biggest week often comes early, the rest stay close to it, and a lighter week comes around every fourth week. That can feel like going backwards. It isn't. Holding a steady, well-built weekly mileage is linked to fewer injuries, not more.

Pick the week you can keep. The Buena Vida plans hold the week you already run, from about 12 miles on 3 days up to about 53 on 6. Choose the one whose normal week matches yours now. If your last block peaked well above that, settling a step lower is fine. Week 1 is a full week, so if you've had time off, start with a return-to-running plan instead.

Keep a little speed, and keep it small. Each Buena Vida plan adds strides (short, relaxed pickups) at the end of some easy runs and a short fartlek (bursts of faster running inside an easy run) every few weeks, sometimes in a lighter week when your legs are freshest. The rest stays easy, because clearly separating easy days from hard ones works better than running everything at a middling effort. The easiest mistake here is letting the easy days drift up to medium.

The Run for Life plans. John Honerkamp's 4-week plans for runners over 40, 50 and 60 take a different shape: 3 runs a week, and the one harder session changes every week, from tempo to fartlek to hills to the track. When the 4 weeks end, you start again. Honerkamp's rules are good ones. Swap days when the week gets crowded, and back off when something hurts. But their reviews find the plan around the running thin. Strength is mentioned and never scheduled, and there's little on spotting an injury early. You'll also want a hill and a track nearby for weeks 3 and 4.

If something aches. A maintenance block is often when runners finally notice what the last block left behind. If an ache lingers or sharpens, talk to your doctor or physical therapist before you keep going.

If none of these fits your week, Buena Vida can get you a personal maintenance plan set to your schedule and pace. Try it free for 7 days.