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Accessible Fitness

In a world that celebrates movement and wellness, accessibility remains a cornerstone for ensuring that everyone can participate in and benefit from fitness activities. Regardless of physical ability or limitation, everyone deserves the opportunity to engage in exercises that promote health, strength, and overall well-being. The concept of accessible fitness transcends mere convenience—it embodies inclusivity, empowerment, and a fundamental right to holistic health practices. One of the primary challenges in fitness accessibility is the physical environment. Traditional fitness centers often present barriers to individuals with disabilities. However, an increasing number of facilities are recognizing the need for inclusive design, featuring accessible entrances, modified equipment, and dedicated spaces for various exercises. For instance, adjustable workout benches, ramps, and wide pathways enable individuals with mobility impairments to navigate and engage more freely. Moreover, t
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Marathon Training : Intermediate 1


About the Intermediate 1 Program

Hal's Intermediate 1 Marathon Training Program is one step up from Novice 2. It is designed for runners who may have used novice programs to run their first marathons and are now looking to increase their training levels and hoping to improve their Records. It is not recommended for runners to do their first marathon. If that is you, check out the descriptions of the novice programs before deciding which program to purchase. Each day Hal will send you emails telling you what to run and offering training tips. For more information, check out the Program Details below. Hal on his Intermediate 1 Program. read more. gravtechnology

This is my Intermediate 1 Program: The Novice 1 and Advanced 2 training programs in my quiver of 26.2 arrows represent the extremes. The former program (and Novice 2) are designed for runners running their first marathons or experienced runners who are happy with that level of training and see no need to do more. The latter program (and Advanced 1) are designed for those very experienced runners, who have done many marathons, perhaps have plateaued in their times, and want to maximize their ability by training hard and incorporating speedwork into their training.

In between, there's a broad area for runners just like you! If you previously have trained using one of the Novice programs (1 or 2), you can now increase your mileage a bit, run some workouts at a faster pace, and seek improvement.

The Intermediate 1 program offers a slight jump in difficulty from the Novice programs. You begin in Week 1 with a long run of 8 miles instead of 6 miles. You thus get to 20 miles for your long run by Week 13, which allows a second 20-miler in Week 15. Midweek mileage is slightly higher, but instead of cross-training on the weekends, you get more serious about your running and do a second run of 5-8 miles, often at a marathon race pace. You now do cross-train on Mondays instead of taking the day off. Intermediate two offers another jump in difficulty (more miles), but let's concentrate for now on Intermediate 1.

Here is an explanation of the type of training you will encounter in Intermediate 1. Additional tips and instructions are available if you sign up for the interactive version, available through TrainingPeaks.

Long Runs: The key to the program is the long run on weekends, which builds from 8 miles in the first week to a maximum of 20 miles. Although some experienced runners train longer, I see no advantage in doing 23, 26 or even 31-mile runs. (I've tried that myself in the past, and it just wore me out.) Save your energy and concentrate on quality runs. Consistency is most important. You can skip an occasional workout or juggle the schedule depending on other commitments, but do not cheat on the long runs. Notice that although the weekly long runs get progressively longer, every third week is a "stepback" week, where we reduce mileage to allow you to gather strength for the next push upward.

Run Slow: Normally, I recommend that runners do their long runs anywhere from 30 to 90 or more seconds per mile slower than their marathon pace. This is very important. Listen to what the Coach is about to tell you! The physiological benefits kick in around 90-120 minutes, no matter how fast you run. You'll burn a few calories and trigger glycogen regenesis, teaching your muscles to conserve fuel. Running too fast defeats this purpose and may unnecessarily tear down your muscles, compromising not only your midweek workouts but the following week's long run. Save your fast running for the marathon itself. There are plenty of days during the week when you can race pace. So do your long runs at a comfortable pace, allowing you to converse with your training partners, at least during the beginning of the run, which brings up my next point.

3/1 Training: Toward the end of the run, if you're still feeling fresh, you may want to pick up the pace and finish somewhat faster. This will convert your long run into what I call a 3/1 Run. That means you run the first three-fourths of your long run (say the first 12 miles of a 16-miler) at a leisurely pace, then do the final one-fourth (4 miles of a 16-miler) at a somewhat faster pace–though still not race pace. This 3/1 strategy is advised for only the most experienced runners, and I don't recommend you do it more than once out of every three weekends. In other words: first weekend, easy run; second weekend, 3/1 Run; third weekend, step back to a shorter distance. My philosophy is that it's better to run too slow during long runs than too fast. The critical point is that you cover the prescribed distance; how fast you cover it doesn't matter.

Walking Breaks: Walking is a perfectly acceptable strategy even for intermediate runners, and it works during training runs too. While some coaches recommend walking 1 minute out of every ten or walking 1 minute every mile, I teach runners to walk when they. read more. digitalfitnessworld

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