TacticalBarbell.com

For the longest time I have been looking for a program where I was able to lift for strength and program my running in a reasonable fashion. I stumbled across Tactical Barbell, and I think I found the answer. I am about to enter a long training period for a marathon in May 2018, but I still want to continue lifting until the running gets too much and then I will cut it back. My marathon training starts with a long base building block (17 weeks) where I will be running four days a week all at a slow pace, similar to the Base Building in TBII. My goal during this time is to run 2 cycles of the Fighter Template with my cluster as SQ/BP/WPU. I will finish each MS day with kettlebell swings as outlined in Ageless Athlete. I will deload after each 6 week cycle, which will put me at 14 weeks. My goal is to do a quick 3 week SE cycle before my marathon training kicks into high gear at the beginning of the year.

So my questions for the group are:

1. Does this plan seem reasonable? Or would it be better to do a full 5 week SE cycle at the beginning (as outlined in TBII for basebuilding) and then go into MS with the Fighter template? This would still allow for two cycles of the Fighter Template, but no deload.
2. What should I do when I hit my marathon training? I will be running five days a week, would I better served to just rest on those two days? Do one day of MS or SE training? Train MS twice a week, doubling up MS on one of my shorter run days?

Thanks!

Your plan looks good. Couple suggestions;

Since you're training for something specific (marathon) don't bother with SE training for now. You'll get plenty of sport-specific SE through your weekly mileage. Doing a boatload of extra push-ups and such isn't going to help you run a better race and will cause unnecessary fatigue which might hamper the marathon trg.

Basically Marathon training will cover you in terms of E and SE but what it doesn't give you is max-strength. So your plan of adding in Fighter twice a week is a good one. As the race nears cut back a little on the strength training, personally I would stop all strength training 5-6 days out.

When you get to the Marathon training, go super minimalist with your fighter cluster, no more than 2-3 exercises with minimum sets. Consider switching to a minimalist grunt cluster; front squat, OHP, and KB swings to finish. Before you get to the marathon training you can play with a bigger cluster, train with a little more volume etc.

Thanks for the advice. I like the idea of scrapping the SE Work, and will throw in another cycle of fighter with the SQ/BP/WPU. This will put me two weeks into my actual marathon training cycle, and shouldn't be too bad. After that, I will switch to the grunt cluster of front squat/OHP/KB swings with the fighter template. One of my MS workouts will fall on a running day, so I will make sure to do it on one of my lower mileage days, which will still leave me one whole day of rest.

Thanks!

There used to be an article on TB for marathoners, can't find it right now but it was solid. Essentially Fighter with a minimal cluster (I believe it was BP/DL) leaving you several days for your running program and stopping the MS work a week or two out from a race if I recall correctly.

I agree 100% with Aelian, SE isn't necessary for your goals so there's no need for it.

Regarding your program - if you have 20 weeks until the season really begins, you have a lot of flexibility. How is your endurance now? If you're a decent runner to begin with, BB might be unnecessary for you in its vanilla form.

Regarding your program - if you have 20 weeks until the season really begins, you have a lot of flexibility. How is your endurance now? If you're a decent runner to begin with, BB might be unnecessary for you in its vanilla form.

I ran a bunch of half marathons and one marathon over the last three years, but I fell off the endurance wagon in the winter of 2017 because my strength plummeted during that time. I am a bigger guy (for marathons at 6'1"/225) and endurance is my weakness. Since this past winter, I have been doing strength work/crossfit style workouts and really don't have a weekly mileage base. I want to get my weekly mileage up to a certain level before my marathon plan kicks in, which is why I have a 17 week BB stage (after 5 weeks, some strides and faster paced runs are thrown in every week, along with some hill work towards the end of the 17 week block).

Gotcha, that makes sense then. A strength first BB would be good for you then. Being that you have 20 weeks, you could fit in a regular BB and follow it with 12 weeks of Operator + Black Professional as well if you kept your HICs to the running based ones (e.g. 600m Resets and Black on Oxygen) and doing one long run per week. Just skip one of the HICs on your heavy weeks. You could then pretty seamlessly move right into Fighter + Green using your marathon programming as your E.

I'm primarily a Green guy myself (I like long ruck marching sessions for my E) but I plan on rotating in the occasional Black Pro just to cut down the mileage (and thus the wear and tear) but still keep it at a solid level for when I go back to Green.