Personalized Marathon Training Plan Guide
Preparing for a marathon requires a systematic training plan. RunBox AI coach creates a customized 16-20 week marathon training plan based on your fitness level, goal time, and available training time.
Why Choose an AI-Customized Marathon Training Plan?
- Personalized Assessment: Based on your running experience and fitness condition
- Smart Adjustments: Training intensity optimizes automatically with progress
- Scientific Pacing: Based on your target finish time
- Injury Prevention: Reasonable intensity progression to avoid injuries
li yongyuan: running is tiring but can change poverty
Li Yongyuan, with a personal best marathon time of 2 hours and 26 minutes. On November 24, 2017, the Lijiang Marathon, which gathered many top marathon runners from across the country, started. At an altitude of 2400 meters, he defeated many competitors to win the championship. As he said, his achievements today are not due to talent but because of poverty. Behind these outstanding results lies endless poverty and a self that never complained.
The dire circumstances of life forced me onto the path of sports.
In 1992, I was born in Yunnan. The living conditions during my childhood were very poor. My family couldn't afford oil, let alone meat, and we could only eat rice during the Spring Festival. Under such conditions, I spent my childhood, and until I was 10 years old, my hometown remained the same. At that time, school fees were very high; primary, middle, and high schools all required tuition fees, unlike now where education is free. One advantage of attending a sports school for running was that as long as you ran well, you didn't need to pay tuition or living expenses. So, I started running not because I loved it, but to alleviate my family's financial burden.
Actually, when I first started middle school, my academic performance was very good, and I was even the class monitor. However, to ease my family's financial pressure, I decided to enter a sports school after finishing the first year of middle school. My middle school homeroom teacher repeatedly said, 'You are so good at studying; you should continue your education.' In others' eyes, athletes were often seen as simple-minded with well-developed limbs. Despite my strong desire to continue studying, the harsh reality and life's difficulties forced me to choose the sports school. If I could work outside now, as a student back then, I wouldn't have known what to do. Moreover, doing hard labor outside would only earn a few yuan a day, and many people who worked for a year would only earn six or seven hundred yuan by the time they returned home for the Spring Festival.
In October 2006, after finishing the first year of middle school, I went to a sports school. The first question the teacher asked me was, 'Do you like running?' I said I did, even though I didn't really feel that way. As soon as I entered the sports school, I started training for middle and long-distance running. Students with poor performance still had to pay over 100 yuan a month for food. I didn't have much money to pay, so I had to save. I spent only 5 yuan a day on food, and when I had no money, I went hungry for one, two, or even three days. Despite this, I continued training. I am very grateful to a senior brother at the sports school. He had good performance and didn't need to pay for food. Our cafeteria arranged for the top-performing students to eat on the second floor and the others on the first floor. Sometimes, when I had no food, my senior brother would bring his meal down for me. Honestly, at that time, being able to eat a little was a great happiness, and I was very touched and grateful. Training for middle and long-distance running was tough, and my family background made it even tougher. But despite this, I never thought of giving up because I knew it was my only way out.
Participating in my first marathon, I felt like a vegetative person after finishing.
The 2008 Xiamen Marathon was my first marathon. It was also my first time taking a train away from home, a 41-hour journey. I was so excited about the train ride that I didn't feel it was long enough. When I arrived in Xiamen, I felt it was too quick. Not only was the train ride enjoyable, but the race was also a great opportunity for me to see the world outside Yunnan and prove my abilities.
Although I was very happy, I ran the Xiamen Marathon with an injury. After 10 kilometers, I felt I couldn't go on, but I persisted. By 30 kilometers, I was running mechanically. If I stopped, I wouldn't be able to walk. My legs were completely numb, and my consciousness was fading. I couldn't hear the cheers from the crowd. At that time, I didn't have good running shoes. The best pair I had, a pair of Do-Win shoes, were already too worn to wear. Before going to Xiamen, my coach gave me a pair of Asics shoes, which were also quite worn out. The shoes were a bit too big, and the soles were very thin, unlike today's Asics. Despite this, I pushed myself to the finish line. My shoes were stained red with blood from the blisters on my feet.
At the finish line, I collapsed to the ground with no strength left. I heard people telling me to walk, but I couldn't even stand up. The coach from Xinjiang, who came with our team, had a few students help me onto a car back to the hotel. During dinner, they brought me a bowl of chicken soup. The next morning, I felt like a vegetative person. I could hear them talking, but I could only respond and couldn't move. This race is the most memorable one for me so far. Thinking back, I was happy to have the chance to prove myself, even though I was exhausted. Despite the hardship, I never thought of giving up because running, no matter how tough, was sweeter than the hardships of life. Through running, I could make life better for my family.
Treat running as a hobby, and it's even better!
If we talk about running itself, I really like it. But sometimes, when a person turns their hobby into a tough profession, it becomes hard to find joy in it. Many long-distance runners face this issue. Due to my lack of talent, I didn't pass the selection for the Yunnan Provincial Sports Team. In 2010, I joined the Qinghai Provincial Sports Team and experienced less than a year of professional training. During this time, I tasted the hardships of being a professional athlete.
Once, during training in Heilongjiang, we had to wake up at 3:30 AM every day and plan to run 30 kilometers. However, just jogging to the training site was already 6 to 7 kilometers. Once there, we didn't start the 30-kilometer training immediately but did warm-up exercises and sprinted 100 meters and 200 meters for about 30 minutes without any rest. You can imagine that before starting the main 30-kilometer training, we were already exhausted. After running 30 kilometers, we had to jog 6 to 7 kilometers back to our accommodation. This wasn't the end. On the track, we started high-intensity training: two 1200-meter runs, two 600-meter runs, and five 300-meter runs. This set took about 30 minutes. We were so tired and thirsty that we would drink rainwater from puddles because we weren't allowed to drink water during the morning training.
The morning training ended around 8 AM, and we had breakfast. At 9 AM, we started the second session, training on the cross-country trail in the forest, which was 6 kilometers from our accommodation. Each lap in the forest was about 1.4 kilometers. We ran four laps per set, doing three sets, followed by two sets of two-lap sprints. We returned to our accommodation around noon, had lunch, and took a nap. At 3 PM, we did a 40 to 50-minute slow run, followed by core strength training. We had dinner around 6 PM, and we would fall asleep as soon as we lay down. Sometimes, we would wake up the next morning to find that we hadn't even covered ourselves with a blanket. Of course, there were adjustment periods, but three training sessions a day were mandatory. The training intensity was too high, and my half-marathon time was only 69 minutes, with a full marathon time of just over 2 hours and 27 minutes.
Our coach was very good, but later he got promoted, and our team disbanded. In 2011, I returned home, ending my less than a year of professional athlete life. In 2012, I started training on my own. After that, I participated in many half marathons, achieving a best time of 67 minutes. My performance was stable, and my condition was good until 2014, when I ran an ultra-marathon over three days, covering a full marathon, another full marathon, and a half marathon. After winning the championship, my mindset changed. That year, my senior brother started a training camp in Chengdu and invited me to coach the trainees, so I joined them.
Running was very exhausting at that time, and my mind was unsettled. So, in 2015, I stopped running and focused on coaching others in the training camp. As I stopped running for a year, my weight increased from 51 kilograms to 68 kilograms. The turning point that made me start running again was falling seriously ill. Once, I had a severe fever, and when I returned to the training camp, I was ridiculed by everyone. I felt very sad and disappointed. I decided to leave and return to running. In the 2016 Chengdu Marathon, I achieved my personal best time of 2 hours and 26 minutes.
You must find a training method that suits you.
As more people take up running, amateur runners now have as much, if not more, knowledge about running than professionals. I believe that regardless of the training method, if you want to improve, you have to put in the effort. Although the results may vary due to talent and individual differences, the effort is essential.
There is no perfect training method, only the best one that suits you. You might say my method is scientific, but it may only suit those with good physical fitness and be too harmful to those with poor fitness. Professional teams also face this issue. They don't tailor the training to individuals but expect athletes to adapt to the training method. Out of many athletes, only a few will adapt and succeed, while the rest are eliminated. Some people find their optimal training method and progress quickly, while those with unsuitable methods will only deviate further.
This October marks my 12th year of running. As for now, my goal is to challenge a time of 2 hours and 20 minutes. I am currently at the right age for marathon training and aim to reach the level of a master athlete. Life is short, and the time to pursue marathon achievements is now. After all, having a good performance will leave a beautiful memory in my life. My current goal is to focus on the present and do my best in what I am doing now.
To amateur runners: I think you shouldn't worry about others' opinions when running. Running is for fitness. If you can't win prizes or ranks, focus on staying healthy and reassuring your family. I think that's the best approach. Remember not to use running as a tool for showing off.
(Source: Mobile NetEase)
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