The Power of Planning Your Year (In Running)

Are you thinking about your running goals for 2026? Maybe this is the year to run farther or shave some time off that PR?

Have you fallen into any of these common scenarios that cause runners to plateau?

• Having a plan only when they have a race coming up on the calendar. 
• Setting big goals for a race or build and find yourself burnt out with working training into a busy schedule.
• Using the same training program over and over again.
• Trying to get faster or go up a race distance but find your body breaking down with the increased training load?

In the last post I shared how runners can use cycle stacking  to reach new levels in their running. If you haven’t had a chance to check that one out yet, scroll down and give it a glimpse as this all might make a little more sense as we are going to get to work on how to actually work those cycles into your calendar to set you up for your best year of running yet. 

If you’re a mom juggling your running goals with running a family, having structure to your training throughout the entire year is going to serve you so much better than trying to cram all of your prep into one race specific build. Zooming out and setting up your ENTIRE YEAR in running will help you plan those cycles in a way that makes sense with your goals and the rest of your life. This doesn’t mean you will have all the details of all the workouts, but it will give you an outline of how to focus your training.

If it sounds a little overwhelming, I’m going to take you through the process. Grab a pen and sheet of paper or maybe your calendar. I put an example in italics. 

Step 1: Write down any events you are already signed up for or seriously thinking about and when they are. You don’t need to filter too much here. If your list has more than 2 events, circle the 2 that you really want to prioritize or the ones that will likely take the most preparation for. 

Crater Trail Run 50K: Beginning of June

Mines of Spain 100 miler: Mid October

Possibly do something shorter in the spring? Loud Thunder in April  or maybe a 50 miler as part of Mines of Spain build?

 

Step 2: Take a look at your circled goals. Do they fit well together? Do they allow enough time between to recover? Do they involve travel or other logistical planning? 

Crater Trail Run 50k- Decorah, IA, June

Will likely camp again, maybe kids will come with us this time or ask for grandparent help.

Mines of Spain 100 mile- Dubuque, IA, October

Probably kids’ fall break again. Can mom and dad help with girls?

The 50k build should be a nice precursor to get ready for higher mileage for Mines of Spain.

 

Step 3: How do things look so far? Do your events seem to play nicely together? Now let’s look at how the training will fit in. For your 1-2 priority races, let’s look at how the build will fit in. Typically a specific race prep will be anywhere from 12-16 weeks depending on the distance and experience at that distance. Using your whole year will help with this as well as you might dedicate the cycle before  your race build to building a base to prep for bigger miles. Take your race dates and work backwards.

Crater Trail Run 50k- Beginning of June = 12 week build: March, April, May

Mines of Spain 100- Mid October = 16 week build: Mid July to Mid October coming off of good base from 50k

Possible 50 miler late August or early September?

 

Step 4: How does that timing look? Make notes of what will be going on in the rest of your life during those times. Keep in mind for a longer race, you will likely taper for the couple weeks before your race so volume will be lower. Peak training typically hits about a month prior to your race.

Crater Trail Run 50k- Beginning of June

12 week build: March, April, May - Will have Fridays for long runs. End of May gets busy but this should time well with taper.

Mines of Spain 100- Mid October

16 week build: Mid July to Mid October coming off of good base from 50kWill have June to recover. Lots of light in the mornings during the summer and don’t have to have kids ready for school so can get more early morning miles in. Family vacation likely in June or August but will have a good base. Will likely take a couple days of PTO for long run back to back while kids are in school.

 

Step 5: Check in again. Does the timing fit? Hear me out, you will still have things come up but planning ahead of time gives you a better starting place. Now we fill in the rest of the year.

What areas of your fitness will you want to improve to prepare yourself for your race build? The 3 we focus on inside Run-Resilient are strength, speed, and endurance/base building. Think for a bit what your goal will require of you. 

Is it a new distance? Building your base to prepare for longer miles in training may be most beneficial. Maybe you did this distance last year and you want to focus on speed? 

Coming back from an injury or coming off of a cycle where strength training took a back seat? A strength cycle could prepare your body for the upcoming demands of your training.

Keep in mind, you will still be addressing the other areas even in this time of focus. 

November-December: Strength

January-February: Speed 

March-May: Build for Crater Trail Run

June: Crater Trail Run 50k, Recovery, Strength

July-October: Mines of Spain Build, Race, and Recovery

November- December: Recovery and Strength

 

Step 6: Take a look and note any thoughts on how it fits together. If it has you excited and feels realistic with your life outside of running, you have an outline of your year, time to fill in some details!

November-December: Strength-nice with less light and busy holiday stuff

January-February: Speed- works well with more treadmill time, have a great  base from the last year

March-May: Build for Crater Trail Run- Most of build done by end of school year when life gets crazy

June: Crater Trail Run 50k, Recovery, Strength- allows some flexibility for summer fun and vacations

July-October: Mines of Spain Build, Race, and Recovery- good endurance base off of 50 k build

November- December: Recovery and Strength- love this for the business of holidays and hunting season picking up

 

If you’re still here, heck yeah!!!!!!!! I hope you’re excited even if it’s mixed with a tad of overwhelm. This process is a game changer. 

I don’t know the original origin of this– “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing.” I think I saw it on a reel created by ultrarunner Andy Glaze, but it’s something I want to lean into this year. As a physical therapist, I will add the disclaimer: overdoing is not equal to overtraining and getting injured but more interpreting it as really going all in ;)  

I truly hope this process helps you really lean into your running in 2026.

If you’re not quite sure what filling in the details looks like or how to fill in those spaces between races, click below to set up a complimentary 15 minute strategy session with me. I’d love to help you get on track for your best running year yet.

Click the link below to set up your strategy session. 

Click here to schedule strategy session.

Keep running yourself resilient!

Katlyn