Training plan for The Relay

As promised, I've come up with a basic training plan for The Relay. Please note that I am not a professional! I've trained for several distance races, but never for a relay, so this plan is based on my own experience and knowledge of general training, as well as relay-specific training plans I found online. I'd consider it an intermediate plan, in that it includes a fair amount of speedwork. If you're newer to running, you might consider substituting easy mileage for some of the speedwork.

So without further ado, here you go:

(Click it if you'd actually like to be able to read it!)

Some things to keep in mind as you train for The Relay, whether you use this plan or not:

• This plan is not written in stone. Be flexible! Rearrange the training days to best suit your weekly schedule. Don't panic if you miss a run or two, and if you do, don't try to make it up with extra mileage. Just resume the training schedule as quickly as you can.
  
• Listen to your body. If it hurts (outside of basic sore muscles), stop! A day or two off is far better than pushing through and really ending up injured.
  
• Hills, hills, hills! We will be running over some tough terrain, so be prepared! Do keep in mind, though, that hills are tough on your body. So make a point to do some hill running each week, but try not to tackle serious hills more than once or twice a week.
• Build your mileage slowly! No more than 10% increase per week.
• Your training can, and should, vary according to which legs you are running. I will be assigning legs as soon as I can, pending a full roster and a good group trail run or two. Once you know how long your legs will be, you'll want to prepare accordingly. If you're a beginner, don't worry--I'll be saving the especially long and tough legs for more experienced runners. If you're more experienced, be afraid! *grin*
• Run some two-a-days, but not too many. You want to get used to running on tired legs, but keep in mind that doing so increases your chance of injury. So be careful, and don't overdo it! You might also want to make a point of doing some of your runs in the morning and some in the evening, just to get used to running at different times of the day.
  
• If you're training for a spring half or full marathon, you should be pretty well prepared for The Relay. The only thing you will probably want to do differently is to add several two-a-day sessions in the month before The Relay to get used to running on already-tired legs.