Today began the my second training cycle of 2026, targeting the Atlanta Track Club (ATC) Wingfoot Mile. This is supposed to be the second event of the ATC grand prix series, but the first event was postponed.

The General Plan

The training cycle is 15 weeks long. Since the race is on a Tuesday, my training week will start on Wednesday. It’s a little harder to keep track of, mentally, but I prefer it to having a weird last couple of weeks to get everything aligned for the race.

The Atlanta Track Club Member’s 10k will happen during this training cycle, and I expect the Goizueta Welcome Weekend Dooley Dash will also, but I don’t have any details on that race yet.

The plan is an adaptation of Jack Daniels’ 1500 to 2-Mile plan from the third edition of Daniels’ Running Formula.

Strength Training

Coming off of the Big Beach Half Marathon put me at two weeks of lower-intensity strength training, and then I got sick which lost another week.

I’m starting back up with a linear program and will progress as needed from there. I intend to move squats aggressively from linear to weekly to cyclical increases as needed to not interfere with my running. I’ll need to listen well to my body.

Phase One

I took a recovery week after the half marathon, plus a few extra days to start this cycle on a Wednesday.

Phase one is four weeks long and all Easy (E) running with strides (ST) on the short days. I will do my usual planned down weeks of 75% volume every fourth week. Working backwards from race week puts my first down week on week 3. I will do a small volume bump (+5 minutes) on my long run and increase my strides reps on the week following the down week.

1. Week 1
   1. Wednesday: 45 min E
   2. Thursday: 30 min E + 9 ST
   3. Friday: 30 min E + 7 ST
   4. Saturday: 65 min E
   5. Sunday: OFF
   6. Monday: 45 min E
   7. Tuesday: 30 min E + 7 ST
2. Week 2
   1. Wednesday: 45 min E
   2. Thursday: 30 min E + 9 ST
   3. Friday: 30 min E + 7 ST
   4. Saturday: 65 min E
   5. Sunday: OFF
   6. Monday: 45 min E
   7. Tuesday: 30 min E + 7 ST
3. Week 3 (down week)
   1. Wednesday: 30 min E
   2. Thursday: 20 min E + 9 ST
   3. Friday: 20 min E + 7 ST
   4. Saturday: 45 min E
   5. Sunday: OFF
   6. Monday: 30 min E
   7. Tuesday: 20 min E + 7 ST
4. Week 4 (volume bump)
   1. Wednesday: 45 min E
   2. Thursday: 30 min E + 9 ST
   3. Friday: 30 min E + 9 ST
   4. Saturday: 70 min E
   5. Sunday: OFF
   6. Monday: 45 min E
   7. Tuesday: 30 min E + 7 ST