Brett Stewart - 7 Weeks to a 10K: The Complete Day-by-Day Program to Train for Your First Race or Improve Your Fastest Time

Ulysses Press

Text Copyright 2012 Brett Stewart. Design and concept 2012 Ulysses Press and its licensors. Photographs copyright 2012 Rapt Productions except as noted below. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Published in the United States by

Ulysses Press

P.O. Box 3440

Berkeley, CA 94703

www.ulyssespress.com

ISBN: 978-1-61243-192-5

Library of Congress Control Number 2013930887

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Acquisitions Editor: Keith Riegert

Managing Editor: Claire Chun

Editor: Lily Chou

Proofreader: Lauren Harrison

Index: Sayre Van Young

Design: what!design @ whatweb.com

Cover photographs: front Gabriel Gurrola; back EpicStockMedia/shutterstock.com

Interior photographs: see

Models: Michael Bennett, Brian Burns, Evan Clontz, Lewis Elliot, Brett Stewart, Kristen Stewart

Distributed by Publishers Group West

Please Note: This book has been written and published strictly for informational purposes, and in no way should be used as a substitute for consultation with health care professionals. You should not consider educational material herein to be the practice of medicine or to replace consultation with a physician or other medical practitioner. The author and publisher are providing you with information in this work so that you can have the knowledge and can choose, at your own risk, to act on that knowledge. The author and publisher also urge all readers to be aware of their health status and to consult health care professionals before beginning any health program.

This book is dedicated to the memory of Sally Meyerhoff, an amazing spirit and extremely talented athlete who was taken from us far too soon. Smash it for Sally#SI4S

CONTENTS

When I was sitting down to write this book, I had my first bout of crippling writers blocka serious, finger-paralyzing fear that crept over me and prevented me from typing a single word on my trusty little MacBook. My lockup wasnt due to lack of material; Ive been obsessing and learning everything possible about running for nearly a decade. If anything, I was overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of all the research and testing Ive done for my own programs and those Ive coached my athletes through, all the things Ive screwed up and the times I succeeded way beyond my own expectations. Through it all, Ive been keeping a mental diary of the places Ive gone and every single thing Ive seen and done along the way. Thats a lot of pressure to condense all those tips, tricks, tidbits, failures, foibles and follies and share them within the number of pages Ive been allotted in this book!

In order to clear my head, slice through the glut of material I wanted to present and return my fingers to the keyboard, I decided to employ some sneaker therapyin other words, go out for a run. With this writers block really knocking me off-track, I knew I needed to go for a rather long runso I signed up for one of the premier ultra-distance events in the United States, Across the Years in Glendale, Arizona. After over 50 miles, hundreds of conversations, roughly 100,000 steps and millions of thoughts later, my mind was clear and my writers block was gone. The answer? Id write about all the changes that have occurred in my life, how they started with just one step. The day I started to run was the first step to a completely new, healthy, happy and extremely satisfying life.

This book is my humble addition to the world of running, an attempt to give back even a fraction of what running has given me. It would be the ultimate gift if my words encouraged just one person to experience the life-changing effects of running. I sincerely hope this book will help motivate you to take that first step.

Brett

Ive been chased by zombies. Ive run past rattlesnakes, crossed the raging Colorado River, circled a baseball field repeatedly for over 50 miles, sprinted past world-famous athletes (only to be left in their dust shortly thereafter), and watched a world-record ultramarathon distance get shattered. Ive been lucky enough to run alongside Dean Ultramarathon Man Karnazes (one of my running heroes and a fantastic guy) in the middle of nowhere in Globe, Arizona, and got lost with him on a trail in Austin, Texas. Heck, I even got to run my first ultramarathon by Karnos side for the first few miles.

Running has taken me to the Outer Banks of North Carolina and all the way to San Diego, both times to run some of the most exciting marathons in my life. Ive enjoyed running down the middle of the Las Vegas strip under the Sin City lights past all the billion-dollar hotels, and in the middle of, well, nowhere in Montana. Ive seen more places across the United States with running shoes on my feet than I can count, and each experience has been special to me because theres no way I should ever be a runnerIm just a fat kid from Connecticut.

Im the second of two boys. My brother was the honor student, all-star baseball player and on the starting basketball team as we were growing upand I was the one riding the pine. My athletic prowess (or lack thereof) was only due to my dad taking over as Little League coach and putting me at second base. Willie Randolph, I was not. Aside from being the team mascot cheering from the bench, I was the kid whod (occasionally) hit a ball to the outfield grass and still get thrown out running to first. Have you heard the phrase you could time his speed with a sundial before? Well, that was me.

Pudgy, slow and below average were the terms Id use to describe my youth, and for the next decade or so it only got worse. By age 29, I was overweight, smoked about two packs of cigarettes a day, and sat on my butt in front of a computer screen for eight hours a day before heading back home and plopping on a couch to stare at the boob tube. My weight had easily eclipsed 200 pounds, and at 58 tall, I was the furthest I could possibly be from being an athlete. I had stopped playing sports, wasnt dating and was pretty darn bummed about my life when one of my employees and good friend Chris Goggin challenged me to do a duathlon with him. I tell the story of that adventure in 7 Weeks to a Triathlon, but prior to showing up for that event, I prepared by running my first 5K.

That day in downtown Hartford, Connecticut, a decade ago, my journey to becoming a runner was launched rather inauspiciously. Walk, run, jog, walk, curse, walk some more, trip, tie shoe, walk, run, tie the other #$& shoe and curse a little moreand that was just the first mile. I didnt realize it then, but everything Ive come to know and love about running across the years started with just one step. A little piece of me longs to go back to that day and start all over again knowing what I know now, but the reality is that I wouldnt change a single thing. In running, the journey is its own reward, and everything you learn, see and do along the way is a treasure unto itself.

About the Book

Much more than just preparing for a specific 6.2-mile event, 7 Weeks to a 10K