Training Schedule

     5am on a Saturday what wakes you up?  Is it devotion to this craft called running.  Or is it allegiance to the calendar.  I think we have been at both places during our running journey.  When I first started running I ran a route that was 1.33 miles over and over again then stretched it out to a 2 mile route.  There were no tempo runs, or speed work.  It was just me, shoes, and the road, oh and pain too!  After I signed up for my first 5K I began to look at many different training schedules and programs.  I picked out the one I thought best for me and stuck to it.  Come hell or high water I ran.  I did not deviate from the schedule one bit.  That was good for running but not so good for married life.
     Currently what I do is take blocks or phases then adjust weekly mileage to be where I want it to be.  For example I am at the end of a bass phase about to move into a building phase.  My base phase is 6 weeks long and the goal is to get comfortable running 35 miles a week by the end.  Within a week there is speed work, tempo runs, recovery runs, and others.  The next part of my training will be a build phase.  The aim is to get upwards of 50 miles a week with 26-30 miles on the weekends.  In this phase are natural peeks and lulls.  Two weeks are hard mileage and one week is easy, about 5-10 miles less for the week.  Repeat this up and down process for 9 weeks never increasing my miles by more than 10%.  I like to be flexible in my training.  I want to run but I don't want running to take over my life, too late.  I will still get a long run in but it may be at night.  If I do speed work and am not feeling it, I switch it up.  This week I have walked and ran 27.7 miles.  I am going out for a 7.3 mile run so that I can get to 35 miles for the week.  See you in a bit, just after I find where I put my clean running clothes.
     How do you train for events?