Back in 1996, Cindy Connolly, a commercial litigation attorney from Austin, Texas, ran 3:06 for the marathon. Since then she hasn't run faster.

So two years ago her coach, Carmen Ayala-Troncoso, convinced her to abandon the traditional seven-day training schedule for a 10-day plan. Last spring, a few months before turning 40, Connolly notched 5K and road mile PRs of 18:46 and 5:18. She was on pace to set a marathon PR at Cal International in December but got derailed by warm conditions and finished in 3:14. Undeterred, she's now aiming to break 3:00 in 2012.

Connolly attributes her success to no longer cramming long runs and speed sessions into seven-day cycles while the rest of her week entails juggling 60-hour work weeks and raising a family. "I feel like this has really re-energized my running," she says. "I'm not as depleted after my long runs and I still have turnover to do speed workouts. Before, I felt the long run was dominating my training."

Connolly isn't alone among masters in discovering that spreading training sessions over 10 days or more offers aging runners the additional recovery they need along with the ability to fit in the different types of training sessions that they require.

Ayala-Troncoso, she says, recognized that for Connolly to get faster in the marathon she needed to space out her long runs and develop her leg speed on the track. "The long run has become almost an afterthought now," Connolly says. One of Connolly's 10-day cycles calls for two rest days and a recovery run interspersed with a long run, interval day and two runs at marathon pace.

Spreading out her training over 10 days poses a new challenge for her, as sometimes she has to do her long run on a weekday. This means fitting it into her busy work schedule. "I thought I'd be stressed out about it. But when it was in the middle of the week I'd play hooky from work or go in later," Connolly says. "I found it to be enjoyable."

Connolly has found her new schedule not only gives her body more time to recover but also makes it easier to add activities such as yoga, stretching and massage. She's also seen a family benefit. "It frees up another day on the weekend because it's not dominated by the long run," she says.

Ayala-Troncoso, a multiple national masters champ on all surfaces, has been a proponent of a 10-to 14-day schedule for years. The problem she has is convincing her runners to try it.

"Most of them don't want to do it. Or they try it and go back. Their heads are so into the seven-day schedule. And they have this thing about the Sunday long run," she says.

Ayala-Troncoso admits the switch may not be ideal for many runners because of the need to rearrange their schedule. Like Connolly, they may have to do a long run during the week, which can play havoc with work and family responsibilities. And it may be difficult to mesh the new schedule with the group they normally run intervals with on Wednesday night.

"I was surprised no one else had talked about it before," Connelly says. "We need to recover more as masters runners, especially someone who is juggling a lot of things like I am and is not getting as much sleep as they need. This gives me the extra recovery I need. I think I'll stick with it."

Cindy Connolly's 10-day sample schedule:

Day 1    Long run, 20-plus miles
Day 4    8-10 x mile 6:507:10 per mile, marathon pace
Health & Injuries
Day 4    8-10 x mile (6:50–7:10 per mile, marathon pace)
Races - Places
Day 4    8-10 x mile 6:507:10 per mile, marathon pace
Day 8    16 x 400m 90 seconds with 100m jog recovery
Day 8    16 x 400m (90 seconds) with 100m jog recovery
All About 75 Hard
Day 10    3 X 20 minutes at marathon race pace or faster (6:50-7:10 per mile)