Marathon training plans. Which to pick?

[stephm0188]

I have awhile to think about this still, but I want to weigh my options. I'm doing another 10k/half weekend in April and will likely move into marathon training 6 weeks or so after that to get ready for fall, either AF or MCM.

I just finished a 10k/half weekend and trained 3-4 days a week for it using RunDisney's Galloway plans. For the short runs, it was just running 30-45 minutes, which averaged around four miles for me. 

I'm looking at Hal Higdon plans and debating whether or not to do Novice 2, which is 4 days a week and has one 20 mile run, or Intermediate 1 which is 5 days a week and has two 20 milers. If I went the Intermediate 1 route, I'd step up to 4 days a week between now and my April weekend.

Thoughts? This will be my first full. I don't want to overdo it, but I don't want to undertrain either. Suggest other plans as well if you have them!

[wambam]

I'm using HH Novice 2. It worked really well for my first half, so I'm assuming it will be similarly successful for my first full.

[brooke77]

I did HH Novice 2 and felt fully prepared. I liked 4 days running and 1 day of cross training.

[Wines Not Whines]

For my first marathon, I did HH Novice 2 but I added a second 20-mile run. It worked well for me.

[atlas]

For all my marathons I've done David Kuehls' "4 Months to a 4 Hour Marathon", which leads to a 4:00:00-4:59:59 time.

I like the long runs from the 4:45 time the best. It is a 4 days run, 2 days cross training, 1 day rest plan.

I like Hal's plans also though I just really love how tiny the Kuehls book is.

[wambam]

Jan 20, 2016 18:23:59 GMT -5 Wines Not Whines said:

For my first marathon, I did HH Novice 2 but I added a second 20-mile run. It worked well for me.

Do you remember where you added it?

[jordylee]

I did HH novice 2 for my first 3 marathons and really liked it. 4 days/week seems like the right balance for me. If you've been averaging 3-4 days/week with half training, going to 5 days for marathon training is a big jump. I would go for the HH novice 2 plan for sure.

[Wines Not Whines]

Jan 20, 2016 18:42:06 GMT -5 wambam said:

Jan 20, 2016 18:23:59 GMT -5 Wines Not Whines said:

For my first marathon, I did HH Novice 2 but I added a second 20-mile run. It worked well for me.

Do you remember where you added it?

Instead of a 19 and 20 miler, I did 18, 20, 20. 

[sassystace]

I did HH Novice 2 for my first (and only) marathon and felt well prepared.

[bostonmichelle]

I did HH Novice 2 for my first marathon as well and felt very prepared. I also substituted a 20 miler in for the 19 miler and also bumped up the 20 miler to 22 miles.

[clseale]

Jan 20, 2016 20:05:35 GMT -5 bostonmichelle said:

I did HH Novice 2 for my first marathon as well and felt very prepared. I also substituted a 20 miler in for the 19 miler and also bumped up the 20 miler to 22 miles.

This is exactly what I would do.

[cinco]

Jan 20, 2016 19:20:39 GMT -5 Wines Not Whines said:

Jan 20, 2016 18:42:06 GMT -5 wambam said:

Do you remember where you added it?

Instead of a 19 and 20 miler, I did 18, 20, 20. 

I did this too. I did an 18 and two 20's for my last marathon (#12) as well, so I must like that long run schedule.

[stephm0188]

Jan 21, 2016 10:04:05 GMT -5 @vtcupcake said:

Jan 20, 2016 18:23:59 GMT -5 Wines Not Whines said:

For my first marathon, I did HH Novice 2 but I added a second 20-mile run. It worked well for me.

This is exactly what I (thought I did). 

What does your weekly mileage look like now, or what did it look like for half marathon training? 

Currently 22- 30ish, depending on whether it's 3 or 4 days. 

I'm doing another 10k/half weekend mid April but will not follow the plan I previously used. I'll probably drop back down to 6-7 for my first long run and work back up, but I'll try adding a 4th day in consistently. That way I can increase the frequency without drastically increasing my mileage right away. 

I like the idea of subbing in another 20 in the Novice 2 plan.

[niq]

People around here love the Hansons plan. They're lower mileage than a lot of other plans out there, and the longest long run is 16 miles. I guess the idea is that you run harder, but for shorter distances. Not a marathoner, so I don't have any first-hand experience.

www.hansons-running.com/training-plans/beginner-training-plan/

[keweenawlove]

Jan 21, 2016 14:29:57 GMT -5 niq said:

People around here love the Hansons plan. They're lower mileage than a lot of other plans out there, and the longest long run is 16 miles. I guess the idea is that you run harder, but for shorter distances. Not a marathoner, so I don't have any first-hand experience.

www.hansons-running.com/training-plans/beginner-training-plan/

I always had the assumption that this was a lower mileage plan but it's a lot more aggressive than that Hal Higdon novice and intermediate plans. The longest run is shorter but there's still 4-5 50+ mile weeks in there which is a lot of a "beginner" plan.

The idea with the long runs is the runs are shorter so you decrease your injury risk but you do a long tempo run a few days before so you're learning how to run on fatigued legs.