Did it for ~4 months last year. Saw paces steadily decrease at the same HR. Had an Ironman PR run later in the year. I'm a fan.

I'm currently using the Hal Higdon Intermediate 2 plan to train for a marathon. The runs on that plan are almost identical to BarryP. Starting to see similar improvements again.

Not sure how you want to define barry P plan, and how religiously you have to follow it to be "on" the plan. Anyway - I'd define it as running consistently 5-6 days a week, mostly slow - easy running.

I started this oct 15. That same year I had run a 3:21 marathon im apr/may, and my 10k PR was around 40-40:30. I ran consistently 5-6 times pr week - 50-60km pr week of slow - from oct - april 16.

Result:
New 10k pr - about 38:15
Mara - 3:07

Do you also swim and bike? If you do, how does your week look like?

Followed it for a marathon a couple of years ago. Started training pretty much from scratch as I had done very little running for a couple of years following an injury, though aerobic fitness was still decent from cycling. Followed it fairly religiously for 6 months or so, building gradually up to 35-40 mpw based off 5-6 runs per week, and with no speed work other than strides. Saw speed and HR steadily drop. In February and March that year I was in probably the best running form of my life aged 38, surpassing all my expectations to finish in the top 10% of men on a hilly, off road 8 miler, and then setting a half marathon PR. Then I blew it by getting over-excited and adding too much speedwork too quickly, picked up some injury niggles and came back too quickly, injured myself again and ended up doing the marathon with sub-optimal training. Still did OK, was my first standalone marathon and I was 25 minutes quicker than my best IM marathon, but probably 15 minutes off where I should have been based on my half mary time.

I think it's a great plan for people who have the time and patience to commit to getting fast slowly. And particularly for anybody who has experienced injury issues with running. If you're lucky enough to have great genes or mechanics that allow you to train for running like you'd train for cycling or swimming with lots of intervals and intensity without injuring yourself, then it might not be the right plan for you.

I do - but for last 2 seasons I've focussed on running in the period oct - march. During that period i try to run 6 times pr week, commute to/from work on my bike, and get 1 session on the Trainer with 2x20@95% . Only occasionally swim in this Off-season, but Max 1 pr week. Im kinda time constrained with wife+3kids (0+3+5yo, so some unlogged running there chasing those around!) 😀

Weeks vary alot on what i do when, but typically

Mon- 50min commute bike + 7-8k run in pm
Tur- 50min commute bike + 2x20 trainer pm + short treadmill transition run (3-6km)
Wed - run to/from work instead of bike - 18km run
Thurs - 50min commute bike - 7-8km run
Fri- 50min commute bike - friday taco with kids pm
Sat / sunday - 8-10km run one day + long Run (12-20km run the other)

Usually end up around 8-10hrs/week, depending om what kids/job allows for. I do this for fun, so some (alot, sometimes!) sessions go out the window if my time is better spent in the house:-)

From march I'll cut back to 3-4runs pr week, and add more long rides (mostly 2-3hr rides), and some swim.

It works, do it.

I did it last year in build up to IMTX (winter/spring). Got up to 40mpw base and built up to 20 mile LR (LR every other week). Never did any tempo or speed work. All endurance paced (easy < LR < recovery)

The previous fall I ran a 7:00/mile sprint tri. That spring I ran a 6:17/mile sprint tri. I did ok at IMTX, but paced very conservatively and lost focusness around miles 14-17. Ended up with 4:12 with no walking and last mile as my fastest.

This fall/winter I decided to step it up a notch and do the desert dude full on ass BarryP style challenge. Run 200 miles per month for 4 months straight. I had been doing a bike focus over the summer and only avg ~16mpw running for the 5 months after IMTX. Mid-October I started at 30mpw and slowly built up to 50mpw by mid Dec. I started adding in 1-2 tempo runs a week beginning of the year.

I ran a 10k Turkey trot @ 6:33/mile & HR was over 180 from the end of the first mile on. I was redlined. I just ran a solo half marathon 2 weekends ago @ 6:33/mile & my HR avg was 163.

My Hr is down 20 bpm pretty much across the board. Here's a couple of similar runs, one 12/13, one today. Notice the difference in HR. And it was hot and muggy today so not due to different weather. (I wouldn't have run that fast on 12/13 if it hadn't been for running with someone faster than me).

12/13/2016



2/13/2016

Amazing result! Thank u so much for taking the time to share your result! I am currently also doing desert dudes full ass challenge. I started at 50k now doing 61k this week!

Thank u for sharing!

Thank u for sharing!

Thank u!

Barry P or not - I think the simple essence of Desert Dudes mantra (which works): training works, volume works. Run more = Run faster!

I still get confused by how slow people should run sometimes. At what point is 'too slow'?
I have a pb of 19:02 at a flat 5k, so according to daniels, mcmillin etc, easy is 4:53-5:19 pace. My weekend long runs I was doing 5min pace, but I always hit the wall at km 15 roughly. I can do 1hr or less at this pace but not any real longer, I have terrible endurance. On the weekend I slowed to 5:20 pace and felt good and could have kept going well past the usual break down point. In fact km 15-18 I finished fast at 4:30, 4:15 and 4min flat pace. Felt much fresher the next day too.
Would it be beneficial to run all easy pace at 5:20 or 5 flat on the shorter runs? Its a mental barrier to run slower than I normally do, and whilst it worked for longer runs, I'm not sure if this should apply to short runs. I'm also astounded some of the fast runs here from people who do next to not speed work and just strides. I'm only doing 55kms a week roughly, so I assume running that slow, some of you are kicking in some serious kms?

I can only speak for myself - but I also usually end up running a little slower than Daniels/McMillan's paces. I find it amazing how fast you can get by just running slow! F.ex last fall, my best periods of improvement came when i ran 6 days a week, all slow. I would run a 10k - series every third monday as my only hard efford (iow one hard run pr 3 weeks). Even though i ran now faster than 5-5:15min/km for training-runs - I ended up with a close to 38min 10k.

I also found that it was very easy to get to eager to fast - iow get tempted to start running more intervals and tempos in training. This would be good for a week or two, but then suddenly came the period where I hade to cut volume because of tired legs etc. I'm no coach, but I'd attribute running progression to the following factors, and in this order: 1. Run frequency, 2. Run Volume 3. Speedwork/tempo in training.

This has been my experience for sure. The first time I did it I didn't do any tempo or anything. Still made amazing progress, but this time by running hard 1-2x per week it has taken it even further.

So build mileage by running frequently. Once you're at your target mileage start doing one hard run a week. It works.

i'm coming back from an achille slight tendinitis and a moderate achille tendinosis.

now i now that the only thing i can do for my tendinosis is don't make it worse and keep on checkin it with an eco regularly. even if i m not running since june my tendinitis is still present but is not a serious one so someone is telling me to run and see what happen.

so i m wondering if starting with the so called barryP program could be good for me maybe with some eliptical workouts instead of road workouts.

anyone has experienced something similiar?

I've been at it since November 1st

new PR for 10k
Seeing big gains anecdotally
Hope to set new HM PRs in May

highly recommended!

My mistake I have made in the past is my "easy" runs were always run too hard. Every....single.....time. I have learned to take it much easier for those easy runs and as a result I am a lot less shelled day to day.

Forgot I had made this. Basically shows my progress over three months. I think everything up to Jan 1 was < 30 m/wk. I wish I had tracked more data points between Jan 1 and Feb 23 but I think that's when I moved outside. All of the data points here were strictly treadmill to try and eliminate variables.

In the end speed improved as HR dropped. The plan was to continue this for the majority of the year. Then my buddy went and signed up for an IM...

Absolutely love than general ease and structure of it. I've been doing it for around 9-10 months now, and can saw without a doubt, that i've become a very durable runner.

My results: Prior to using it, i had a nagging ITB issue along with general aches and pains, sporadic pace changes with Heart Rate. Since increases frequency and duration, lowering intensity, i'm actually faster at a relatively low heart rate, and havnt been injured in a while.

Generally, my runs are done at a comfortable easy pace (around 7:30-7:45 min/mile) , with my longer run at around 8min/mile.

6-7 runs a week. MWF - 4 miles. Tu Thr - 7-10 miles. Sat - 13 - 15 miles.
Shorter runs after the bike, and the others when I get up.

Stick with it. No pacey/fast runs. All generally easy. If you want any intensity, just do hills. The key is to make sure you come back in feeling fresh, and not battered.

A few sources I've read agree that the low run should be slower as per the McMillan pace guide and your shorter runs are at the faster pace. I've been keeping to the slow end of the McMillan pace guide and feel comfortable on both short and long runs. I've found that while the long run feels too slow at the start and it's a challenge to not speed up, by the end(mine got up to 15km last year) I was starting to feel really feel it, but was not about to hit the wall. And while the day after my long run was usually my rest day, I always felt fresh and ready to run again.

Cheers for that- I have been trying to hit 5min pace per km all the time every time and when it gets hot and humid here that becomes harder as time goes on. I have slowed my runs down this week to 5:15-5:20 pace per km (8:30 miles). I don't know if that will help when doing 55kms a week, or help me break a pb of 19:02 on a 5km but it sure leaves me fresher.
Glad I'm not the only one

2000-2007, I raced and trained a lot - PB 15.46 on 5000, and swimming 17.00 for the 1500 free.
Adult life hit me, together with injuries - 2008-2015, I did maybe 3000 k on a bit a year.
In 2016 I decided to try again - and I started from 0 with Barry P (on/off) in 2016.
Got more serious starting in the beginning of november 2016, BarryP style only slow running.
Week 1 in 2017: 34 k (all @ 5.00-5.15, 10 minutes @ 4.00)
Week 2 in 2017: 38 k (all @ 5.00-5.15, 15 minutes @ 4.00)
Week 3 in 2017: 45 k (all @ 5.00-5.15, 20 minutes @ 4.00)
Week 4, first recovery week - did a 5k test on the track, 0 degrees celcius and a bit of wind: 17.58.
All splits from the test, was faster than any running since 2007.
Now in week 7 (the third week of Base 2) - I will hit 50 k.
In week 9-11 (Base 3), I aim for 50, 55 and 60 k - all @ 5.00.

I really trust the plan, and you just have to load up on patience.

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Long Distance PB: 8:25
Instagram: larsschmidttri

This is awesome! Especially that I only run treadmill cause of family.
Thank you!

A quick one for the experienced ones:
In this article by BarryP:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=1179810;page=1;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25


(training for the time crunched triathlete):
He says you can then do 3 worksouts a week, start with building mileage untill you run out of time, then add in a tempo run/ fartlek, and close to race even some tresholds runs.

That's fine. But the 3 worksouts a week in the begging what intensity should they be? In the normal 6/days a week it either long/mediom/short(recovery runs) based on mcmillan running calculator.
How should only 3 workouts be structured? Would it be 1 long run and 2 mediums? 3x medium? Or 1 long 1 medium 1 short?