I had the most success (got the most improvement) following Brad Hudson’s plans. I also tried Pfitzinger and Jack Daniels, but they just didn’t work as well for me for whatever reason. I do think Brad’s plan is ‘easier’, and recall rarely/never having a bad workout compared to the others where I always got to a point where I couldn’t complete the work. This was a ~decade ago though, so I don’t know what’s newer/better.

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Dimond Bikes Superfan

I liked Pfitzinger. In my opinion his plans are the closest to long distance triathlon plans. They're designed for gluttons for both volume and punishment (i.e. triathletes) :)

I liked medium long runs in the middle of the week and fact-checking long marathon pace runs. But it's not for everybody, you might not enjoy them of you respond to different types of workouts. Also, be careful, those 12/18 weeks will tax you. I'd consider a proper rest period after a training block, even though "it's just a marathon" :)

Also his book Advanced Marathoning is somewhat similar in training approach to Matt Dixon books.

I did 18/70 and 12/70 a couple of times. Marathon PR 2:57 on a very hilly Rock'n'Roll DC course.

I used the Hansons advanced plan earlier this year with very slight modifications for my first open marathon. Was aiming for a sub 3 and ended up with a 2:56.

Probably not the best plan if you want to keep up swimming and biking though. I kept in some cross training (mostly weights), but kept the focus on running for 16 weeks (one of the mods I made was doing 16 instead of 18 weeks).

FWIW, I did not actually end up losing much swim or bike fitness either. You could probably get by with adding a few recovery swim/rides in with Hanson's but I don't think you'd want to add much else especially in the later weeks of the plan. I am also a HUGE TR fan, but took the advice they always give on their podcast when someone asks about balancing marathon training with a TR plan to break 3 hours -- if a sub 3 is your goal, focus on running. Obviously it worked for me, but I've heard success stories with other people doing plans that rely more on cross training (Run Less Run Faster Program, etc.) I did try those plans in the past, but ended up falling off the plan--too much intensity too little easy volume for me.

What is Hanson's first name? Or is it a typo (Hudson)?

Thanks for the responses everyone. These 3-4 names are a good start. I'll check them out and pick a plan. Sacrificing swim/bike will be hard but I'm willing to do it if necessary. I was hoping with a 3:12 IM run in my system getting to 2:55-3:00 would be doable with a run-centric plan that still includes the other two disciplines.

If you can run 3:12 in an IM you ought to be able to go out and do sub 3 any day of the week.

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Dimond Bikes Superfan

Yeah, typo no apostrophe just Hansons.

https://www.amazon.com/Hansons-Marathon-Method-Your-Fastest/dp/1937715485/ref=pd_bxgy_img_2/141-9199956-5265434?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1937715485&pd_rd_r=282ed37b-6e2c-4574-9a1b-275ce2a2637f&pd_rd_w=Z2RKW&pd_rd_wg=pY8ne&pf_rd_p=fd3ebcd0-c1a2-44cf-aba2-bbf4810b3732&pf_rd_r=D63DXC8TD9XEHBK1TXRB&psc=1&refRID=D63DXC8TD9XEHBK1TXRB

Echo other folks, think you should have no trouble breaking 3 in an open given your IM run performance.

All these plans look good in one way or another. Decided to go with Hudson or Hanson because those work best with my schedule (3 quality runs and no 2hr runs on weekdays), look fun, and the "easy run"/"cross-train" days look replaceable with easy swims and bike rides. Thanks, everyone!

I've had good success with the Hansons advanced marathon plan as well. No need to buy a book since they have it for free on their website. It's major criticism is that it maxes out at 16mi long runs, but it's easy enough to add on mileage there or to double up with some easy runs/bikes/swims on the mid-week workout days.

https://hansons-running.com/pages/training-plans

Thanks that's the one I decided to go with and got it from that page. Already added manually to TR. I just made the following modifications:
- Monday: swim/bike instead of easy run
- Tue: as prescribed
- Wed: swim/bike as cross-training
- Thu: as prescribed
- Fri: swim/bike instead of easy run
- Sat: the prescribed Sunday long run, but taking the Hudson plan as inspiration and running the last 2-5 miles at goal marathon pace
- Sun: rest

It looks like the reason why the runs only get up to 16mi is because it uses the previous day to build up fatigue, so I'll bike accordingly. One of the three 16 mi days I may add a few miles but it doesn't seem necessary.

Looking forward to the run focus to mix things up after years of monotony.

My experience with Hudson was exactly the same. I prefer Hudson.

😂

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Move on. Keep training. Be an adult.

With a 3:12 IM, you should have no issues going sub 3 open. I like the following long run workout building towards the race: 16 k warm up easy (high end of easy) then 4 k race pace, 6 k easy (not jogging), then 4k race pace again. Build up the race pace sections up to 6 k. Whatever you can hold on the last race pace section is a good indication of goal race pace with a good taper.

Thanks for the suggestion. That sounds like a good modification for the 16 mile days both for training effect and testing perspectives. More interesting than one pace for 2 hours, as well.