I have done 2 marathons in past but were just part of IM training and never really dedicated to them. I have signed up for March LA marathon. Looked at multiple plans. Some have daily 1 hr runs with long run on weekend. Others take 1-2 days off and have longer runs during week and 1 longer run on weekend.
Any thoughts on which plans work best. Need to knock 30 minutes off my time but really never run marathon type training distances.
I have heard McMillan, Fitzgerald, runners world plans. Any thoughts?
I have done 2 marathons in past but were just part of IM training and never really dedicated to them. I have signed up for March LA marathon. Looked at multiple plans. Some have daily 1 hr runs with long run on weekend. Others take 1-2 days off and have longer runs during week and 1 longer run on weekend.
Any thoughts on which plans work best. Need to knock 30 minutes off my time but really never run marathon type training distances.
I have heard McMillan, Fitzgerald, runners world plans. Any thoughts?
30 minutes is 1 minute/mile (more or less mostly more). That is a lot.
Gender and age? A lot different running lots when you are 30 vs 60.
A lot easier to go from 4 hr to 3:30 than 3:35 to 3:05? Where was your PR marathon? The LA marathon can be hot, so you’ll need to be in better shape than running a cooler race. The year I ran it, it was 80 degrees.
44 y/o. Never was a runner. Started tri in 2009, did IMTX in 12:00. During training did Houston marathon in 3:56. Did marathon next year in 3:45. No marathons this year but had a 1:42 half.
Never really done a full marathon training. It has always been part of tri training. Getting to 3:20 may not be possible but I want it at least as a goal.
If I was doing your work, I would do a long run each weekend at BQ pace. Quit when you get tired or start to hurt. No need to beat yourself up.
Yeah, that’s a horrible idea.
Look into Hal Hidgeon’s advanced plans. They are light on mileage (which is something that could benifit you) and have gotten many people to their BQ times w/o beating them up too much
Download “Advanced Marathoning” by Pete Pfitzinger. Do the 18/70 plan. Enjoy your PR.
x2. Great book, even if you don’t follow his plan.
then, on race day. Set your garmin’s Virtual Pacer to BQ -2:00, and stay on it until your eyes bleed, then keep running even when your body is screaming to stop.
you can get there- but it will take 6 months of dedication.
I used the BarryP approach to build up to 55 mpw and then jumped into Pfitz 18/70. Given my checkered history in building mileage safely, it was important to me to stay injury-free. So along with the conservative build in mileage, I did the light strength training workout in Pfitz’s book a couple of times a week and stretched/rolled/etc. regularly, and I think this helped. This was my first time approaching the marathon distance with a relatively disciplined focus, and results were good for me: 35+ minute PR and a BQ in my last open marathon (3:49 to 3:11).
Pfitz’s plan is great. I also like the Hanson’s marathon plan… gets you up to ~55/60mpw but with a lot more quality work. Depending on how durable you are, I’d take a look at that program as well.
**Any thoughts on which plans work best. Need to knock 30 minutes off my time but really never run marathon type training distances. **
I would take the next 3 months until the new year and run everyday (if you can). Just run without regard to speed, intervals etc. As Fleck says just run a distance that you can repeat day after day. If you get too tired by the end of the week you are going a little too far, if you have lots of energy you are going too short. If you can get in 6-7 runs per week, then you have a great start on a specific plan in January. Oh, and while doing this, focus on your diet and body weight, that will help when it comes to specific training later.
Pfitz’s plan is great. I also like the Hanson’s marathon plan… gets you up to ~55/60mpw but with a lot more quality work. Depending on how durable you are, I’d take a look at that program as well.
by ‘quality’ I presume you mean ‘speed’ (or, more accurately- intensity). Personally, I don’t like the use of the word “quality” as it implies that perhaps longer/slower mileage is of a lower or poor ‘quality’. each type of training serves its own purpose. There’s probably some optimal level of higher intensity mileage for marathon level training, that likely varies depending on person and the number of miles they run/week. But from what I’ve read, it’s surprisingly low. i.e. only like 10-15% of the mileage you run should be intense.
Download “Advanced Marathoning” by Pete Pfitzinger. Do the 18/70 plan. Enjoy your PR.
I used this plan for a spring marathon this year. I never missed a mile of training (until the last week because I don’t agree with the taper). The plan had the perfect mix of lactate threshold, V02 max, marathon pace and “slow” runs. I was able to drop 6.5 minutes off my marathon time. Make sure you do the marathon pace long runs! They will help you zero in on you final marathon pace on race day. I was within 2 seconds.
There is a book called “Run Less Run Faster”. It’s called the First Approach Program. You only have 3 runs a week. A speed workout, tempo run, and long run. It breaks down every run and tells you exactly what pace and how far for each run.
I used this book to the latter last summer and fall to train for a marathon. It is the reason I got into to tris. With only 3 runs a week you are supposed to swim or bike or both 2-3 days a week. Using this book I went from a 3:50 marathon 10 months earlier using the run all the time method that a lot of runners use to a 3:11:23 BQ marathon. I had less injuries as well.
Pfitz 18/55 worked wonders for me. Although next time I would probably do the 12 week plan if my base was excellent. The plans aren’t easy though. For example: 18m long run with 14m at marathon pace is not your “typical” long run like many novice/intermediate marathon plan. Those suckers hurt. I found that the Pfitz plan is a good plan for colder months though as there is quite a bit of speed work which gets hard in the summer months (at least around here).