Marathon Improvers Thread.

It is. But it makes sense in the context of the plan. Have a read through the Hansons Method thread or grab a copy of the book if you're curious to learn more. Lots of people on here have used it to great success.

Yeah, I'd say it's probably the most readable of the well known training books that I've encountered. Daniels is very heavy going and Pfitz falls somewhere in the middle.

I used a Bob Williams Sub 3 plan from Noakes' 'Lore Of Running'

I adapted it slightly for my 3:20 target, didn't do the monster long runs.

I really loved it, the structure was fantastic and incredibly simple.

It sounds like it had some similarities to Hanson. Six days a week with stuff on Tues and Thurs and a long run on Saturday.

Reps <800 were at 5k pace, 800, 1k and mile rep workouts at 10k.

Some Tempo and MP stuff too. The long runs were 30 - 40 secs slower than MP.

Every Mon and Wed were a 5 mile easy run, throughout the block. Rest every Friday.

Loved doing the long run on a Saturday, Sunday was always a short recovery jog. Meant I could relax and enjoy Saturday evenings.

I've done a Daniels plan before and the complexity of the workouts used to drive me nuts. Was a chore setting them up on the watch.

This time I could glance at the week ahead and know exactly where I was at, without needing to check back on it. Setting up the following day's workout took seconds.

Mileage topped out at 52.5.

I would highly recommend it.

Having said that, I'll be using Hanson for my next M block.

Very interesting and as you mentioned has some similarities with Hanson.

I have all the major running books and Jack Daniels is the only one that I've had no interest in reading after glancing through it. It's seems way too technical.

On the issue of setting a work out on your watch. I purchased the Hanson Plan on Final Surge and that automatically sends the work outs to your watch with no fiddling around. Think it might have been $20 or so.

Your marathon log demystified Jack Daniels for me. It does look like Greek at first glance and needs a bit of decoding but after that it's straightforward enough.

Haven't actually used any of the plans yet though although probably will pick out some 5k/10k plan once recovery after the current marathon block is over.

Daniels is a great book IMO - the guy is a giant of the sport, a highly esteemed sports scientist and an Olympic coach. Many other coaches (Pfitzinger, Hanson, Fitzgerald etc.) draw a lot on his theories and approach. Reading the book will stand to you, I think you train much better when you understand what each workout is trying to do, as this (eventually) gives you the confidence to adjust the plans to suit your own circumstances - something we all tend to do, but with vastly different levels of success!

Hey folks, first-time poster on this thread (I think) and looking for a bit of advice.

Used the Boards Novices Plan in 2018 and the Graduates Plan in 2019, both doing exactly what I expected them to.

After DCM 2019, I went down the coaching route and had a tailored schedule sent to me every week for about a year and a half. Exactly how tailored it was, I couldn't say but I did make vast improvements in several distances.

As I've yet to follow any of the well known training plans that are mentioned in some of the posts above, I still feel like something of a novice in this area.

Now with my entry for DCM 2023 secured, it's time to start shopping around for a training plan. Am planning to to the Bohermeen half in March and perhaps a 10k or 10 mile later in the year before the marathon training kicks in. For the last couple of months I have been using the old plans I used when I had the running coach but with slight tweaks made to some of the session paces. Then I started wondering if I could do the same with the Boards Graduate Plan and adapt it to my current fitness.

I am aware that there are many different plans out there but I honestly don't know where to start looking or know which one would be most suited to me.

Would welcome anyone's thoughts on this!!

You would have made big gains from consistent training regardless of the plan or coach, and that should continue for a few years yet without you having to do anything particularly special. So I’d just be trying to find an approach with sessions you like doing. At a similar stage of my own ‘career’ I was into P&D but I don’t think it makes much difference as long as you get out there regularly and put in decent mileage at appropriate paces. It’s all about building that aerobic engine.

Hi A, yeah the hornet's nest of what plan to choose is always something that I come back to time and again. Especially when I see

As for what 'suits me' best, this is where the head-scratching begins as the plans I've followed over the last four years have been quite similar in terms of structure (running five out of seven days with two session days factored in). I don't think I'd be too keen to move away from this too much as it's easy enough for me to work into my daily routine. I think just knowing that there are so many different types of training plans out there is what's making me wonder if the one that I'm using is the 'right one' but as @Murph_D says above (thanks D!), getting the weekly mileage in, while running at appropriate paces is key.

The Sunday long runs with the group have been great too and the group I run with don't really have a set number of miles (minimum 10, some guys add on a few miles at the end depending on their own training) and you can do as many or as few as you like.

I'd only do the dedicated half marathon plan if you have a HM lined up and it's important to you to do well in it. Otherwise, just focus on base building for the first half of the year before starting the marathon specific block in June.

Chicago is a great event and for most of us a major undertaking in terms of expense, logistics and execution. It was my major focus last year and the whole year really was a build up to it. I wanted to justify the trip with a PB and there was a huge focus in the first half of the year on building aerobic conditioning - in other words, building up the mileage and lots of work just below the threshold - feel free to look at my log if you want the specifics (I was lucky enough to have a trusted friend, who is a fan of the Lydiard approach, give me a schedule and coach me through it).

If you have a more casual objective for Chicago, you might take a different path (maybe something like a 12-week 5k block in the first half of the year). The important thing is to have a mostly structured approach and an appropriate set of paces based on your ability - hopefully the challenging yet achievable end of that ability.

Good luck and keep us posted.

So for any of us here, how did the year go and plans for next year?

My year overall went pretty well.

In May I moved by Half PB from 1:38 to 1:33. Then in September it went from 1:33 to 1:32.

In October I moved by Marathon PB from 3:41 to 3:39

In November I moved by 10k PB from 42:33 to 40:50. And in the same race I reduced by 5k PB by 2s.

No huge targets for next year, think I am going to do Cork but it will be with a mate who is running his first and looking to go sub 4, Ill run with him.

Then I have an entry for Dublin but that isnt a PB course IMO

Great progression there - focusing on marathon and training properly will see you blow that 3:39 out of the water, as you should be closer to 3:20 with that HM time. So Dublin can certainly be a PB course for you if you want it!

Think I'll do Manchester in April. Not sure which plan to follow. Aiming for a 30min pb at 8min miles. We shall see. It will be 3rd marathon and first one trained for properly. 1200k ran this year so aiming for 12 week training block

Like everything, it depends. If you already have the base, a 12-week sharpening block is good enough. If you don’t (or if the base you have is not very marathon specific), go for the full monty 17-18 week programme.

It’s good to be critical when evaluating that base. Do you train well? Are your training paces appropriate? If not, maybe better to go back to the basics and the longer plan.