Ways to do this, replacing the Cross-Training day or one of your rest days with another short easy run the length of your other short easy runs. If you’re new to running and choosing this plan, make sure you are already consistently running 15 miles a week so that the introduction of that is not a new stimulus.įocus on total weekly mileage, this actually contributes more to your marathon success than the length of your long run. General runner injury prevention suggests something closer to 2.5-3 hours as the maximum long run. Meaning depending on speed of runner (and generally as a novice your pace WILL be slower – that’s okay), their long run might last up wards of 4 hours.

General runner injury prevention suggests something closer to 25-30% of weekly mileage.Īt peak week, medium long runs are making up 25% of mileage, meaning 75% of all mileage is happening during 2 runs. The long run starts as 40% of the weekly mileage and works up to 50% of the weekly mileage. Mileage ranges from week 1 of 15 miles (6 mile long run) to 40 (20 mile long run).ġ5 miles in week 1 if an athlete is not already acclimated to that much mileage can already be a big jump, setting the athlete up for injuries.

General Outline: Rest 2x a week, Cross Train 1x a week, 2 runs that stay short all training, 1 mid week run that increases in length all week, 1 weekend long run. Target Athlete: Very beginner athlete, just started running potentially. Plan 1: Hal Higdon Novice 1 (Claim – his most popular plan) Not training for a marathon? These same pitfalls tend to hold for the shorter race versions of these plans as well. This week in the blog I look at some of the most popular marathon training plans out there, look at the thought process behind them, what their pitfalls are, and how as an athlete you could possibly adjust the plan to fit you (or at least the things to look out for). Spring is coming and so people are signing up for races, website traffic for downloading plans is UP.

Did you find success because of the plan? Or in spite of the plan? To those who have used pre-made plans, and found success.

The common denominator, they were using a pre-made, generic plan. The wonderful world of training plans for races is a minefield of injuries and disappointing races just waiting for optimistic “just signed up for a race” runners.Īs a coach, I have most of my athletes coming to me from having the following experiences with pre-made plans: repeated injuries from the training they were doing, or thinking that they can do better, they just don’t know how to do it.

Download hal higdon novice 1