Question:
This is probably a topic that has been beat to death, but I've never
asked the question, so...
I'm considering a new training program to run a marathon in 17 weeks
(flying pig). I've used hal higdon's novice plan, modified slightly, to
run a marathon in each of the past 7 years. my times have dropped from
4:15 to 3:42, with only one hiccup a couple of years ago. i think i can
do much better because my 1/2 marathon time was 1:36 last year and i
can still run a 5K around 20-21. jeff galloway's program looks like it
has too many long runs for my style. there are a lot of programs out
there, i know that each person is different, but I'd like to hear what
you all have to say about the various plans that you use. thanks.
Answer:I can't help much because I'm a one trick pony addicted to high
mileage. I figure if you like to run, running long runs is a treat, not
a chore. Otherwise, a marathon would have zero appeal. Assuming you are
already running regularly, ramping up in 17 weeks should be no problem.
Higdon has the small, medium and large program aka, novice, intermediate
and experienced, have you tried moving up to one of the others? After 7
years at the novice plus a tweak you are staying in the novice ranks and
need up the ante as you got all the mileage, so to speak out of that
plan. Your shorter races times says you have lots of room for
improvement but you need to pay some more dues be it distance and/or
speed to get there.
