Which Marathon training plan??

JohnnyBingo

I have a question on a training plan for my first marathon at the end of June (Waterford Viking Marathon). Bear with me....
Exercise background is as follows;
1 hr of 5-aside for the last 10 years – now put on hold until July.
Started going to gym last September doing 2 nights of cardio and weights per week along with a night in the pool doing lengths for about 45 minutes. Started doing a 4-5 mile run at the weekend in November.
I started the Sports Fitness Advisor beginner programme (26 weeks long) 3 weeks ago.
Main reason for going with it was it fitted in with my schedule and it was a programme I could start straight away.
However, I have since seen a lot of recommendations for the Hal Higdon Novice 1 programme (18 week).
The main difference between the 2 programmes (apart from the 8 weeks duration) is that the SFA (unfortunate abbrv.)
has Fartlek sessions mid week. The HH has a semi-long run midweek – roughly half the distance of the weekend long run.

Has anyone used either plan for their first marathon and if so how did you find them?

As a first timer which would be more beneficial - more miles on the road to build up the milage base (HH) or less miles with some speed work?

My goal is to finish the race in one piece but it would be nice to come in between 4-4.5hrs.

All comments and suggestions welcome.

Micilin Muc

I used Hal Higdon's Novice 1 plan for my first marathon which I ran in 4:42. It'll get you around in one piece. The only thing I would have changed was to vary the pace of my runs.

I'm now following a Pfitzinger and Douglas plan which, despite it's higher mileage, feels more comfortable because half my runs are done at a slow enough pace, with a 1 or 2 faster runs each week.

RayCun

JohnnyBingo wrote: »

As a first timer which would be more beneficial - more miles on the road to build up the milage base (HH) or less miles with some speed work?

I used HH for my first marathon, and was happy with it. I combined the Novice 1 and Novice 2 programmes, more or less - the distances from Novice 1 and the midweek run at planned marathon pace from Novice 2.

Some of the threads from the last month have got me thinking that a marathon is a good goal for the first year of running, because marathon training is all about building up the distances run, but at an easy pace - this sort of training will build your aerobic capacity, which might be the best area for a new runner to work on.

Mr Slow

JohnnyBingo wrote: »

As a first timer which would be more beneficial - more miles on the road to build up the milage base (HH) or less miles with some speed work?

Running your first marathon should have little to do with the clock, it should be about enjoyment period!

Forget about speedwork and just get the miles in, as Ray says marathon training will give you a great aerobic base on which to build on going forward, adding speed at such an early stage will also increase your chance of injury!

norris

doing my first marathon in Cork this year. i found a good training plan and diary on myasics.ie . i found it through the asics website. i find it good for keeping records and you can input your goals and it makes up a plan for you

sca21

norris wrote: »

doing my first marathon in Cork this year. i found a good training plan and diary on myasics.ie . i found it through the asics website. i find it good for keeping records and you can input your goals and it makes up a plan for you

Thanks for the myasics website. I tried it out and it looks fairly good. My only question is, is 4 days training enough. What do people think?

I started running properly in February 2011 and ran the Kildare half in 1hr 57 which I was chuffed with. I am going to try my first full next May (Kildare also). I have been following Hal Higdon's Novice 2 programme which also has 4 days running a week. 4 days is ideal for me as when I was training for the half I was doing 5 days training and getting fairly tired and sore during runs.

I want to have a different approach for the full, feel fresh when the day arrives rather than wrecked. I am going to do the Kinvara half and hope to get as close as I can to 1hr 54ish, but as close to 1hr 50 as I can.

Back to my question. As it is my first marathon, I really just want to finish but at the back of mind to finish under 4hrs would be great, very ambitious I know. So can I complete a marathon under 4hrs with 4 days training from Nov to May. Thanks in advance for replies, and sorry for the long winded post.

RayCun

I ran Dublin in 3.58 in 2010, following the HH programme of 4 days training a week.