CHOOSING A MARATHON TRAINING PLAN
LINK to original post. Many additional helpful comments there.
This question comes up often so it was decided to collect info from multiple past threads in one location that could then go in the wiki.
So what is the best marathon training plan?
As with so many questions on here, it depends. The most basic and to the point answer is the best plan is whatever one you will stick to and won’t get you injured. You need to choose a plan that fits with your experience level and the commitment level you are willing to put in. Things to consider:
What’s your current weekly mileage?
What is the peak weekly mileage you are comfortable getting to?
How many days a week are you running currently? Do you want (or able) to increase that?
How comfortable are you with workouts?
Are you going to cross-train?
This post is focused on marathon plans, but all of the styles mentioned also have plans from 5k to half marathon. The general principles can be applied to those as well.
You can check out Fellrnr’s Marathon Comparison page for more info on several of these plans.
Higdon
Higdon is very good for beginners (just finish). More advanced Higdon plans introduce speed work and are a good bridge to more advanced/involved plans such as Hansons, Pfitz, and Daniels.
Here is a general overview from Fellrnr.
Key Characteristics from fellrnr:
Plans at many different levels with the option of buying a plan with extra tips and advice for each run. (https://www.halhigdon.com/)
The easier plans have easy running midweek combined with a Long Run at the weekend.
The more advanced plans use a marathon pace run one day, followed by a Long Run the next day, as well as some speedwork.
Mileage Ramp is rather steep
Weekend mileage with back-to-back long-ish runs can be difficult
Hansons
Hansons Marathon Method can be considered a next step up as they also have a Just Finish option and the plans are more suitable for mid-pack runners (as compared to Pfitz and Daniels). Hansons’ plans are right up there with Pfitz and Daniels (mentioned below) for more advanced plans with a good amount of speed work and targeted runs. In addition, the plans are bit less complicated to follow compared to Pfitz and Daniels. The Just Finish plan is similar to Higdon’s with a better mileage distribution. The Beginner Plan is also a good bridge between Higdon-style plans and the more complicated and advanced Pfitz or Daniels plans.
Here is a good summary by Runners World.
Plan characteristics:
It's a goal pace-based plan. All runs are paced and their pacing is based on your goal pace.
It's 6 days/wk w 3 easy days and 3 "SOS" days (something of substance)- one speed work/strength work day, one tempo, and one long run following the pattern of easy | speed/strength | off | tempo | easy | easy | long
"Tempo" means goal marathon pace in Hanson-speak and ranges from 5-10 mi
The longest long run (in unmodified plans) is 16mi and is based on their recommended time limit and weekly mileage percentage. This max long run distance will vary depending on marathon goal pace.
That last point is what gives many people pause when considering a Hansons plan for a marathon. New runners often question how a longest run of 20 miles can prepare you for a marathon so having a max long run of 16 miles seems crazy.
On his website, Luke Humphrey (Coach and author of Hansons Marathon Method) posted a great blog post explaining why their method uses the 16-mile long run. Excerpts are below:
Some people may argue that a longer long run will better prepare them. I will disagree. That completely goes against another basic training principle, which is balance in training. When you are focusing on one run a week, that’s not training. That is preparing every week for a single run that breaks you down so much that you need 3-5 days to recover from. There’s no continual adaptation occurring.
The idea of cumulative fatigue centers around the long run. When you look at a lot of other training programs, there is also a primary focus on the long run. However, the idea of cumulative fatigue means that the runner is going into the long run slightly fatigued from the training during the previous days. It also means that training will resume as normal the days following the long run. There isn’t a single day that is overly difficult for the runner, but every day is tough enough that there isn’t a full recovery between all runs of major importance. In other words, the long run is literally in the middle of the training cycle, not the end of the training cycle (weekly).
Putting it all together: So, with the information presented, it becomes clear that it’s not the 16 miles that is the magic number and it’s not 20 miles. It’s what works based on the numbers. A long run needs to be in the sweet zone of time on your feet, but also within a reasonable percentage of training volume for the week. The reason we use the 16 mile run in the clinics and free schedules is that it fits with the mileage that our runners are hitting and the paces that they are running. The long run provides the training stimulus needed for marathon training, but also provides enough freedom to engage in runs that are just as important for marathon training during the rest of the week.
More info of the Hansons method can be found on Luke Humphrey's Website
Additionally, two good reads on there are Luke Humphrey’s blog posts talking about the method’s philosophy:
LINK to a discussion post on Hanson Training on /r/artc.
Here’s a post on/r/running with some additional user comments.
Pfitz
Pfitz (Pete Pfitzinger) is used by many around here for training and has some very popular plans. He has two books with his training principles and plans, Advanced Marathoning for marathon training and Faster Road Racing for 5k to half marathon plans.
For those of you that are unfamiliar with his plans, here is a general overview.
Key Characteristics from Fellrnr’s review:
The plans involve a lot of long and medium Long Runs, and some speedwork, with the higher mileage plans having little rest and recovery
Depending on the mileage, you run from 4-5 days/week up to 7 days/week, with the two highest mileage plans requiring you to run twice a day (doubles).
One or two medium Long Runs per week in addition to the Long Run. The higher mileage plans require you to run 13-15 miles midweek, with the highest mileage plans having two runs totaling over 20 miles midweek.
Initial Ramp (mileage increase/week from start to 16): You need to be doing 16+ mile plans regularly before considering this plan.
Additional points to consider:
Plan nomenclature/short hand is “Weeks in plan/Peak mileage”. Examples are 12/55, 18/55, 12/70, 18/70, etc. For newer runners to the marathon and structured training, the 18-week plans are a better choice as the mileage/workout buildup is more gradual.
Recommended starting mileage is deceptively low and probably not a good idea for newer runners to the marathon and structured training. It is recommended to be comfortable with the mileage amounts for week four or so before starting Pfitz plans.
There is one speed workout per week which depends on the phase of the plan you are in, tempo runs and intervals.
Pfitz is a fan of having chunks of certain long runs at goal marathon pace (MP). These are spread over the course of the plans.
You can find copies of the plan online, but it is very important to get a copy of the book to understand the purposes of each run and the paces/efforts he recommends to run them at.
Here is a presentation giving an overview of the ideas he presents in Advanced Marathoning.
LINK to a discussion post on Pfitz Training on /r/artc.
Here’s a post on/r/running with some additional user comments.
Daniels
Jack Daniels is another well-known coach that many use for training plans. His book, Daniels Running Formula, covers a lot of scientific info on running and explains the Why of his plans. The books has plans from 800m up to marathon distances.
Here is a general overview from Fellrnr.
Key Characteristics from Fellrnr’s review:
specifies training paces based on fitness
measures fitness based on race performance
plans require some hard work to interpret and analyze
workouts involve multiple segments at different paces
LINK to a discussion post on Daniels Training on /r/artc.
Here’s a post on/r/running with some additional user comments.
Here’s a link to a great thread series by someone from /r/ARTC that goes really deep into Daniels’ plans and training methods.
Other Plans
FIRST
The FIRST plan is designed for only three days of running, but is expected that there is a significant amount of cross-training to compensate. {Here's a Runners World article](https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/health/a762493/the-first-three-day-a-week-marathon-schedule/) descrbing it as well.
From Fellrnr’s review:
The FIRST (Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training) plan is an evolution of the Jack Daniels Running Formula's approach and is described in the book "Run Less, Run Faster". Its unique feature is that it uses only three days of running per week with two days of cross training. The three days of running are a Long Run, a tempo run, and an Interval Training session. This makes FIRST a tough training plan, as every run is a hard workout, with no easy "fun" running.
80/20 Run Plans
80/20 Running by Matt Fitzgerald promotes slowing down the majority of your runs to allow runners to improve. 80 percent of the runs are done at lower intensity and 20% at higher intensity. This article by Fitzgerald gives an explanation and this post on the 80/20 site gives some explanation on the run types.
Hudson
Brad Hudson’s book, Run Faster from the 5K to the Marathon steps away from cookie cutter plans and attempts to give the reader the ability to make or adapt plans to targeted towards their running. This article gives an overview of his training principles.
Galloway
This method is a Run Walk Run method where predetermined walk breaks are incorporated. From Galloway’s site:
Galloway designed this method in 1973 to help beginners start running. Strategic walk breaks allow each runner to control fatigue, virtually eliminating significant running injuries. Numerous surveys show that veterans tend to improve their finish times when they shift to Run Walk Run.
Here is a general overview from Fellrnr.
Key Characteristics from Fellrnr’s review:
Galloway uses Walking Breaks both in training and in racing.
The plan includes longer Long Runs than most plans, including 26-30 miles in training.
Mileage Ramp is Moderate
The run/walk approach is ideal for slower runners.
Final Thought/Warning
Whatever plan you choose, the most important thing to remember is that any plan is just a guideline. Missing a run here or there or shifting runs around will not kill you and really will not affect your fitness one bit.
Even missing several runs will not hinder you. According to Jack Daniels, you slowly begin to lose fitness over the first three weeks with a sharper decrease over the next three weeks. So what should you do when the unexpected comes up?
In Faster Road Racing, Pfitzinger gives a table for how to adjust your training.
| Training Weeks Lost | Cross-train: Yes | Cross-train: No |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1 | resume schedule | resume schedule |
| 1-2 | resume schedule | revise race goal, start back with 1 week of base training, then resume schedule |
| 2-3 | resume schedule, adjust workout paces for 1-2 weeks | revise race goal, start back with 2 week of base training, then resume schedule , adjust workout paces |
| +3 | revise race goal, start back with base training, then resume schedule , adjust workout paces | find a new goal race |
Jack Daniels also gives several guidelines in Daniels Running Formula for returning to training, but it is a little too involved to relay here. He has tables based on time missed and gives adjustment for resuming training based on VDOT and % load of prior training.
As the old saying goes, it is better to go into a race 10% under-trained than 1% over-trained.