So I am a slow runner. I've never been a serious, hardcore runner like most of you on this board but have gotten into triathlons and now want to do a marathon. I just started running after a 3 month break about a month ago and have just been running 2 or 3 times a week, usually for 3-4 miles. Yesterday, I ran 3.2 miles in 24:00.
I put 23:30 in for a 5k time, lacking any race experiences, in the Runner's world smartcoach training program, said I currently run 6-10 miles, want a 16 week plan, wish to progress moderately hard, and would like to train for a marathon. It gave me a training plan.
However, that plan seems ridiculously easy. For the first 4 weeks, I only run 3 days a week for a total of 6, 7, 8, 9 miles respectively, never going faster than 9:46 minute per mile pace even though the runs are primarily only 2 miles. Then, it switches to just two runs a week until the week of the marathon.
I ran cross country in high school, and this in no way resembles training we did for a measly 5k. Can anyone give me some pointers? Does this program actually work? Should I be running faster than 9:46, which is very slow even to a slow person like me? Should I be running more than 2 times a week for weeks 5-15? More miles? Thanks.