daniels first timer wrote:
Thanks. I have a GPS watch and try to rein myself in and train at the proper paces. I don't want to overtrain or get injured.
I know that my marathon goal is determined by my own personal capacity - think I'm just looking for others' experiences on the Daniels plan - whether it worked for them, the level of improvement, etc.
Let me reword the statement about marathon goal (training) pace; it is determined by your current fitness, not by your "personal capacity" or potential. Thus the point I tried to get across about determining your current vdot correctly.
I follow Daniels plans, they have worked well for me and I have helped a couple friends improve their marathon times by large margins like you a looking for. That being said, it all depends on the starting point. In other words, what did the prior training cycles consist of and how well executed were they?
In my case I have little natural talent and ran a few years of Jr high XC, a 6 min (single) mile was as good as it got back then for me. After 30 years I started from nothing at age 45 and roughly a year of 5k/10k training, then I followed the 'Plan A' from the 2nd edition book. I peaked @ 65-75 mpw.
In my first marathon cycle my 5k/10k races suggested I could run ~3:15 marathon. I used those vdot paces, in retrospect it was a little too aggressive. I figured 3:15 a bit optimistic so I started a bit slow, settled in around 3:17 pace for the middle, then slowed (30 sec/mi) the last few miles for a 3:21. In my second race, 5 months later, I followed the same schedule and paces with a few races sprinkled in and ran 3:16 with perfectly even splits. My PR came 2 years later in a 3:10 on the same course as the first 3:21.
I didn't start from a different training philosophy or 'plan' as it were and I feel I got about the best I could out of my first cycle, thus my improvement curve is likely a bit more shallow. Plus I was fighting a guaranteed losing battle with age.
One of my friends started before me and was Gallowalking his way to 4 hour marathons. He switched and ran 3:18 after a few cycles. Another guy was faster than me in the 10k by 2 min but could only manage 3:19, He ran 3:08 (same course) after one Daniels cycle.
So I'm firmly in the camp that believes it works well but there are plenty of other good options as well such as Pfitz or Hansons.
The big variables are correct implementation of whatever one uses, and where the starting point was.