CANOVA Half Marathon Plan - critiques / feedback wanted

Have you studied his half marathon training cycles of Paul Kosgei or Sondre Moen? Looks like you are missing some very short hard sessions.

For example, with Kosgei -

7 Weeks Out, 5 x 600/500/400/300m

6 Weeks Out, 8 x 1:30 uphill

5 Weeks Out, 4 x 4 x 600m

4 Weeks Out, 4 x 5 x 400m

3 Weeks Out, 6-8 x 400m

2 Weeks Out, 2 x 2000m + 8 x 400m

1 Week Out, 1000/800/600/400/200

Standard Setter wrote:

Have you studied his half marathon training cycles of Paul Kosgei or Sondre Moen? Looks like you are missing some very short hard sessions.

For example, with Kosgei -

7 Weeks Out, 5 x 600/500/400/300m

6 Weeks Out, 8 x 1:30 uphill

5 Weeks Out, 4 x 4 x 600m

4 Weeks Out, 4 x 5 x 400m

3 Weeks Out, 6-8 x 400m

2 Weeks Out, 2 x 2000m + 8 x 400m

1 Week Out, 1000/800/600/400/200

I don’t think I’ve seen those logs. Would these workouts be 3k/5k work? Do you think they would accompany the “specific phase?” workouts? I’ll search for those logs.

Remember Canova's basic principles include high modulation. If you can hit the workouts, great, but you also need to recover from the workouts. Be prepared to modify the schedule if you find you can only do one big workout every 10 days or 2 weeks.

It's generally very good. I have a couple thoughts

1. During the special phase you should do fewer "Long Continuous MP" runs I think. You could get away with 1 every two or three weeks instead. In their place you might want to start incorportating 3K/5K pace workouts. But those workouts should have lots of rest. For Canova, you building from both directions to get to your race pace. You're building well on the endurance side but you can't neglect the speeds that are faster than race pace. You also shouldn't completely drop the really fast stuff. It doesn't have to be frequent or high volume, but there should be a few sessions during those 6 weeks.

2. For the specific phase, as someone else already said, you might want to leave space for more rest between those intense specific sessions. The point is the really nail those. As in the previous phase, it's still a good idea to keep the other stuff in, but in smaller volumes and less frequently. So maybe 10-14 days betwee specific things with 2 or 3 other sessions of low volume other stuff. Specific sessions take extreme priority but the other stuff can't just disappear.

This is what I think Canova would say. I'm not him so I could be off a little but I think generally the way he looks at things. He would probably also say something about allowing yourself to get away from the same weekly structure if your body calls for it.

Good luck!

Thanks Working Stiff, it definitely does look like there is a 3k/5k paced hole in my special phase, so I’ll definitely be adding those in. The long continuous MP running comes very easily for me too, so I think doing a few less of those won’t hurt me. For some reason I forgot to include that some hill sprints and strides / 150s will also continue throughout the whole program, in small volume.

So in the specific phase I could hit a specific w.o very hard every 10-14 days, and then alternate like 8mi MP, 5mi of 10k work, or an easy session of 3ish miles at 3k/5k pace?

Thank you!

The volumes sound about right there yeah. Just make sure they’re not too hard. Taking lots of rest, going slower when necessary on those, and sometimes skipping them won’t hurt you at all by that time. I think you definitely have the right idea with the whole plan though.

Number one thing is to get there healthy. Be sure to back off when you need to. Don’t get married to a concrete plan. You know, write it in pencil

I don`t even think Canova has "a special half marathon plan"? ( correct me if I`m wrong in that line of thinking, Renato ). When he coached e.g Moen the half was just a race on the way to the big goal, the marathon.

The Wizard JS wrote:

I don`t even think Canova has "a special half marathon plan"? ( correct me if I`m wrong in that line of thinking, Renato ). When he coached e.g Moen the half was just a race on the way to the big goal, the marathon.

Are you honestly saying you don’t think Canova has ever trained a runner specifically for the half marathon? Also, what would that have to do with anything here? This person is specifically training for the half marathon and asking for help with a plan that is loosely based on Canova’s way of thinking. You don’t have to chime in on everything JS, especially when you clearly don’t have anything productive to add

Of course I prepared some athletes in SPECIFIC way for HM. This happened when they had SPECIFIC goals in HM, for example for winning WHMCh (Paul Kosgei in 2002, or Wilson Kiprop in 2010, or Florence Kiplagat in 2010), or for bettering the WR (again Florence Kiplagat in 2014 and 2015).

Also, I prepared in specific way for HM some athlete not yet ready for the full marathon in their transition period from short distances to full marathon : this was the case of Eric Kiptanui in 2018 (58'42" in Berlin, and before never running distances on track longer than 1500m), of Josphat Boit (always in 2018, coming from a PB of 14'24" in 5000m in Nakuru as his first experience in official competition in 2017), and of Daniel Kipchumba coming from a PB in steeple of 8'32" who in 2018 ran and won 2 HM (one in spring, the other in Copenhagen beating Abraham Kiptum who 45 days later ran the "doped" WR), both in 59'06".

If you want to run HM (that now is an important distance) for achieving specific results, you need to prepare HM, and the technical plan is very different from the plan for 10000m or for full Marathon.

Another thing : I never have a "marathon plan", or a "HM plan", or a "10000m plan".

I have the plan for a specific athlete who prepares a specific distance. The individualization of training programs is one of the most important principles, if you want to succeed. This is one of the reasons because IS NOT POSSIBLE TO COACH A TOP ATHLETE WITH PROGRAMS ON LINE, if the coach doesn't work PERSONALLY with them on the ground.

A good coach needs to use the feeling that athletes can show during his sessions, needs to speak with them about the effects of training, about moral values, about tactics, and has to explain the characteristics of the other competitors.

Like a good taylor, before making the cloth a good coach needs to "measure" the athlete, and the cloth of the athlete is his training.

You can only follow on line athletes that were physically with you for long time in the past and that learnt how to connect their feeling with the program.

A good coach must continuosly learn from the athletes, for being a better TEACHER for them.

A good coach must be a SERVICE for the athlete, not the athlete for the coach.

Coaching online, it means that the coach doesn't really know how the training can produce physiological variations in the athlete, and it's not possible to manage a training program in practical way. The program is theory, coaching is practice.

Your DANCAN system is not bad : your problem is that you are not able to transfer the theory on practical and INDIVIDUAL plans, because don't follow the athletes, and believe in any wrong info they give you.

Working Stiff wrote:

The Wizard JS wrote:

I don`t even think Canova has "a special half marathon plan"? ( correct me if I`m wrong in that line of thinking, Renato ). When he coached e.g Moen the half was just a race on the way to the big goal, the marathon.

Are you honestly saying you don’t think Canova has ever trained a runner specifically for the half marathon? Also, what would that have to do with anything here? This person is specifically training for the half marathon and asking for help with a plan that is loosely based on Canova’s way of thinking. You don’t have to chime in on everything JS, especially when you clearly don’t have anything productive to add

I think it was a productive comment! And we got a fine clarification from Renato himself that he actually has done such special half marathon training before, but not in the case of Moen as I guessed.

Renato,

You mentioned many times that weaknesses should be addressed first.

In Sondre's case, all his best results in shorter distances were

a long time ago and you said you wanted to improve that.

Questions:

1. In what training period do you schedule this work?

Is this something that is done before fundamental period begins?

2. How do you combine this training with specific work?

For example, In Sondre's case, if you wanted to improve his 5K/10K,

how do you combine marathon-specific work?

Or do you solely focus on one aspect and don't touch specific work?

Talking about Paul Kosgei, that’s my dad and I would say their training was brutal

Well said

Did he mention Moen actually ?