Daniels' Formula misprint?

I followed the A plan for Bayshore (1st marathon) and did that workout 12 days before.

It was 16.8 miles for me. I used 70 for my peak mileage and ran 42 miles that week with 2 rest days.

The race went quite well and I felt fine on race day.

make that 11 days.

But the workout on the same day in the elite schedule is only 3x2 miles T within a total run of 10 miles and those folks are doing at least 90+ miles per week. I too have been maxing at about 70 mpw.

I think that the in week 23 in Plan A (p.261 of the 2nd edition) that Q1 and Q2 are reversed. Do what is listed for Q1 ten days out.

I've followed Plan B for two marathon cycles now (after one go round with Plan A), and I swap out the Plan B workout for that 2 x (35-40 E, 15-20T) + 2E workout. Just did it yesterday in fact. It's a good one. If the last 15-20 T is comfortably tough, and you're concentrating to keep tempo pace, rather than verging on anaerobic, then you are ready to go.

If you want to vary the workout some, and keep the same approximate level of stress then you could try 2 x (30-35 E, 1M 1T 1M 1T) + 2E. The varying pace aspect might not be what you want, but if you want reassurance that marathon pace feels easy it's a good variation.

Hmmm...

It would be nice if jtupper happens across this to confirm, as I am only a few days out from needing to swap workouts if indeed it is listed wrong.

As listed Q1 is about 12 miles 14 days out, and Q2 is a tough 17-20 miles 10 days out.

Hard to see how it couldn't be a misprint.

Rodney Dangerfield:

I bought a book of 100 ways to make love. I ended up in traction. It was a misprint!

I just happened to see this. I don't have the original manuscript at the moment so can't check, but I agree that workout could be a bit easier -- try the elite-schedule session for that quality day. I hope you caught the error on page 261 -- Q1 week 20. That 80-minute T pace was supposed to be 80-minute E pace. Always go by what you feel is best for you when you get down to those final few weeks. You are not trying to get any fitter (nor will you lose any), the idea now is to get to feeling positive about your preparation and not doubting anything. Rest well and don't try anything new.

jtupper,

Thanks for the response. How much fitness will I lose if I cannot run at all for 7 to 10 days due to injury(7 to 16 days before the race)? I am hoping to get a few runs in the final week. I have averaged about 64 miles per week for the last 8 weeks using the two quality days in the elite schedule.

Nothing lost in 4 or 5 days off, maybe a little when it gets to be 10 days, but the trade off is you will probably feel pretty stong in the legs and suffer a lot more after the run because of inactivity. If you did some cross training during the time off, you may find that you are still ready to go. Main thing is to not chance it if the injury starts to bug you in the race. You don't want to chance an even longer lay off (or a new compensation-type injury) by pressing on when something is not right.

jtupper, thanks for contributing (and thanks for the great schedules).

Obviously I'll defer to you, but the reason I've always thought that Plan A's week 23s Q2 was a misprint was that in the elite schedule Q2 is a relatively leisurely 3 x 2 miles at tempo. This seems equivalent to the 2 x (10-15 T) + 30-45 easy that is listed as Q1 for Plan A (but might be Q2.

To take this thread in a slightly different direction, having now done both Plan A and B, I have to say I have a strong preference for Plan B. It's mentally easier since the workouts are a bit more varied and easier to insert races into.

For me at least having the VO2/rep sessions interspersed with tempo keeps me sharp, and then improves the subsequent T/M pace runs. On an 18 week version of Plan A I began to feel I was getting too far away from the VO2 sessions and not quite sharp enough. Not that you need to be sharp in the traditional sense for a marathon, you need to be economical.

Jtupper, thanks for the clarification and your support of the running community. Your book has helped me to achieve goals I never thought I would, or could, do.

Myself, I did question that 80 min T pace and someone here confirmed the error. I remember thinking...he's trying to kill me! LOL

But as I stated above I did do the 2x 40E+20T workout 11 days out before my 1st marathon (Bayshore 2006)... it scared me a bit but after I got through it ok I think it may have given me more confidence. I am more than happy to go easier though :-)

flightless, thanks for your input.

I like to read your posts as you have a lot of experience and take the time to share it.