Anybody have an opinion on the number of hard workouts per week during marathon training? I see that Daniels reccomends two, while other programs say three. Does three wear you out...or are two not enough?
I know there are different strokes for different folks, but is there a conventional wisdom?
My .02...
2 in a 7 day cycle. 3 in a 10 day cycle. Daniel's a smart guy. Also, most top marathoners-coaches will use 2 workouts in 7 days usually on Wednesday or Thursday and also on Sunday. Recovery is the key to running fast. The marathon workouts will be so demanding that you will need the extra recovery time.
You might be able to get away with running 3 workouts a week for a little while, but I will say there is a 99.9% chance you will run yourself into the ground before you get to the marathon.
I came from a track background where I did 3 sessions a week, so when training for the marathon I tried the same, and felt I was shirking when I only did 2. Someone then pointed out to me that I should view the long run as a session (in the sense that it is hard work and takes a time to recover from) and do two additional sessions a week, totalling 3 "hard days" (note that I don't count a marathon pace run as a hard day, since if you are only going eg 10 miles that should be easy). Worked for me.
Having said that I have only run one marathon, so don't necessarily believe me.
Hard, Easy, Easy, repeat for infinity