Pfitzinger plan questions

You're thinking way too much.

He states in his book that his plans can, and should, be altered to fit whatever schedule that you need them to.

Strides are probably intended to be done after the run.

I'll bite

I'd just switch Sat and Sun straight up...

Most people I know finish with strides... but I usually do them after about 2 miles in.

1. I would just shift everything up one day, thus keeping the order of the runs the same.

2. I do strides as part of the final mile of the run. I actually prefer to do them on recovery days, but I know that's not typically the way they are scheduled.

malmo wrote: You're thinking way too much.

Seconded. Mostly because malmo plainly needs a backup from someone of my lofty credentials to have any credibility.

These canned training schedules which claim to be based on all the latest and greatest physiology are like beef stew recipes which state the ingredient measures to the tenth of an ounce and cooking times to the second. They imply a degree of precision, finickiness, and universal applicability that's simply out of whack with reality.

You can use 50% more or less beef, a different red wine, and add a parsnip without ruining the damn stew. And once you've followed a few recipes or made a few stews with someone else who knows what she's doing, you'll have the principles down and find the recipe largely or wholly unnecessary.

Better yet, if you experiment a little with the parsnips and wine and cuts of beef and proportions, you'll surely find in tailoring the thing to your tastes and dislikes and ingredients available locally and seasonally, you can put together something that works better for you than someone's recipe, no matter how authoritative that chef. Not to say you can't also learn a lot from him, steal a few ideas.

All of that is undoubtedly correct. My problem is that I get confused on easy days, tempo days, steady state days, anaerobic days, hill days, MP days, the order of importance of the workouts, and when during the program to do them. That's why I find a certain comfort in a schedule -- it stems from a lack of confidence.

I wonder if for me the best week is around 55-60 miles:

Tues - 25 to 35 minutes of tempo or cruise intervals

Thursday - 8 to 12 miles steady state

Sat - two hour to 2.5 hour run

The rest easy or recovery days.

Lorenzo the Magnificent wrote: I wonder if for me the best week is [...]

Could be. It's similar enough to what's worked best for me; see my first post of

Of course more of a Pfitz/Daniels kinda thing might be perfect for your physicallity and mentallity. Even if it's an imperfect or downright lousy fit, learning what doesn't work for you is good too. Let's not forget, after all, the words of that l-run sage who said:

first off, i have stated several times that "experience is the best teacher", this also is in terms of having the ups and downs of running and life. a person CANNOT RESPECT THE GOOD THINGS IN LIFE UNLESS THEY HAVE EXPERIENCED THE BAD.

[quote]please dont squeeze the garmin wrote:

You can use 50% more or less beef, a different red wine, and add a parsnip without ruining the damn stew. And once you've followed a few recipes or made a few stews with someone else who knows what she's doing, you'll have the principles down and find the recipe largely or wholly unnecessary.quote]

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I like your answer. But now the question becomes, "How much beef do I put in my stew on my long run days?"

Sorry. Just messin' with you, Garmin.

Heh, I'd suggest, "if you don't already have a pretty good idea from making it before then ask malmo (surely he knows how to make more than just braised celery), and the Hansons, and the Lydiardians, and l-run at large. And either take their advice or just add beef until it looks about right - if it's too much, you'll find out soon enough. And definitely plenty of wine, as long as you're still leaving yourself a bottle to drink. You don't want to endure your postprandial scan of l-run stone cold sober."

The way I like my beef stew, it should rarely be cooked much longer than two, two and a quarter hours, even on Sundays, and even though I'm a pretty slow cook compared to some of you with microwaves and Advantiums and pressure cookers.

Oh thank Gawd you cleared that up, FFF. Hugz!