Halfway through Hanson Advanced Plan - 2:59:59 Goal - Any Feedback?

Hi,

I'm following the Hanson Advanced Plan for the VT City Marathon on 5/24, and I'm just about halfway through the 18 week program, with a goal of sub 3 hours. So far I've done all but 2 easy runs (missed due to illness in week 2), and I've hit all workouts at prescribed paces. I've run several marathons over the past few years, but never any with this much mileage and intense training. I ran a 1:28 half in the Fall on 35 MPW and had gas in the tank, I ran a 38:54 10k on 40 MPW on a cold windy New England New Years Day race, and I ran an 18:36 5k yesterday on a cold windy course as my speed workout during a 60 mile week.

Does anyone here have experience following the Hanson plan? I'm wondering how to gauge my progress. I've felt most runs have been manageable, but I'm worried they are only going to get harder as the mileage takes its toll and the tempo runs get up to 9-10 miles. I'd appreciate hearing other people's experiences with this plan, and if you remember how you felt halfway through, and what the end result was. Thanks!

My personal experience, trying to increase both speed and distance at the same time has never worked in 20+ years of trying. Either injury, illness, or not getting the speed I wanted was the result.

I gauge my progress by running a time trial over a distance that's about 10 minutes long. Why? It's an aerobic work distance and conditions are pretty consistent on it, so times are pretty reliable over months. 30 minute test isn't better than a 10 minute test. 10-15 minutes is aerobic enough. A longer test course isn't better, at least for me.

What works for me: I work on speed at aerobic distances and physical strength for a couple of weeks, then take that speed increase and apply it to a block of distance. When I'm in the distance block, I'm trying to adapt the speed I have over short distances to longer distances. The end of those long runs *hurt,* but I generally get faster.

This is coming from an older hobby runner on a limited time budget. Every body is different, so your results might be different.

Halfway through Hanson Advanced Plan - 2:59:59 Goal - Any Feedback?

This thread has already been deleted.

You have been subscribed.

Halfway through Hanson Advanced Plan - 2:59:59 Goal - Any Feedback?

Follow runDirtyrun

Block runDirtyrun

This thread has already been deleted.

Reply Replying to

You have been subscribed.