So it *seems* like this injury is gradually beginning to heal up, and I promised my friend a while back that I would run a marathon with him this spring (late May).

I'm not dead set on racing it, especially given me circumstances and limited time to prepare, but I would like to train for it as much as possible depending on how quickly I get back into the swing of things.

I'm thinking February->some of March is going to be mostly easy stuff, gradually building back up, which leaves me with about three months or so to train if everything goes according to plan. However, I don't really know what makes a good marathon program, I've tended to leave those threads alone, not having any real interest in running one. I assume I'll want some longer tempos, some longer runs (some with "quality"), decent, though not crazy volume, and some concessional track work at quicker paces.

I'll take any advice you got, whether its what to emphasize, what has worked for you, or links to generic plans that seem decent.

EDIT: It may be worth mentioning I won't be returning too horrifically out of general aerobic shape as I biked on and off for the first two months, and have been riding 30-40 miles a day or so on the stationary bike the last month+

Run a lot, mostly easy, sometimes fast (and long.)

 

Generally I try to get 1 run a week over 2 hours (building to 2:30 or more toward the end) and another over 90 minutes with some quality, and run as many miles as is practical on the other days.

You can't go wrong with this. I think for people like us who are balancing other things with running, it's best to be flexible about everything in the schedule except these two elements: the midweek long run and then the weekend 16-22 miler.

Once you have those locked in, you have to decide where and how to do your quality. There are lots of options here. You could:

1) Be totally lassez-faire and just run fast whenever you are feeling good -- the ends of easy runs, the end of the long run, the midweek long run, etc. This approach requires reading your body and "picking your spots." The downside is that it's too easy to get into a habit of not doing any workouts. On the other hand, unless you are trying to push the limits of your potential workouts are probably overrated in marathon training.

2) I like putting surges into the long run. This is something I picked up from reading Squires' book Speed with Endurance. He uses surges of various lengths and intensities in almost every long run. It's fun and it breaks it up. The downside is that you end up running your long runs by yourself unless you've got training partners who want to try the same thing.

3) Your standard MP tempo. The classic tempo is the 10 mile run at MP. You'd probably want to build up to this, starting around 5 or 6 miles, then by the time you hit peak volume, do 10 or possibly 12 (some folks go up to 15) on a regular basis. These long, sustained runs at MP get you dialed in and efficient at goal pace. Another option with similar effect is to break this up into 5k segments: 3-4 x 5k @ MP, with maybe a mile jog between each one. This makes it not only a pace run but a volume run.

4) Work faster than MP. This is important because you don't want to spend all of your time slogging around. Rule of thumb on this stuff is to keep it snappy and not too draining. Workouts like 6 x 800 @ 5k pace or 4 x mile at 10k pace, stuff like this, will help make MP feel easier and keep power and snap in your stride.

5) Running lots of miles and long tempos is a recipe for staleness if you don't do strides and drills and stuff like this. So, pick a couple days a week where you do a few strides in or after your run. I really like the "Hudson Hill Sprints" -- find a steep hill and run all out 10-15s up the hill, then walk back down. Repeat 6-10 times.

6) Doubles. A great way to amp up total volume and frequency is doubles. Some people really thrive on them. Others not so much. Since your KEY work in marathon training is long, steady stuff, consider breaking the easy days up into shorter and more digestible chunks of volume (45-60 minutes). This will help recovery and also begin to give you that feeling that you are capable of running any time and all the time.

Those are the basics, seems to me. I am probably forgetting something.

 You can't go wrong with this. I think for people like us who are balancing other things with running, it's best to be flexible about everything in the schedule except these two elements: the midweek long run and then the weekend 16-22 miler.

I'm sure that's smart, but for me flexibility just = more opportunity to rationalize skipping or scaling back workouts. I train better when I have a  fairly rigid schedule to follow, so I know what has to be done every day. That's just mental weakness, but then so much of running is mental anyway. Why not make it easier on myself?

Also those key elements form the foundation of Pfitzinger plans, but are absent from Hansons plans. Hmm.

 

I'm sure that's smart, but for me flexibility just = more opportunity to rationalize skipping or scaling back workouts. I train better when I have a  fairly rigid schedule to follow, so I know what has to be done every day. That's just mental weakness, but then so much of running is mental anyway. Why not make it easier on myself?

 

This is me too.

You could run a marathon without training. Just saying.

Well that all depends on how long a marathon you're talking about.

 

The one for me that is tough to get figured out is Canova's stuff. Obviously he has had some nice successes with his athletes but his methods are a little harder to follow at times.

Then don't bother trying to figure him out. Even setting aside the  fact you have to translate everything he says from Italianglish, I find Canova way too advanced for people who are paying their own entry fees at races and are not running 140 miles a week. You don't need to get nearly that technical to accomplish your goals.

If you are one of those people who needs to follow a plan then look at Pfitzinger or Hansons or whatever. Just pick one and follow it. After your first marathon or two, make adjustments based on how you respond to different training stimulus.

This stuff really isn't rocket science. At least not at our level.

 

The absolute last thing in the world that going to make a difference between a 2:59 and a 3:00 is whether or not I did 800m recoveries in 3:35 or 3:32.

And even if it would...first you'd have to get in 3:00 shape.