Well I raced my HM super early in the program, but I kept my Tuesday speed session the same, dropped the Thursday tempo, and moved some easy miles to earlier in the week.

Then afterwards I took two days off, then jumped back into normal mileage but all at easy pace for the next week.  I did do a ton of hiking on the extra days off, so that might actually have been a wash.

 

Yes I actually read the book. Mostly.  But the example they show is during a week when Tuesday is speed rather than strength, and the race is a 5k or 10k rather than HM. So didn't know if either of those factors would make a difference.

I used Hansons Advanced twice and both times I did a tune up half. In both cases, I scrapped the Thursday tempo and cut the miles back the few days before the race.  The first time, my half was 4 weeks out from my marathon. I ran a crappy half and a great marathon.  The second time was 6 weeks out. I ran a great half and a crappy marathon.  In both cases I jumped right back into training afterwards and did not miss any of the scheduled workouts.

 

I used Hansons Advanced twice and both times I did a tune up half. In both cases, I scrapped the Thursday tempo and cut the miles back the few days before the race.  The first time, my half was 4 weeks out from my marathon. I ran a crappy half and a great marathon.  The second time was 6 weeks out. I ran a great half and a crappy marathon.  In both cases I jumped right back into training afterwards and did not miss any of the scheduled workouts.

Did you ever figure out what caused the difference between the two situations? I can make some guesses, but I assume you spent some time thinking about it.

 

Did you ever figure out what caused the difference between the two situations? I can make some guesses, but I assume you spent some time thinking about it.

I was running higher mileage the second time. I added 2 miles to every easy run the second time I did the plan. I was pretty run down by the end and I think the 10 day taper wasn't enough to recover in time.  The first time I pretty much followed the plan.

Actually, LRB, my GMP wasn't too aggressive by the time I got to the race.  (It was actually fairly conservative). I had trained with the 3:30 paces the whole time though, while my best race up to my tune up half only predicted a 3:37.  So it made the first half of the plan pretty hard.  But my tune up half ended up predicting a 3:25 or something (I ran a 1:37:06). I ended up running a 3:33 marathon but was on 3:30 pace the first 16 miles, which should have been a perfectly reasonable pace, if not conservative. I just felt off from the start and it felt too hard early on.

Actually, LRB, my GMP wasn't too aggressive by the time I got to the race.

Hi, my name is stupid. 

Open mouth, insert foot.

One of my favorite cross-training regiments.

At least I don't feel so bad now for not remembering the details.

Everyone has a role, mine is dunce.  lol

PS If I used Hansons again (doubtful that I ever will), I would do the half six weeks out and make the taper a little longer. And maybe not try to run 70 miles the week after my tune up half, maybe take it slightly easier that week.

Thanks onemile, this is all good stuff & very helpful.

My GMP is pretty aggressive based on existing race times, but I have been able to hit all the workouts so far. Like your 2nd time, I have also added a lot of miles on top of the plan; in fact the whole thing is pretty unrecognizable other than Tues-Thurs, which I have been following closely. So I may be at risk of overtraining, will have to try to be careful with how I handle this half, and the taper. I was already worried about the taper being too short, so I may have more questions for you then.

As it is, some of the comments here are giving me second thoughts about running this half. But I did pay the money already.