Can anyone recommend a training plan for a first timer? I'm planning to run ING Miami on January 28th. I'm also planning to race a half on December 2nd as part of the training schedule. I've been running for years, usually 10-15 miles a week. I thought I had a stress fracture so I had to take a couple of months off at the start of this year, but it turns out it wasn't one after all. Since May, I've worked my way back up to ~25 miles per week. I was thinking of using Hal Higdon's Novice 2 plan: http://www.halhigdon.com/marathon/Mar00novice.htm. Has anyone else used this? I'm wondering if 18 weeks is long enough to train. My main goal is just to finish, with a secondary goal of finishing under 5 hours. I can already run 10-12 miles pretty easily. I would like to run 5 days a week so what does everyone think about adding another easy day of 3-4 miles each week to the plan? I'd like to top out around 40-50 miles a week during the peak training. What plans did you use for your first marathon and would you (or wouldn't you) recommend? Thanks, Shaunna (excited to start training!) MTA: link to training plan

Shauna, the link Stephen offered is a good plan. If you come across a book cal Marathon by Hal Higdon, he has great plans for beginners to advanced and the rest of the book offers up some excellent tips, stories, pitfalls, etc. GOOD LUCK!

Thanks for the info so far- I guess 18 weeks is pretty standard then. I looked at a couple that are 23 or 30 weeks but they have you going the whole distance before the race which (according to my friend who has done a few) isn't neccesary for a first timer. Landy- You know I didn't even look at the intermediate since I figured a first timer would be a novice. But the difference between Novice 2 and Intermediate 1 is two 20 mile long runs as opposed to a 19 and a 20, which really isn't that different. Also you do some pace work the day before a long run instead of a rest day. I think I will start with Int. 1 and if I get burned out I will cut a short easy day and cross train instead, or if it's really too much I can combine it with Novice 2 to cut down on mileage. Thanks!