First marathon training plan/book recommendations? (Read 749 times)

Higdon. Daniels. Galloway. Glover. All good resources with canned plans. I've used Higdon for my first, and I did fine. Other than that, I roll my own.

I think you're better served by looking at as many plans as you can. Higdon is good for that, because he has so many based on varying levels of experience/ability. Bob Glover's books are good for that, too. I would at least start with the basis of an existing plan, and modify it where you feel you need to.

Higdon is pretty much all online, too...?

Yes. By looking at the plans, you get an idea as to what the commonalities are. Then you can start to think about what a marathon plan really needs, and how you can work those into your schedule.

agree with higdon but for my first I used a book by john hanc "beginner marathon" or the like and it was a good generic training plan that got me thru just fine. but higdon worked great for my sister for her marathons

I did his Intermediate plan for my first, no problem at all.

Yeah, the novice plans look like they top out at 35mpw...hell, I've done 38 mpw at least once for HM training. Either the Intermediate 1 or 2 would probably be doable...2 looks a bit above my head, but 1 would probably be reasonable. I do have a Glover book, but I believe it's just a general purpose running book. Well-written, though. Perhaps I will pick up one of his marathon books, as well.

I think you're better served by looking at as many plans as you can. Higdon is good for that, because he has so many based on varying levels of experience/ability. Bob Glover's books are good for that, too. I would at least start with the basis of an existing plan, and modify it where you feel you need to.

I agree. Running your first marathon isn't complicated, no matter how much people try to make it seem like it is. If you run a lot of easy, consistent mileage and run long every week or two, that's all you need to do. But I think Scout's right that you should read a bunch of the books and see where they agree. Even if you don't use one of the "plans." Personally, I think most first timers should read all the main books - then burn them. And just go run. That said, some runners tend to be a little, uh, anal detail oriented, and like to see some concrete plan. Even though if they actually look at the plan, they'll realize its exactly what I said: run a lot, run easy, run long once in a while. People like plans. It comforts them. Just please - I'm begging - don't turn into one of those dorks who posts in a few months something like: "I was scheduled to run 16.2 miles at 9:30 pace while maintaining a 153 BPM on Saturday, but I had to run on Sunday and only ran 15 and on this one hill my heart rate hit 155. Is my training ruined?" If you do that, I'll make fun of you. You might want to skip the time goal for your first, too. You'll ignore that advice, of course, but its not a bad idea. You'll end up obsessing over time soon enough - you ought to just enjoy the first one. If you run slow, its just an easy PR to break.

I rolled my own for my first. It worked well enough, but not fabulously. It would have been better if I had studied more on what goes into a training plan. I made some pretty large mistakes that could have been avoided. I'm training for me second on a roll my own plan. I've read up on Daniels and Pfitzinger, bounced a few ideas off more experienced runners and viola! I think that plans you devise are the best way to go, assuming you've read up on the subject and have a good idea as to what goes into sucessful marathon training. It makes most sense to write a plan that fits you, your life, your goals and your day to day reality more so than adopting a generic plan for the everyman.