Forums >General Running>Do you follow a Plan for a Race or DIY?
When prepping for a race.....Marathon, HM, 10k, 5k, etc...
Do you follow a race plan, or do your own thing?
Feel free to elaborate/explain your process...
One thought I had about a plan was....leaving an extra week or 2 for say the Marathon....and hitting every workout....in order....vs. skipping a workout and moving on to the next run if for whatever reason you had to miss 1.
300m- 37 sec.
I use a plan as a template but then make tweaks I feel are needed. For example, while a Daniel's plan may say 3 x 1 mile tempo, the book will say use 6 minutes if your tempo pace is slower than 6mm. I also make modifications to his I and R workouts to match my slower paces.
When I've used a Hudson HM plan, I estimated that a 4 mile easy run = 3 minutes, 6= 45 and 8= 1 hour and did those by time to avoind a 90 minute not-easy run.
I used a Pfitz 5k plan last year and really like the concept of prioritizing workouts depending on where you are in the cycle. If I know in advance I will be short for time, it makes it easy to see which run to skip.
Are we there, yet?
I follow a plan in conjunction with my coach, but ultimately I'm responsible since adjustments are often made before I have time to consult with her.
2024 Races:
03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles
05/11 - D3 50K 05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour
06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.
Mmmm Bop
Both. I respect some plans and add in my own unique runs...which I guess makes it DIY.
5k - 17:53 (4/19) 10k - 37:53 (11/18) Half - 1:23:18 (4/19) Full - 2:50:43 (4/19)
RIP Milkman
Someone says Daniels and I show up! I think he says 5 minutes, as 5 minutes is right around lactate threshold for elite/sub-elite runners. So most people take 3x1 mile as 3x5 minutes.
Anyway, regarding this poll, I totally agree. I "follow" Daniels, but tweak a lot of things based upon research I've done on other training aspects where I don't agree with his approach for me.
5K: 16:37 (11/20) | 10K: 34:49 (10/19) | HM: 1:14:57 (5/22) | FM: 2:36:31 (12/19)
Someone says Daniels and I show up! I think he says 5 minutes, as 5 minutes is right around lactate threshold for elite/sub-elite runners. So most people take 3x1 mile as 3x5 minutes. Anyway, regarding this poll, I totally agree. I "follow" Daniels, but tweak a lot of things based upon research I've done on other training aspects where I don't agree with his approach for me.
Maybe it got updated in a later version? The times I remember from the 2nd ediition were 6 minutes for T, 3-5 minutes was a sweet spot for I and 2 minutes max for R. Intervals can also be shorter with shoterr rests that don't allow your heart rate to drop.
I voted training plan because, for about 80% of my running life, I followed schedules meticulously. Now, with a lot of races under my belt, I do feel more confident tinkering a bit with the workouts in my preferred plans (Pfitz).
My blog is JT Running DC. It's awesome. Guide to Washington DC Area Running Routes. Guide to the New York City Marathon. Guide to the Boston Marathon. Guide to Running Gear. Guide to Running Clothes.
As I generally do when this topic comes back around I voted other because while my training was always heavily Pfitz-based, I made adjustments ranging from minor to quite significant to account for life circumstances, other races I wanted to include, and knowing myself better than a guy on the other side of the world who'd never met me. Just as Pfitz actually intended.
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