Thanks for the good wishes.  I'm not kidding about having no idea how the race will go, though.  Right now, I sort of feel like I'm training more for the love of training than the love of racing.  Eventually, I'll run a race where it will click, but I don't know when that will be.

Dave- The training is geared towards HMs and shorter, but I'm sure it has the aerobic development for a marathon.  What it lacks are any sort of longer quality work.  Other than the FF long runs, the longest you have to hold a pace in training is 40 minutes.  So that might not help you so much on marathon day.  Maybe his next work is to update his marathon book?

Lily- Yes, it focuses on 5K through HM racing, plus training for a season of multiple-distance races.

wcrunner- Exactly.  I wanted to see how he updated his plans with newer science.  And it turns out he made them harder. 

Jack- There are different levels of HM plans.  The first one goes from 31-47 mpw.  The highest-mileage HM plan is from 81-100 mpw.  

LRB- I didn't post much about my plan, other than to have it in my log when it was public (as it is again now).  But I didn't hear a lot of talk about the book in general.

Cy, onemile- The 6x1200 you build up to anyway, and by that time you're just happy that the intervals are so much shorter than the tempo runs you've been doing.  You get a really long recovery of 50%-90% of interval time.  For me at a recovery jog, I could have taken from 400-800m (400 was really fine).  That's definitely a workout that I could not have done at the start of training.

Actually, it was kind of awesome.  All summer long, I'd been sucking up a storm at the track, just feeling like crud and barely finishing 4x800 (and way off pace).  Then I started the plan and didn't even go near a track for 6 weeks while I was in the tempo phase.   I showed up at the track for the first speed day and it was 3x1200 and 3x1000, and I could do it, and run it evenly and with focus.  Well, except for the fact that I mis-remembered the workout and skipped the last 1000.  (but seriously, that was the 10/7 interval workout in my log, and I am super proud of it)

Dave- the 63 mpw is only once- there are two total weeks in the 60s, and most of the time you're in the 50s somewhere.

Moth- You're right.  It seems like most of the dailies chatter includes training plans only for those in marathon training.  The other races seem to just sort of happen along the way, so I don't read about a lot of people training for goal HMs.  Pfitz does still have the tempo work first, then the speed segment.  The last 4 weeks are all faster-than race pace work- 2 10Ks, two track workouts (the dreaded 6x1200 and then 2x1200 and 4x800 10 days out), plus a ton of strides.

LRB, Dave, etc.- I have also run 6 HMs.  The silly thing is, I'm thinking that if I have a good day on Sunday, a good day will make it my 4th fastest HM.

Moth- You're right.  It seems like most of the dailies chatter includes training plans only for those in marathon training.  The other races seem to just sort of happen along the way, so I don't read about a lot of people training for goal HMs. 

CJ, Lauren and PR are three I can think of off the top of my head who trained specifically for goal half marathons this year. The common denominator there is neither have run a marathon. B Plus trained for a goal 10k and a goal half marathon, but but did not run a marathon this year. So it may be as simple as removing the marathon from the equation.

It could also be a matter of timing. In my case for example, I have goal races in the mile, 5k and 10k every year, but do not consider either of the half marathons I run a goal race. I do want to do well in them though, they just come at a time on the calendar where other races take precedent. Onemile runs a fall half every year that she is trying to murderfy, it just so happens that it comes at a time when MRT is in full swing. So there is another example of timing and other events on the calendar.

The last variable is race preference, as with lily, Dave, Boon and Damaris. They run marathons, period. Although Boon has has added a twist to his marathon race day plans.

If only a few people are targeting the half distance it begs the question - what is everyone else doing that posted in the Half Marathon race thread (which is longer, 25 pages) than the marathon thread?

 

I just found that statement kinda odd because the half is [now] more popular than the marathon [3x1] and you would have thought that meant more people would be in half training mode. I don't claim to follow the training patterns of other runners but does this mean that people are just jumping into their halfs without the benefit of a specific schedule? 

About the only times I think a specific schedule is needed  are for races under 5K and over the HM. For 5K through HM the training is so similar that a more generic schedule can be used. That wouldn't be applicable for lower mileage runners, e.g. under 50 mpw where endurance may be lacking. A good 5K schedule is going to include long runs up to 15 miles and a good HM schedule will include plenty of VO2Max quality work.

If only a few people are targeting the half distance it begs the question - what is everyone else doing that posted in the Half Marathon race thread (which is longer, 25 pages) than the marathon thread?

This could just be me, but I noticed that once I moved up to the marathon distance (and beyond), anything shorter just became a tuneup race, or something I throw into the schedule for fun.  I'm still on the beginner's continuing improvement curve, so almost any race up to a half marathon that I put on my calendar at random, has a decent chance of being a PR opportunity without specific training.  Could I be faster at a shorter distance with specific training, absolutely.  I think most of us are trying to be decent at all distances, which means you can't be really great at any one distance, something has to give.  I do like half marathons, and shorter races, mostly because the taper and recovery have a lot less impact on training volume.

I re-read Zel's initial post after readin MothAudio's question about how the plan was structured...

Does Pfitz still reserve the bulk of the [faster than race pace] speedwork at the end of the schedule?

And from what I understand of that initial comment, it seems like speed work is still at the end of the schedule, like in his Advanced Marathoning book. Although I have never tried it that way, I find it makes more sense to become more specific as the race comes closer. The Hansons plan is structured that way, and with all the MP running I did coming in to the race, that pace felt very natural on race day.

Since I don't race much, I have always trained specifically for all my races, whether they're 5Ks, 10Ks, HM or marathon distance. The only time I raced twice in a short period, both races were 5Ks, and I was obviously training exactly for that using Daniels.

Actually 2 goal HM's this year, although I'm trying to erase the second from the history books.   And no, I didn't follow a specific published plan, but just tried to stick to the mantra, run more, mostly easy, sometimes fast.  Anything more structured with specific workouts on specific days, and I begin to lose the enjoyment of the process, and then what's the point.  I say that, however, knowing full well, that it is likely I could have better results with a fully structured plan.  Then I remember it's not totally about the results, but also the process.

If you haven't tried following a structured plan, you should, you might enjoy it more than you think. Or maybe you won't, and then you can just go back to what you were doing.