I don't use a plan, but lately I've been looking into Lydiard and periodization principles (I've actually started a Lydiard-esque base phase). I am averse to plans, though, so I'm really just taking the important elements and putting things together myself.

I'm still new at this, so I'm making progress just by running more. I've tried to follow a plan a couple of times but it made running feel like work so each time I got fed up with the plan and went back to just running.

 

That said, I am trying to learn about the purpose of the different kinds of workouts in most plans.  Little by little I am incorporating different kinds of workouts into my running (for example I do long runs regularly and dabble in Fartleks or tempo runs), but it's on my terms, not from a plan

 

Im not dissing plans-- they just don't work for me right now. Maybe at some point I'll think differently.

I used to say that and now I have inspired a poll!

This is a trick question.  For example, Daniels (by which I know you mean the book) has a variety of plans.  3 for the marathon distance alone... plus various plans-of-color that aren't specific to a goal race distance.  Etc.

Hanson is interesting because there's a book... which is different from a plan you can buy from Hanson.  Which won't be written by either Hanson brother.

I voted 'Hudson' because it most closely fits the poll, but I want to give a more detailed answer, one which doesn't quite end at Hudson for me.

I've been running for about 8 years- My first race was in the summer of 2005 after starting couch to 5K a couple of times.  I started out at age 22 with an incredibly poor aerobic base, having never been into sports--  I nearly failed PE in high school because I couldn't run fast enough.

I am a big reader, and in the 8 years since I started, I've read probably more than a dozen running books, and looked at probably twice that number of training plans.  I have had a ton of time to try out different things, to see what worked for me and what didn't.  I think this kind of methodical approach has one of the biggest things that has helped me improve from year to year, from a 10:54 pace for 5 miles to 7:53 pace for the same distance.

Of course, nothing beats volume and consistency, and I often joke that if I spent as much time running as I do reading, it wouldn't have taken me nearly so long to make the improvements that I have made 

The most important thing I learned from Hudson is how to identify my weaknesses and how to train to conquer them.  I looked at my race times across distances, and seeing how far off predictions of longer races were of the actual times, I knew that my biggest 2 deficiencies were

1-Aerobic endurance

2-Mental fortitude in a longer race

I addressed my aerobic endurance weakness by trying to run more miles, and especially trying to run 3-4 times/week runs of at least 8 miles (approx. 80 minutes for me currently).  I think this helped me a lot, since I was finally able to break 2:00 in the half marathon and also set a big PR at 15K.

To address the mental fortitude issue, I picked up 'Brain Training for Runners' by Matt Fitzgerald, which I have half-recommended a few times in this forum and on RWOL.  I don't think it's the best training book out there and I don't love all the ideas in it, but the speedwork in that plan follows a clear progression which has worked really well for me-- from 30-sec to 1 min. runs at 3K pace to mile repeats at 10K pace to long stretches at HM pace or M pace.  Some of the workouts are a little out there to me (8 miles at HM pace is more than a tough workout for me, even 6 at HM pace will leave me sore for a couple days) so I feel free to adjust wherever I think it's appropriate.

I think one of the best things about following a plan is that if you can identify the key components of a plan, you can figure out what works for you and what doesn't based on your results.  If you're doing one plan and you have a bunch of less-successful races, try something different.  If you're just doing your own thing, it's very difficult to separate out the different components, and identify what might be working for you.

 I used to say that and now I have inspired a poll!

Indeed you have!

SRL, since there are so many distances, I left that open for discussion.  So using your example someone could say they used the Daniels red intermediate plan, or his 800 to 1500 meter plan, or one of a half dozen others.

I like the Daniels Marathon "A" plan.  It is flippin' brutal.

This newbie votes for the "I don't use a plan" cuz I don't know much about any of these guys. I'm with Dave...I run as often as I can.