Hal Higon Training Programme

Hi

I am following the Novice 2 Hal Higdon training programme and loving it so far.  I'm only at week 3, as I'm training for the London Marathon next year.  I've never ran a marathon, however I did do half a marathon back in 2011.  My plan is to get to 15 miles and then repeat all the weeks until I lead up to the last 18 week taper.  I have an opportunity at work to run home from work, mid week, but it's an eight mile run.   The programme says I don't need to run 8 miles mid week, until 7 weeks away.  So my question is, is it ok to throw in an 8 mile run mid week or will that be too much?  I did run 9 miles on Sunday and loved it.  My legs were sore but nothing too much.  I felt strong and fit!  The reason I want to do it, is because I work out 6 days a week.  I'm running on 4 days and weight training on two.  I love my weight training but I need to probably rest for two days, rather than 1.  By weight training in my lunch hour and then running home, I feel that I can kill two birds with one stone.  If I don't run home from work, I may have to go home, put the kids to bed and then go out running at 8pm.  Not ideal when I can run home.  I'd be interested to hear your thoughts....my gut feeling is that it's only another 2 miles on top of the schedule, so another 18 minutes of running....Thanks fellow runners!

Comments

  • Hi Pipski,

    I've done a few marathons, but by far my best was when I used a hal higdon plan to prepare, and I think that was because the mid-week mileage was low, and therefore possible to fit into my schedule, however if it was convenient for me to run home, I certainly wouldn't worry about putting a couple of extra miles in.  I think as long as you follow the key point that most of your mileage should be done at a much slower pace than your marathon, you shouldn't worry about putting some extra miles in if its convenient with your life.  It seems running home would allow you more time to recover from the running than if you made changes to allow you to run a shorter distance.

    I think that its key to realise that the training plans are guidelines, but you need to allow for your life to make them successful.  As long as you are following the rules of gradual progression with step back weeks, I think you will be absolutely fine.

     

  • MillsyMillsy ✭✭✭
    What time are you aiming for in the race?

    Are you running all of your miles at 9 min miles?
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