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Hansons Marathon Method
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Hope you are too AR. Thanks for your support and for starting the thread. Hansons works!
Hi BW, Well done, glad to hear it went ok. ITB pain from 2.5 miles? crikey, well done for dealing with that all the way through!
Official time, btw, was 3:09:34
Excellent effort BW - really please you overcame the ITB issues and worked through it.
My story was not so rosy. First 6 miles were ok, nicely on 2:44 pace. However some of the small inclines in the first 3 miles set the Tendinosis pain going, and by the end of mile 6 it was game over - I couldn't put any pressure on my forefoot. I jogged on to mile 9 to meet up with my wife. Had a stop there, and decided to just jog on and enjoy the day. I've put some details in another thread which I'll copy across.
Glad to get this out of my system now, but it is a shame I didn't get to see how I would do under Hanson's.
A great start to the morning jogging behind the Kenyans and Etheopians on a warm up lead by Gebrselassie. They were incredibly relaxed, and Kebede is miniscule. Then moved on to Mo's warm up. Unfortunately a mankini man was running along side him so I quickly gave that a bumsteer.
Onto the races, first 4 miles nice and comfortable, mile 5 achilles tightens, and by mile 6 it is all over - I can't put any pressure on my forefoot. I decided to shuffle to mile 9 to meet up with my wife who was in the crowd, but during those next 3 miles I had such a good time with the crowd (personal best hand slap of 9 people in a row), that I have a chat with my wife that I'll meet up at mile 19. More jogging and taking the event in, although pain is starting to outweigh pleasure, a few stops to try and massage the achilles, and at mile 19 I'm going to doggedly see it through, so we arrange to meet at the end.
Jog and limp on, try and run a couple of times, and I'm finished in a personal worst of 3:19:08, and have to say I had a top day. I knew it was going to be a messy day; it was just a surprise I took quite a bit out of it.
Stats:
Gels 0, Lucozade 0
Pieces of banana 2, orange pieces 1, Chewits 2, Milk bottles 3, mini Mars 1, Wispa bites 1, mini milky way 1, fruit pastilles 3, jelly babies 5, assorted pick n mix 8, mini bounty 1
So I made the most of it and experienced a bit of the 'fun run' feel of VLM. Stopping to chat was a novel experience. Running will now have to take a back seat while I try and get patched up for the long term. Totally unconvinced by my physio encouraging me to run in the last few weeks, but really glad I turned up today and got this one out my system. Biggest disappointment was not finding out how I would do with Hanson's
Looks like I'm set for a sleepless night due to an angry achilles. That will teach me!
BW - good work, well done. Will you use Hanson again ?
A-r - shame that it didn't happen for you, do you think you'll have another go at Hanson ? Top marks for getting round it can't have been easy, especially carrying half a sweet shop
Mace - I wish I'd taken a wheelie suitcase.
I will skip marathons now for a year. I'm not sure about Hanson's. I think it is a great plan but I've found 6 days per week a bit full on and disruptive, and have let a few things slip with work. I may try it again on one of the shorter plans. 20 weeks seemed to go on forever. I was also thinking of looking at Daniels as a possibility
That's a definitely maybe then!
Hi BW, No rush on the Garmin...well done on breaking 3:10, really pleased for you. Also, glad to hear you will be taking Hansons forward.
Hi AR, Well done on getting through the marathon, I suppose you probably knew this was going to happen as it didn't sound too good on the run up to the marathon. Bad news on the Physio, unfortunately it can be hard to get a good one. I found one and I am sticking with her, it helps that she is a runner and even now a vet runner she is pretty good and it helps that she has come up against most injuries ;0)
At least you had a good day and still come in at a respectable time in my book
I think the not really trying was more about the pacing. I had just become a 'limper' just before the 10k mark (39:13) The 6:15 pace set by Luke felt great. That left 32k at a pace far slower than the easy pace he set, so aerobically there was no challenge - just a leg to drag along!
Nell, I'm not wanting to blame my physio for it - I'm my worst enemy. My main grudge is that 5 weeks ago I asked him to be straight - I wanted to turn up 100% fit, or to call it a day there and then and fix the problem properly. I didn't want to muddle through. However I jumped at his idea of trying to run on and off, and letting the taper give time for some healing. I should have known as I've had the problem before.
MsE if you are out there, you are more than welcome to say "told you so"
Graston, ultrasound, whatever, bring it on. Meanwhile non weight bearing exercise from now on, just as the good weather arrives.
Hi AR, yes hear where you are coming from. We are all our own worst enemies aren't we? I suppose I have a good understanding with my physio, she knows what I have been through and pretty much knows my body and will just tell me straight without any prompting, she's from Glasgow :0)
It all turned ok in the end anyway AR, as you sound like you enjoyed yourself. I suppose really that is what it is all about eh?
Talking physio's, I am just back from mine and a clean bill of health and nice feeling legs after a good massage...all to be destroyed in tomorrow mornings hill reps!
Hi Guys, As I said earlier in the year, I was interested in the Hansons plan and was thinking of using it for my Autumn marathon. So I contacted Hansons and Luke Humprey has knocked me a plan to take me to York in October. I will keep you updated on how I get on with things...
Good running to you Nell. I shall look forward to following your progress.
ok, That is week 4 completed. So far the plan has been going well. I initially sent off to Hansons for a 12 week plan to take me up to the York Marathon in October. Luke Humphreys knocked a plan up for me and to be honest I was a bit surprised with it. The layout was very similar to my previous plans with a rest day on Monday and Friday. I wasn't sure how this would provide the cumulative effect in the training. Went back to Luke and he added a session on the Monday, so my rest day is on the Friday which I thought the obvious would be Wednesday? Anyway, after the MP session on a Thursday my legs are ready for the rest day on a Friday after the week of running up to that. I did feel it in my legs this Thursday evening after the MP session this week.
I do try to get in two S&C sessions during the week as I do suffer with ITB from time to time. This is something I will have to plan carefully going forward in to try and avoid adding to the fatigue in my legs.
I will hopefully get some figures uploaded soon. The way the plan comes through is all in emails and a bit messy....
Nell Blue - let us know how it is going won't you? I have been following the Hansons Marathon Method for beginners from the book and have so far found it a great plan. As AR knows, I have been suffering from Achilles issues for years now but the plan seems to suit me as it is not too demanding in terms of time on feet. That leaves me plenty of time to address the rehab and conditioning side of things which is crucial. I think tendon injuries never quite leave you once the tissue is damaged but I have learnt how to work with and tend to it. I hope your ITB is not holding you back and gets resolved.
Good to hear you are getting into the plan now Nell, and the S&C sessions sound like a wise move.
I'm still sidelined with my achilles having managed 3 miles of running since London marathon - very fed up
. I am going back to my Orthopedic Surgeon this week to go through my MRI scans and plan some more treatments
Have you found anyone who knows how to wield a Graston tool effectively yet, AR? I know I keep banging on about it but it really has helped me a great deal. What a bummer you are still sidelined. I hope you are managing to find something else to keep yourself ticking over.
Hi MSE, yes I had a block of 10 sessions with a guy who used that along with acupuncture. Unfortunately there was no improvement and he came to the conclusion that there was no point continuing and referred me on.
Of course I don't know how effective he was in wielding his metal tool!
It should hurt like nothing else you have ever experienced. It should feel as painful as childbirth. It should make your eyes water and like you want to bite down on a leather belt. Did it?
Yes it brought me to tears ! I couldn't believe I was allowing this to happen, and I was just holding on for dear life trying as best as I could not to shout stop!!!
It felt like it was one of the most crude forms of treatment somebody could dream up, and when I described it to someone they though it wasn't real and that I had had a nightmare
. I can't compare it to childbirth - I will take your word for it!
Hi MsE, Yes I will keep you update on the progress. So far I am quite enjoying things. The mileage peaks at just over 60 miles. Last week was just over 50 and the ITB has been fine so far. If I can keep the S&C up I should hopefully be ok. I have been having tightness in the right glute, which I don't feel whilst running. I have been stretching and working the spikey ball in the glute and I think that has been helping. I am quite enjoying the interval sessions oddly, which I thought I wouldn't. I usually perform hill reps as opposed to flat intervals, to help the ITB problems. But it has been a welcome change to be honest. There is a good mix of intervals in the plan from week to week too.
Hi AR, Bad news on the Achilles, there seems a lot of folk getting problems in this manner at the moment. I do hope things get sorted for you. That Graston tool sounds awful
Hi Guys
Just an update on how I got on with the Hansons Plan. I requested a 12 week plan from Luke Humphrey at Hansons. Started the plan late July through to the York Marathon on 12th October. I must say I really enjoyed the plan. I liked the mix of interval sessions from week to week. My rest day was on a Friday, so I found myself getting to the Tempo/MP run on a Thursday definitely with the cumulative effect in my legs. The two 'SOS' sessions I felt really worked, I felt myself getting stronger throughout the plan and the plan itself pretty much flew by. The 12 week plan I felt worked after keeping up a good base fitness throughout the summer. I had played it the same way for the Autumn marathon in 2013 which had a similar result so think I will do the same again for the Spring marathon. Getting to the York marathon I was a bit tired just before the race, but I think that was down to being away in London with work that week. On the day of the race I did have to stop a couple of times with a iffy stomach, which wasn't quite right until Wednesday so not sure what was wrong there. On the whole the marathon went pretty much to plan apart from the two stops on the way around and I was aiming for 3:07:30 and finished with 3:06:26, so with that in mind I was pretty pleased ;0)
After the marathon I had the usual DOMS in bed that evening, but after that my legs and whole body have been fine.
I think the benefits from this plan are that you take away this huge run on the Sunday which not only takes longer, but also takes more time to recover from. Obviously there is no such thing as a free lunch and you do run these miles elsewhere. I found the plan more interesting than the plans I have followed before and also I have found my recovery times a lot better after races. I feel a lot stronger coming out of it.
I have really enjoyed the Hanson Method Plan and I aim to keep a good base fitness up over the winter and then use a 12 week plan again for London. I was looking at running London and Edinburgh, Edinburgh being 5 weeks after London. So have enquired whether a plan could be drawn up with this in mind. This seems possible, so I need to think how I will play it as Luke Humphreys did say that one will have to give a little. This will probably be London as Edinburgh is the faster marathon course. But on the day who knows eh?
After running Pfitzinger plans for the last three of my four marathons, I'm seriously considering the off-the-shelf 20 weeks 60-80miles plan for London.
The plan looks scary though..
I like the theory - if you don't do so many 'huge' runs you don't leave yourself so weakened and at risk of catching colds either.
I haven't folowing a hanson plan but m still unconvinced that it really trains you as well the more tried and tested approach.
I do think that '20-21 miles' is a distance that comes from back in the day when marathons weren't as mass appeal as no. So that represented a 2:00-2:30 steady paced effort to most plan followers - as a result may be 22 miles is a bit long for a 'get me round' 4:30 target person.
It is a common misconceptions that there is no place for a 20 mile run in a Hanson Plan - go look at the 60-80 mpw off the shelf plan. Don't rely on a couple of internet articles written several years ago by Running Times and RW.com.