Find me a 20 mile training plan

3 watchers

Iris May 2012 12:32pm, 28 May 2012 4,750 posts	0 Iris I've looked at smartcoach but it only has 1/2 mara or marathon, no 20 mile option. I need to find a free online plan that will get me up to 20 miles (off road) in 16 weeks with a few weekends off for holidays. Any suggestions?
Curly45 May 2012 12:45pm, 28 May 2012 489 posts	0 Curly45 Best way to train for 20 miles (especially an off road one). Is to train for a marathon. Its not a commonly "raced" distance as its often used as marathon prep so run as a controlled long run, so I suspect there will be no plans specifically for it, but a marathon plan you like the look of should do the trick. The long runs will give you the stamina needed and I would do some on the runs on trail if you can.
Iris May 2012 12:46pm, 28 May 2012 4,751 posts	0 Iris Thanks, all my long runs are offroad anyway. My long run is usually 10 miles so that should be an OK starting point.
Flip Flop May 2012 12:47pm, 28 May 2012 297 posts	0 Flip Flop I've recently run my first 20m and used a Smartcoach marathon plan with minimal modifications ..... my logic was if I trained for 26.2 miles them 20 miles should be easy .... I was wrong but it did prepare me for a wet,windy and freezing cold 20 miles
Frobester May 2012 12:51pm, 28 May 2012 19,722 posts	0 Frobester If I remember right, I used Oakley 20 as training for South Downs last year. Until I got to the start line and thought "using a race as training? Feck that!"
SuperDave! May 2012 12:59pm, 28 May 2012 732 posts	0 SuperDave! Iris - from my personal and ltd experience I'd train for a marathon. I raced ashby 20 really comfortably while training for VLM using a Hal Higdon plan, and did much better in my 20 mile race than the marathon itself. Hal's plans at beginner/intermediate level don't include any speedwork, just time on feet and mostly at a comfortable pace
Iris May 2012 4:07pm, 28 May 2012 4,752 posts	0 Iris I'll have a look at those, thank you. 20 miles is a long way innit? Especially with mountains in it.
Curly45 May 2012 4:28pm, 28 May 2012 493 posts	0 Curly45 Agree there is no need for speedwork for 20 miles unless you are already maxed out on stamina. Its a ruddy long way to race! Get a few 10 mile races booked in. Run 10 miles before one and then race the next 10. Great prep
SuperDave! May 2012 4:51pm, 28 May 2012 733 posts	0 SuperDave! halhigdon.com
Iris May 2012 9:37pm, 28 May 2012 4,753 posts	0 Iris Thank you Dave, I've printed that off and will merge it with the smartcoach one and see how it looks.