Intervals as part of marathon training? Plus plan selection advice pls

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mikep Oct 2013 2:03pm, 30 Oct 2013 405 posts	0 mikep As someone that has trained for and completed nine marthons I can say, without hestitation that interval training has improved by times and let me run better/more easily. I have followed RW 16 week plans for various times and found the mix of interval (or hill work), tempo, easy and long runs build stamina and endurance and that the interval sessions condition my body to keep an even pace on undulating courses.
Old Croc Oct 2013 2:12pm, 30 Oct 2013 24,007 posts	0 Old Croc your club intervals seem to be suiting you. Plus you like them. My programme usually has a recovery run the day after an efforts or interval session. Tonight is a 45 minute easy session to recover from last night's club efforts.
sLickster Oct 2013 3:37pm, 30 Oct 2013 1,445 posts	0 sLickster As a marathon first-timer I'd think you would benefit from 'having an enjoyable experience'. By that I mean to get round the distance as comfortably as possible having done a good amount of training - note that doesn't mean you have to 'go slow', just that you'd not be 'on the edge' effort wise. This is what I did in my one and only marathon to date The prospective second, third, fourth marathon etc can be used to hone your plan and improve your time having noted how you got on with the first. So for me intervals aren't really needed here. Maybe the four runs could be Tuesday easy run, Thursday marathon paced run (at club), Saturday tempo run at parkrun and then Sunday Long Slow Run (really run as slowly as possible).
HermanBloom Oct 2013 4:06pm, 30 Oct 2013 3,986 posts	0 HermanBloom I like the sound of that.
mole-thing Oct 2013 4:24pm, 30 Oct 2013 596 posts	0 mole-thing Good luck HB. Did my first marathon this spring. I started training in September with 100 miles and the plan was to increase the mileage at about 10% a month. All I did was to plod along, mostly off road, at around 70% MHR, certainly no intervals. Some months I didn't quite make the planned total, but overall it worked and I managed to squeeze under 4 hours. You can do it!
P.E... Oct 2013 4:24pm, 30 Oct 2013 1,535 posts	0 P.E... Keep it simple (as Hal does...). If it was me I would run as much as I could within the time I have but also at a mileage that isn't going to injure you. It's better to have x amount of weeks of consistent training than anything. No one 'killer' session is going to improve you more than consistency in my book so thats your key. A decent amount of long runs will make it a bit easier on the day mind.... If you enjoy the interval sessions then keep them they won't do any real harm (I know the increased risk of injury etc.) but just learn that in the days afterwards you WILL have to listen to your body and potentially run slower/shorter distances the days following a session (that being a long run/interval/tempo session). So just learn not to be a slave to your Garmin and listen to your body.
FR Oct 2013 4:26pm, 30 Oct 2013 17,159 posts	0 FR Word of warning. I lose endurance when I train faster.
Gobi Oct 2013 5:05pm, 30 Oct 2013 52,647 posts	0 Gobi you train wrong FR :¬) Slcikster - sub 4 first time out would be enjoyable to someone if they like training. There is nothing enjoyable about being out there all day when you know it could have gone better Herman - the cux of the matter is what do you want and how hard do you want to work. Sub 4 is a target then train and do it, do you need intervals? NO but they would help make you faster as they make MP feel really slow :¬)
HermanBloom Oct 2013 11:34am, 31 Oct 2013 3,994 posts	0 HermanBloom MP = medium pace? Or something else? I'm currently thinking the Higdon Novice 2 plan seems to fit well into my aims, and that I maybe go to the Intervals every other week, or every three weeks. But then I know that consistency is key so if I do that then the benefit is basically lost and I might as well just crop them completely? I've upped my miles since joining my club back in March, but I know that there is a massive difference between 15-20 miles a week and marathon training and that I need to focus on the LSR and generally just spending time on my legs. Maybe I alternate the parkrun with intervals. Though that means no cross training so maybe that is a bad thing as well? NO idea what I would do for cross either anyway, was thinking of parkruns instead of that anyway? Clueless
Old Croc Oct 2013 11:45am, 31 Oct 2013 24,015 posts	0 Old Croc MP = marathon pace