Some questions about training plans

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Autumnleaves Apr 2015 3:03pm, 28 Apr 2015 5,906 posts	0 Autumnleaves I was going to put these in a blog but then I thought more people might look at a thread. So: I am planning on doing the Chester Metric Marathon in October, with a view to 'testing' marathon training in terms of quantity/quality without actually running a full marathon at the end. I have found a RW marathon plan for sub 4hrs 30 - which seems a realistic target - that works on 4 runs a week with optional parkruns or similar on Saturdays - this would fit well with my commitment to Resolution Runners. The plan is here runnersworld.co.uk and I have put it into my training log on Fetch. My questions are: Where there are races in the plan - would you do them? If there is no easy race to fit what would you do instead? Given that I would be running 26.2km, not miles, would you shorten the longest runs or is it worth my tackling at least one 20 miler? I am (more or less) decided on tackling a full marathon next year - hence the 'testing' bit of this plan. I'd like to gauge whether I can make the training work without it destroying me or the rest of life! When you follow a plan do you start exactly as they say? - the first week is obviously very easy if you already run more than the minimum suggested. What target time for 26.2km should I set myself? My half PB is 1.52 - set this spring.
Autumnleaves Apr 2015 3:04pm, 28 Apr 2015 5,907 posts	0 Autumnleaves Meant to say thanks in advance!
becca7 Apr 2015 3:10pm, 28 Apr 2015 6,240 posts	0 becca7 1) Find races that would suit and jig the training weeks around to fit in. 2) I think that it would be worth doing some 20 milers to get your body used to them. The first 20 milers are hard but they get easier. So if you do some in preparation for the Chester race this will help when you takele the marathon. 3) No harm in starting easy but also no harm in doing the amount that you would normally do and dropping in to the plan properly when it catches up. 4) Hard to say regarding the time for 26.2km. Your half time suggests that some pace around 8:35 per mile is possible but you will probably find that you can run a faster half with this training under your belt, so perhaps 8:30s.
Autumnleaves Apr 2015 3:13pm, 28 Apr 2015 5,908 posts	0 Autumnleaves Thanks becca - for my half training plans I have tweaked them a bit around races I like doing so that's helpful.