My upcoming months in a nutshell: running and Chicago.
So apparently sometime in the past few weeks I blacked out and decided it was a good idea to run two half marathons and a ten mile race in the span of three weeks. Never mind the fact that I haven’t run over eight consecutive miles yet this “spring,” or that I’ve only run one half marathon last summer. Nope, I’m not panicking. Not at all.
Okay, maybe I’m a little nervous. So to make myself feel better, I’ve decided to do the one thing I know I CAN do- plan a training schedule. Now that Kate’s PR Crew has finished (wonk wonk), I can be a little more independent/flexible in my workout schedule. One of the plans I’ve stumbled upon during my training research was the plan titled: Hansons Half-Marathon Method: Run Your Best Half-Marathon the Hansons Way
Take a second to check it out and come back. I’ll be right here.
Nope, your eyes weren’t deceiving you, reader. That plan actually DOES have six days of running with one rest day and no cross-training per week. The Hansons swear by the idea of “cumulative fatigue”– training your body to perform even when it’s flat-out exhausted, hence the abundance of running. Lest you think these people are completely nuts, note that your “active recovery” runs (after long runs and tempo runs) are at any easy pace.Oh, what a relief.
Their training methods are used most in marathon training (no long run over 16 miles, hey-yo!), but they’ve adapted a half-marathon training plan for those of us who aren’t quite there yet. And after a lot of reading various reviews of their plans (most people who have followed the plan swear by it for marathons), I have to say, I’m pretty intrigued. Cumulative fatigue seems logical to me, and I understand the principle of “if you want to get really good at something, you should do it, a lot.” However, honestly, I’m a little nervous about incurring an injury by following such a high-volume running plan. Also, I absolutely love taking cross-training NTC, Spin, or Barre classes- I don’t know if I’m ready to give those up.
So, I’m looking for some feedback. Have any of you (or anyone you know) tried this marathon training plan? Do you see any other advantages or disadvantages? Any advice for me as I buckle down my training in the last six weeks before my first half marathon of the season (EEEEEK!). Send wisdom, y’all!
