I used his training for the Princess 10k and it worked really well for me. But for longer races I don't know how well it would work, so I'm going to look into another training plan.
The Galloway plans will absolutely work. I do note though that I began to enjoy running more after I increased the frequency of my weekly runs.
I used his training for the Princess 10k and it worked really well for me. But for longer races I don't know how well it would work, so I'm going to look into another training plan
I think I'm going to look for something in the 4-5 day a week range. 3 days a week seems a bit low for my liking.
For me, recovery was actually quicker after I started running 4-5 days a week.
The balance is that you have to commit to the long, long, LONG runs later in the plan. Galloway does three 20+ mile runs including a full Dopey simulation with 26 miles at the end of it. I didn't find them hard as I just built them into my life - i.e. these days I am unavailable because I am running all day - but other people do.
With Galloway, I found that my legs recovered faster and I stayed healthy. I know my body and it would never stand up to running 5-6 days per week.
I used the Galloway plan for many years. Finished 6 half marathons and 3 10K/Half Marathon challenges using it. I knew I would not have the time nor the desire for the weekend long runs prescribed on his Marathon plan given my speed so the marathon held very little interest for me.
But then I discovered
@DopeyBadger plans and the rest is history.
The Galloway plan helped me gain the confidence that I could do this and helped me in the journey to the marathon. While I use different methodology now, I still incorporate his run/walk/run method.
I subscribe to the intervals, but not the long runs at my (lack of) speed. IME running more than 3 hours risks injury and fatigue I need extra rest days to recover from.
That was me. After my first marathon, I'm not sure I could have handled the long distances of the Galloway plan given the time on my feet and recovery.
Personally, I'd rather see it all maintained under one thread because everybody brings useful information and experience to the table. I also think the idea of splitting things out to a "not-so-fast" paced group isn't consistent with the inclusivity and welcoming nature that we try to maintain with the community, even it that's not the intention. You also run into that weird space of having to define what "not-so-fast" even means.
As an alternative, what would you think of a thread along the lines of "Runners Seeking Race Buddies" that specifically dealt with pairing up people looking for running companions without limiting it to pacing and keeping the overall discussions for the weekend in this thread?
I completely agree with this. I might be able to run a sub 6:30 marathon if I didn't get distracted along the course at Disney World. Maybe. I have learned so much in the annual version of this thread and other threads here from far faster runners. I would not have attempted the marathon had I not learned from this community, including the many, many runners much faster than me. I discovered in training for marathon number one that I had been making a series of mistakes in training and running for years. Marathon training exposed them and I learned how to correct them precisely because other runners here shared what they had learned.
Of course the easy answer is that there’s still just more demand on the races than I realized. I think the proximity to New Year’s again this year is making it easier for people to travel. Perhaps 2025 will see a decline with the likely move back to Jan. 9-12.
FOMO plays a part. I also think to some degree we are still dealing with pent up demand because of the pandemic and then 2023 selling out so quickly.
I have no interest on spending 20+ miles on my feet in a single run before getting to Marathon weekend.
I was so intensely sore after my first marathon that I did not move pain free for 3 days. Not sure I could have trained with that much soreness.
Someone reassure me I haven't gone completely mad!
It's too late for that, but that's okay because
)
