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A Comparison of Marathon Training Plans-Include

1 Characteristics

The table below looks at the general characteristics of the various plans.

Plan name Duration Min Days/week Max Days/week Min Cross Training days Max Cross Training Days Speedwork Long Run Pace Long Run Speedwork
FIRST's Run Less, Run Faster Novice, Marathon 16 3 3 2 2 2 MP+15 to MP+45 Yes
Galloway You Can Do It Beginner, To Finish 26 6 6 0 0 0 Not Specified No
Galloway You Can Do It Fat Burning 26 5 5 2 2 0 MP+120 No
Galloway You Can Do It Goal based plans 26 4 4 2 2 0 MP+120 No
Galloway's Book On Running Goal based plans 32 4 7 0 0 1 MP+120 No
Hanson's Marathon Method Beginner and Advanced 18 6 6 0 0 2 Scaled (MP+50 to MP+30) No
Hal Higdon's Ultimate Training Guide Novice 18 4 4 1 1 0 NS (MP+30 to MP+90) No
Hal Higdon's Ultimate Training Guide Intermediate 1/2 18 5 5 1 1 0 NS (MP+30 to MP+90) No
Hal Higdon's Ultimate Training Guide Advanced 1/2 18 6 6 0 0 1 (Ad1), 2 (Ad2) NS (MP+30 to MP+90) No
Jack Daniels Running Formula To Finish, Novice 18 3 7 0 0 1 MP+90 to MP+120 Yes
Jack Daniels Running Formula Plan A 24 3 7 0 0 1 MP+90 to MP+120 Yes
Jack Daniels Running Formula Elite, 12 Week 24 3 7 0 0 1 MP+90 to MP+120 Yes
Jack Daniels Running Formula 2Q 18 2 7 0 0 1 MP+90 to MP+120 Yes
Jack Daniels Running Formula 4Weeks 26 2 7 0 0 1 MP+90 to MP+120 Yes
Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning <55/18 week 18 5 5 0 1 1 MP+10% to MP+20% Yes
Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning <55/12 week 12 5 5 0 1 1 MP+10% to MP+20% Yes
Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning 55-70/18 week 18 6 6 0 1 1 MP+10% to MP+20% Yes
Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning 55-70/12 week 12 6 6 0 1 1 MP+10% to MP+20% Yes
Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning 70-85/18 week 18 7 7 0 0 1 MP+10% to MP+20% Yes
Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning 70-85/12 week 12 7 7 0 0 1 MP+10% to MP+20% Yes
Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning >85 (105)/18 week 18 7 7 0 0 1 MP+10% to MP+20% Yes
Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning >85 (105)/12 week 12 7 7 0 0 1 MP+10% to MP+20% Yes
Waitz's Run your first marathon RYFM 16 4 4 0 0 0 Not Specified No
  • Plan. I have generally used the last name of the primary author of the plan, except where the plan is better known by another name.
  • Name. This is the name of the plan with the in the book, or in the case of Jack Daniels the parameters used to generate the plan.
  • Min/Max Days/week. The minimum and maximum number of days per week that the plan prescribes for running. For the Galloway plans are considered any day the prescribes walking as part of the running days and was Galloway is using a run/walk approach.
  • Min/Max Cross Training days. This is the minimum and maximum number of days per week that the plan prescribes for cross training, rather than the number of days that the plan would allow for cross training.
  • Speedwork. This is the number of days where the plan prescribes speed work such as intervals or at tempo runs. Any speed work performed as part of the long run is not included in this total.
  • Fitness Based Paces. Both Jack Daniels and FIRST define all training paces based on your current fitness level, but other plans do not. (Note that the Hanson plans do prescribe training paces, but this is based on your goal rather than your proven fitness.)
  • Long Run Pace. While only Jack Daniels and FIRST give fitness based Paces, most of the plans give at least a broad guidelines as to the appropriate long run pace. These training paces are specified as a number of seconds per mile slower than marathon pace, or occasionally as a percentage slower. (For example, MP+10% for a 6:00 min/mile marathoner: 6:00 pace is 360 seconds per mile, 10% of 360 is 36, so the pace would be 6:36 min/mile.)

Some of the plans have different number of days assigned to different activities as the plan progresses, in which case I've used a rough approximation.

2 Long Run Analysis

This section provides some detailed analysis of the long runs in each of the training plans. While some of the information is self-explanatory, some may require you to read the notes below the table. Only a subset of the plans for lower mileage, 4 hour marathoners is include'd'. For a complete table, see Full Characteristics Table

Plan name # Runs
16+ 		# Runs
20+ 		Total Miles
Over 16 		Starting
Mileage 		Weeks
To 16 		Weeks 16
To Max 		16 To
Race 		Max To
Race 		Initial Ramp
(First To 16) 		Core Ramp
(16 To Max) 		Overall Ramp
(first to max)
FIRST's Run Less, Run Faster Novice 3 1 6 8 8 4 7 3 0.88 0.90 0.75
FIRST's Run Less, Run Faster Marathon 8 5 25 13 2 1 13 12 2.00 3.00 2.30
Galloway You Can Do It Beginner 4 3 22 3 14 8 11 3 0.60 0.52 0.51
Galloway You Can Do It To Finish 4 3 22 3 14 8 11 3 0.66 0.47 0.53
Galloway You Can Do It Fat Burning 4 3 22 3 14 8 11 3 0.58 0.53 0.49
Galloway You Can Do It Goal 4:00 5 4 34 7 11 11 14 3 0.51 0.54 0.44
Galloway's Book On Running To Finish 6 4 30 2 16 10 13 3 0.61 0.82 0.64
Galloway's Book On Running Goal 4:00 6 4 30 4 18 10 13 3 0.34 0.83 0.32
Hanson's Marathon Method Beginner 3 0 0 4 10 0 7 7 1.16 0.00 1.16
Hanson's Marathon Method Advanced 3 0 0 8 10 0 7 7 0.63 0.00 0.63
Hal Higdon's Ultimate Training Guide Novice 3 1 6 6 10 4 7 3 0.97 1.00 0.89
Hal Higdon's Ultimate Training Guide Intermediate 1 4 2 11 6 9 3 8 5 0.99 0.40 0.96
Hal Higdon's Ultimate Training Guide Intermediate 2 6 3 16 10 6 4 11 7 0.79 1.00 0.95
Hal Higdon's Ultimate Training Guide Advanced 1 6 3 16 10 6 4 11 7 0.79 1.00 0.95
Hal Higdon's Ultimate Training Guide Advanced 2 6 3 16 10 6 4 11 7 0.79 1.00 0.95
Jack Daniels Running Formula To Complete (4hours, 50miles/week) 0 0 0 3 - - - 9 No 16+ miler No 16+ miler 0.96
Jack Daniels Running Formula To Complete (4hours, 90miles/week) 0 0 0 3 - - - 15 No 16+ miler No 16+ miler 3.30
Jack Daniels Running Formula 2Q (4hours, 35miles/56Km) 3 0 1 11 10 5 8 3 0.48 0.07 0.39
Jack Daniels Running Formula 4Week (4hours, 35miles/56Km) 0 0 0 8 - - - 8 No 16+ miler No 16+ miler 0.15
Jack Daniels Running Formula Plan A (4hours, 35miles/56Km) 4 0 5 3 16 5 7 2 0.74 0.19 0.71
Jack Daniels Running Formula Elite (4hours, 35miles/56Km) 16 12 74 3 6 12 18 6 1.98 0.51 1.26
Jack Daniels Running Formula Scaled Elite (4hours, 35miles/56Km) 0 0 0 3 - - - 11 No 16+ miler No 16+ miler 0.85
Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning <55/18 week 10 3 18 12 4 3 13 10 1.00 1.80 0.90
Waitz's Run your first marathon 3 1 6 5 11 2 5 3 0.96 2.00 1.11

Notes on the columns

  • # Runs 16+. I consider that the 16 mile mark defines the beginning of "the long run". While this is somewhat arbitrary on my part, I believe that counting the number of long runs that are 16 miles or more is a useful metric. The first run the diesel 16 miles or more is highlighted in green in the weekly section.
  • # Runs 20+. There is some limited evidence that suggests that runs over 20 miles provide important adaptations for marathon running, and help prevent "hitting the wall". This column gives account of the number of runs that of 20 miles or more.
  • Total Miles Over 16. Another way of evaluating a training plan is to look at the number of miles run in excess of 16 miles. For example an 18 mile long run would count as 2 miles in excess of the 16 mile Mark. This metric reveals some dramatic differences between some of the advanced plans.
  • Starting Mileage. This column shows the mileage of the first long run, and may be useful in selecting a plan based on your current fitness.
  • Weeks To 16. This is the number of weeks from the start of the plan to the first 16 mile long run. This section of the training plan I've called the "initial ramp up" that brings a runner from their initial level of fitness to what I consider the threshold of performing long runs.
  • Weeks 16 To Max. This is the number of weeks from the first run of 16 miles or more to the longest run in the plan. If the longest run is repeated more than once, I use the first instance, which is highlighted in red in the weekly section.
  • 16 To Race. The number of weeks from the first run of 16 miles or more to the race itself.
  • Max To Race. The number of weeks from the longest long run to the race itself.
  • Ramps. One key aspect of any marathon training plan is how quickly it increases the mileage. It seems likely that one of the biggest factors behind excessive fatigue and injury from the long run is at this rate of mileage increase. Therefore I have attempted to quantify this rate of increase as a "ramp", which is approximately the number of miles per week the long run is increased by. (For those interested in the details I use the least squares approach to calculate an approximate slope between the two points on the training plan. This approach has some obvious limitations when the training plans have cut back weeks.)
    • Initial Ramp (First To 16). This is the ramp from the first run to the first 16 mile or longer run.
    • Core Ramp (16 To Max).This is the ramp from the first 16 mile or longer run to the longest run.
    • Overall Ramp (first to max). The ramp from the first run to the longest run.

Below is the list of the long runs for a sample of the plans. Only a subset of the plans for lower mileage, 4 hour marathoners is include'd'. For a complete table, see Full Long Runs Table

Plan name W:32 W:31 W:30 W:29 W:28 W:27 W:26 W:25 W:24 W:23 W:22 W:21 W:20 W:19 W:18 W:17 W:16 W:15 W:14 W:13 W:12 W:11 W:10 W:9 W:8 W:7 W:6 W:5 W:4 W:3 W:2 W:1
FIRST's Run Less, Run Faster Novice 8 9 10 11 12 14 10 15 16 12 18 13 20 13 8 race
FIRST's Run Less, Run Faster Marathon 13 15 17 20 18 20 13 18 20 15 20 15 20 13 10 race
Galloway You Can Do It Beginner 3 5 3 6 8 3 9 3 11 4 13 4 15 4 17 4 20 6 6 23 6 6 26 6 6 race
Galloway You Can Do It To Finish 3 5 3 6 8 4 9 4 11 5 13 5 15 6 17 6 20 6 7 23 6 7 26 6 7 race
Galloway You Can Do It Fat Burning 3 5 6 3 8 4 9 4 11 4 13 4 15 4 17 4 20 5 6 23 6 6 26 6 7 race
Galloway You Can Do It Goal 4:00 7 7 8 9 4 11 5 13 5 15 5 17 4 20 6 6 23 8 6 26 10 6 28 12 7 race
Galloway's Book On Running To Finish 2 3 4 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 6 12 6 14 7 16 8 18 9 20 10 22 11 24 12 26 13 12 race
Galloway's Book On Running Goal 4:00 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 4 14 6 16 2 18 4 20 6 22 6 24 6 26 6 12 race
Hanson's Marathon Method Beginner 4 4 5 5 6 8 10 10 15 10 16 10 16 10 16 10 8 race
Hanson's Marathon Method Advanced 8 8 10 8 12 8 14 10 15 10 16 10 16 10 16 10 8 race
Hal Higdon's Ultimate Training Guide Novice 6 7 5 9 10 7 12 13 10 15 16 12 18 14 20 12 8 race
Hal Higdon's Ultimate Training Guide Intermediate 1 6 9 6 11 12 9 14 15 11 17 18 13 20 12 20 12 8 race
Hal Higdon's Ultimate Training Guide Intermediate 2 10 11 8 13 14 10 16 17 12 19 20 12 20 12 20 12 8 race
Hal Higdon's Ultimate Training Guide Advanced 1 10 11 8 13 14 10 16 17 12 19 20 12 20 12 20 12 8 race
Hal Higdon's Ultimate Training Guide Advanced 2 10 11 8 13 14 10 16 17 12 19 20 12 20 12 20 12 8 race
Jack Daniels Running Formula To Complete (4hours, 50miles/week) 3 3 3 12 12 12 12 12 5 14 14 11 10 14 12 10 11 5 race
Jack Daniels Running Formula To Complete (4hours, 90miles/week) 3 3 3 14 14 14 14 14 10 14 14 11 10 14 14 10 11 10 race
Jack Daniels Running Formula 2Q (4hours, 35miles/56Km) 11 11 10 11 11 11 12 13 12 15 16 14 16 14 14 17 11 8 race
Jack Daniels Running Formula 4Week (4hours, 35miles/56Km) 8 9 8 0 8 11 8 0 11 13 4 0 11 14 6 0 12 15 9 0 12 14 13 0 8 race
Jack Daniels Running Formula Plan A (4hours, 35miles/56Km) 3 3 3 6 6 6 7 6 11 8 10 12 9 15 15 9 17 17 14 17 14 19 10 race
Jack Daniels Running Formula Elite (4hours, 35miles/56Km) 3 3 3 6 6 6 18 16 18 20 17 20 22 22 20 22 22 22 23 22 22 22 19 8 race
Jack Daniels Running Formula Scaled Elite (4hours, 35miles/56Km) 3 3 3 6 6 6 10 11 10 11 12 11 12 13 11 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 11 8 race
Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning <55/18 week 12 13 14 15 16 12 18 20 16 14 20 17 18 17 20 16 12 race
Waitz's Run your first marathon 5 5 6 8 6 9 10 12 13 10 14 16 18 20 13 10 race
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Last edited on 27 November 2015, at 16:21