I’ve used several different training plans to train for both full and half marathons (Hal Higdon, Runner’s World, Sage Roundtree).  This time around, I decided to use the Hanson Method.

I have to admit, I was mostly enticed to use the Hanson plan because I heard the long runs peak at 16 miles.  I absolutely HATE the 20+ mile training runs.  In fact, those long runs are probably the biggest reason I haven’t run a marathon in close to 2 years.  With a intense job and two kids, it was really hard to put aside 4 hours to run (never mind how long it took to recover).

Just a quick read of the book, though, made it clear that this would not be an easy plan to follow.  Despite having run 6 marathons and over a dozen half marathons, I decided to follow the beginner plan since that called for more weekly mileage than I had ever run.  With only one rest day and midweek runs that got at high as 12 miles, I was slightly intimidated.  Because I was so nervous about never doing a long run over 16 miles, I followed the plan religiously, only deviating once or twice when I just didn’t have the time to fit in the full workout.  I actually really enjoyed the workouts.  There was one speed workout, one tempo workout and one long run each week.  The rest of the runs were easy runs to get in the miles and get my body ready for the marathon distance.  The easy runs were quite enjoyable and the more difficult runs were challenging but helped break up the weeks.  During the peak weeks, when I was running 50+ miles (more than I had ever run in a week), I was tired but never injured.

As race day approached, I was anxious that I hadn’t done any 20-milers but I was also confident because I’ve never felt in this good of shape. I felt strong in all my difficult workouts and although I was tired, I felt like I was recovering well.  But, the real test is how did I feel on marathon day.  For that you’ll have to wait for the marathon recap, but I’ll give you a hint by telling you that I had a 13 minute PR.