Vets: Share your tried and true training plans

[rosy1020]

Hello everyone,
Well I've been pretty consistent with my "training to train" for the last 8 months or so. I try to get in between 15-25 miles each week and I'm staying between a 10-11 min pace on most runs. I plan on running the full at Disney in Jan and have printed off several training plans in the hopes of beginning official training in the next week or 2 but I can't seem to decide which one to go with. For those of you veterans out there, can you recommend what has worked for you. This will be my first full marathon but I'm young and in pretty decent shape. My goal really is just to finish the race but I'd like to finish it without feeling like I'm dying for the last 10-12 miles so I want to be as well prepared as possible. Any and ALL recommendations appreciated!
Kristin

[hoosmi]

Hey Kristin-

I hope someone answers soon! I'm about your pace/mileage too. I keep looking at plans, but they seem to hit different extremes- I feel like I'm already doing more miles than the average "beginner" plan, but the intermediates scare me. The plans all seem similar, but I want someone to sit down and tell me exactly what to do each day, and I want it to work into my schedule. Is that too much to ask?:lmao:

Leanna kindly provided me a plan, but I like to think of it as Plan A. You know, if everything works out in the week I can basically keep up with her. I'm looking for a Plan B just in case. That girl does some exercising! :rotfl2:

I'm going Goofy, so I need help!

Jen in GA

[rosy1020]

Wow, it's great to know that someone else out there is in the same boat. You sound exactly like me and it's such a relief. The beginner plans look doable but also maybe a little too easy and I feel like I might be able to finish the marathon following those but might struggle doing so. The intermediate plans are definitely intimidating. The one I was planning on trying to follow is 18 weeks long but 7 of those weeks are all 13 miles or over with 1 - 20 miler, 1 -19 miler, 18, 17, 15 and 14, etc. It just seems like a lot more than some of the others. I really hope we'll get some responses with some good advice...and if not, maybe we can formulate our own plan of some sort. Thanks so much for posting and good luck with training!