Hanson's Marathon Method (& my plan)

The marathon, for me, has been in some ways frustrating. My PBs in other distances indicate that I should be capable of 3:05 or quicker. Yet in 2012, when I attempted to clock 3:10, I had to stop to stretch seized hamstrings 4 times after 29 km. 

A matter of more kms a week? Probably, however I can be quite injury prone, especially when I race too much. Refining my weight training and smarter race scheduling aside, I need to find a way to smartly add more kms without bringing on injury. The Hanson Method may be the answer. I will find out for sure on June 1. 

The general thinking is that too much emphasis is put on the Sunday long run. Too great a distance on that day takes too much out of the body, reducing the quality and training effect of other runs. It believes in the concept of "cumulative fatigue", while rejecting that of "junk miles". 

There are 6 runs per week, 3 of which are at easy pace. The longest run is 26km. 2 of the runs are higher paced, one at marathon target pace (instead of current 5-10 minute intervals I currently do). The other starts off with speed intervals (varying lengths at 5-10k race pace), giving way to long strength intervals between half and full marathon pace (in my case, 4:15-4:20/km). 

I have made a few key changes. The rest day is on Thursday instead of Wednesday for a couple of reasons, including wanting the day after the speed/ strength days to be a rest day (which means gym and yoga in my case). I have also put the intervals in minutes rather than distance. Remembering what distance my watch read constantly is difficult during hard running, a round number in minutes works better. Not having a track to run on and the possibility of a gps watch not working also figure. For these reasons, I have "converted" the distances into time blocks based on target pace.

The plan is meant to start a couple of weeks earlier than it actually does, however I'll be doing the Hypothermic Half on February 8. 

No more races until the marathon after that - I can never stop myself from going full speed, so not racing is the only way to solve that problem. 

I did a 5 and a 10k in the 2 months before the 2012 marathon - the joy of those 2 performances (19:25 & 39:23 respectively) was tempered by affecting my training and by those 2 races themselves taking the place of training runs. 

This marathon has involved a lot of analysis given past races (I'll admit to a lingering fear of the 42.2), so it's just one race nearly 4 months prior, new weight routine and the Hanson Method.