Sounds like a really good suggestion and way to proceed.

Perhaps the plans in 80/20 Running by Matt Fitzgerald would work. The level one plan has one day off per week and three days of cross-training (or easy running.) I’ve found that, as I have aged, cross-training works better from me than running too much and getting injured.

I think running lots would be better for getting faster, BUT you can’t run lots if you are injured. Second best is a structured plan incorporating cross-training.

I found the Hanson advanced plan great until week 14. At that point, the wheels quickly came off. Lots of pain in places that I hadn’t had pain ever before, and pain of a kind I couldn’t identify. Despite days off, no apparent healing, just more deterioration.

The book says running on tired legs is part of the training, but just how tired is productive v. disastrous is hard to determine. The fact that you are concerned likely means you are too tired.

I greatly reduced the miles and the load, but I wasn’t certain even the day before the race that I would start. I ran fine, though I hadn’t eaten right and didn’t eat well during the race. My time was very good for me.

Two days after the race, walking was still hard. It took me nearly three weeks before I could run pain free again. That sort of post race pain was new to me.

I suspect you’ve done enough training to do quite well at the race. Switching to the easier program will build on that, just at a slower rate than the advanced program. AND you can practice eating and drinking, which is what hammered you last time.

The advice to drop down to the beginner plan, which I recall the book says is not really for beginners, is good. That will give you a chance to stay with a program and practice race nutrition before the event.

I’d recommend Trainer Road paired with one of the cycling platforms – you can do the workouts while “riding” on group rides or solo on Zwift and on IndieVelo. Zwift has more “carrots” and many, many more people and groups.

I use IndieVelo because I tired of Zwift’s worlds and my favorite type of group rides went away. I found the routes, worlds, and real people quite engaging for a long time. I suspect you’d find Zwift more engaging than other platforms. Zwift has training plans for all sorts of goals.

IndieVelo is mostly bots, but there are some real people, and the bots are more like real riders than on other platforms. The interface is much more intuitive and easy to use than MyWhoosh and Zwift, another free option.

The nice thing about Trainer Road is that it will give you a plan and change the plan and workouts as you go along. That auto-customizing felt good to me, and I made some fitness gains. Using Training Peaks requires that you add a training plan from someplace – a coach or some free one you find. I didn’t use a coach and felt like it was dull and clumsy. Other people love it.

Here’s today’s: …substack.com/…/52-weeks-52-half-marathons-stage-… around Lisbon, complete with the famous, yellow trolleys.

Here are some Hansons training plans for marathon and half-marathon:

shop.hansons-running.com/content/training-plans

I hadn’t heard of the Hansons Method either. Last year, I started two runs a day once or twice a week. Unsurprisingly, it was easier on my body than running the same distance continuously. And I didn’t feel as fatigued over all as my weekly mileage increased. My form was better, too.

But as to the big questions: Did I have as much endurance? Was I faster? I really don’t know. I wasn’t significantly slower.

The Hansons Method

runtothefinish.com/hanson-marathon-training-metho…