Running a 1/2 for the first time but its not until March 2023. Was wondering if Higdon is still the way to go OR is there something out there thats better or more preferred?

If it matters, I run about 2-3 miles a couple times a week and do cross training for cardio on the Peloton Bike and Stair Climber. Lifting 3-4 times a week also.

there are a million of them out there. anyone starting out, i always refer to higdon, unless they have some very specific constraints/caveats for training.

Agree on Higdon.

March '23 is a long way off. 30-something weeks. IMO, assuming you're in decent shape, you could even do two cycles of the Higdon plan if you start it soon. Go through it once, see what you like, tweak as necessary, and do it again.

I followed a Higdon plan for my 1st half marathon, felt very prepared, and ran quicker than I expected. I've since used plans from Matt Fitzgerald's book 80/20 running and shattered my expectations for a half and full marathon (admittedly my expectations were too (s)low). Of the two, I find HR/Zone 2 based training works better for me.

NoahAg said:

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Agree on Higdon.

March '23 is a long way off. 30-something weeks. IMO, assuming you're in decent shape, you could even do two cycles of the Higdon plan if you start it soon. Go through it once, see what you like, tweak as necessary, and do it again.

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I like this idea. Gonna explore it a bit more. Appreciate the recs folks!

Run with Hal has a nice base building plan. But, I find the marathon plan lacking in diversity of workouts. It will get you across the finish line feeling good however. The app is really nice.

Most plans are what, 16 weeks? So for a March race that puts you starting Decemberish?

I say start base building. I got in the best running shape of my life combining the BarryP run plan with MAF heart rate training. MAF HR is basically 180-age. So if you're 35 (no idea, just throwing a number out) it would be 180-35 = 145. You do all runs at that HR. In the Texas heat it will definitely mean running slower than you are used to. If you have access to a treadmill I recommend it for several (if not most) of the runs each week. It takes heat / elevation / etc out of the equation. Over the course of a few months you'll find you're running faster at the same HR.

You can google the BarryP plan (or search TexAgs, I've linked to it before) but the basics are that you run 6 days each week with ratios of 1/2/1/2/1/3. So depending on what you do for your first run of the week, the rest of the week would look like:

1/2/1/2/1/3 (10 total miles)
1.5/3/1.5/3/1.5/4.5 (15 miles)
2/4/2/4/2/6 (20 miles)
3/6/3/6/3/9 (20 miles)
etc

I would start at 10 miles / week then bump the first run of the week up by .5 every week or two. Something like that. I worked up to 40 miles / week over a couple of months. All while my HR came down.

Just my $0.02. But for the record the BarryP method is amazingly similar to Hal's intermediate plans.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

Finally got over the lazy and looked for previous HR threads.

https://texags.com/forums/48/topics/2707037

wcb said:

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Most plans are what, 16 weeks? So for a March race that puts you starting Decemberish?

I say start base building. I got in the best running shape of my life combining the BarryP run plan with MAF heart rate training. MAF HR is basically 180-age. So if you're 35 (no idea, just throwing a number out) it would be 180-35 = 145. You do all runs at that HR. In the Texas heat it will definitely mean running slower than you are used to. If you have access to a treadmill I recommend it for several (if not most) of the runs each week. It takes heat / elevation / etc out of the equation. Over the course of a few months you'll find you're running faster at the same HR.

You can google the BarryP plan (or search TexAgs, I've linked to it before) but the basics are that you run 6 days each week with ratios of 1/2/1/2/1/3. So depending on what you do for your first run of the week, the rest of the week would look like:

1/2/1/2/1/3 (10 total miles)
1.5/3/1.5/3/1.5/4.5 (15 miles)
2/4/2/4/2/6 (20 miles)
3/6/3/6/3/9 (20 miles)
etc

I would start at 10 miles / week then bump the first run of the week up by .5 every week or two. Something like that. I worked up to 40 miles / week over a couple of months. All while my HR came down.

Just my $0.02. But for the record the BarryP method is amazingly similar to Hal's intermediate plans.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

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I appreciate the advice. I will check out Barry P. Gonna start implementing a plan on 8/1. Been in the gym more and more the last few weeks. I am up to 2 miles at just under a 10 minute pace so far with ease. Will check back in on this thread once training gets going. I am excited to get back to longer distance running.

Another vote for Higdon!