Hanson's Marathon Method Week 4 Plan

What happened in week 3 training!

Tuesday - 6.5k easy run with a pace of 6:14 which should have been 6:20. I'm beginning to get a little bored with the running routes again so may start taking the metro out to other places to run.

Wednesday - This was speed training of 6 x 400 metres with 400 metres recovery in between. This went very well as usual and they did put the flood lights on for me :-)

Thursday - I had a lovely easy 6.5k run today and had my pace spot on. It should have been 6:20 and at exactly 6.5k it said my average pace was 6:20!

Saturday - Easy what should have been a 6.5k but I ended up doing 7k as I was busy trying to draw something with Nike maps. It should have been 6:10 and my average was 6:07 :-)
Sunday - Today was an 8k with a 5:40 pace. I ran down by the water front where I love to run but it was so cold and really windy. I started off fast as the wind was behind me and I knew I would have a fight with it later. I ended up running 8.5k just to get me almost home and my average pace was 5:34

Week 3 Overall - This weeks training has gone well. I am beginning to feel stronger on some days and really tired on others. 

Hanson's Method Week 4 Plan

Monday      - 8k with a pace of 6:20
Tuesday      - Off
Wednesday - 7 x 400 metres speed training with 400 metres recovery
Thursday    - 5k with a pace of 6:20
Friday         - Off
Saturday     - 8k with a pace of 6:10
Sunday       - 8k with a pace of 5:40

Hanson's Marathon Method Week 3 Plan

What happened in week 2 training!

Tuesday - I decided to run the easy 3k today in between finishing work and picking up my son from school. This didn't quite work out as I wasn't finished with work until 16:10 and the school closes at 16:30 so I had to be there by at least 16:20. So instead of an easy pace of 6:20 which I was supposed to do, I ended up running the 3k with a pace of 5:30.

Wednesday - This was speed training of 6 x 400 metres with 400 metres recovery in between. This went very well again and, as it was so cold, it was nice to have to run fast! I found out that, if I ask at the sports club reception before I go out to the track, they will put the flood lights on for me :-) And it's free!

Thursday - Another great run today :-) It was an easy 5k supposed to be with a 6:20 pace. I did 5.3k with a 6:16 pace so am at last getting better at the pacing.

Saturday - Easy 5k run with an almost perfect pace. It should have been 6:20 and my average was 6:19 :-)

Sunday - Today was a 6.5k with a 5:40 pace. I had a lovely run down by the harbour and through the nature area. The wind was behind me after the first few metres so I went a bit of a faster pace for the first half so I would still get a good average pace after my fight with the wind during the second half. My average pace was 5:36.

Week 2 Overall - This weeks training was very similar to the first weeks. It has gone really well and I have managed to get my pace much closer to what it should be.

Hanson's Method Week 3 Plan

Monday      - Off
Tuesday      - 6.5k with a pace of 6:10
Wednesday - 6 x 400 metres speed training with 400 metres recovery
Thursday    - 6.5k with a pace of 6:20
Friday         - Off
Saturday     - 6.5k with a pace of 6:10
Sunday       - 8k with a pace of 5:40

Hanson's Marathon Method Week 2 Plan

What happened in week 1 training!

Wednesday training went really well. I biked up to the track so took that as my warm up so as soon I set foot on the track I did the first speed 400 metres. I did 5 x 400 metres with 400 metres recovery and then 800 metres cool down.

Friday training went too well! I was supposed to be doing an easy 5k at a pace of 6:20. I ended up running 5.6k with a pace of 5:30. It is much harder to run slower than I thought!

Saturday training was a little harder to get out the door and do it. This was probably because I was out for dinner and a couple of drinks last night. Again it was supposed to be an easy 5k at a pace of 6:20. I did it with a pace of 5:48 which is better than yesterday but still not slow enough. I never would have thought that I'd have such a luxury problem as running too fast!

Sunday training went very well. I was supposed to run 6.5k with a pace of 5:40 but ran with a pace of 5:29. I really have to do the pace right otherwise I may get injured! It was very windy today!

Week 1 Overall - This first weeks training has gone really well. I even managed to get up early on Sunday for a morning run instead of running in the afternoon as I had planned. But I do have to concentrate on running slower....

Hanson's Method Week 2 Plan

Monday      - Off
Tuesday      - 3k with a pace of 6:00
Wednesday - 6 x 400 metres speed training with 400 metres recovery
Thursday    - 5k with a pace of 6:20
Friday         - Off
Saturday     - 5k with a pace of 6:00
Sunday       - 6.5k with a pace of 5:40

Hanson's Marathon Method Week 1 Plan

Week 1 of my Hanson's method training for Barcelona Marathon 2015 is nearly here. Below will be my Week 1 training. I have taken out a normal run and added speed training as I feel I have the running base needed to do this. Also I'm a little scared to go in from zero to the first speed training of 12 x 400 metres with 400 metres recovery as it sounds like a killer. So I thought if I can work up to at least 8 x 400 metres before the real speed training starts I might just have a chance to complete it!

Some days will also be changed due to family commitments. For example, my son has athletics indoors every Wednesday after school for one and a half hours. I take him and there is a track outside so what a great place for me to do my speed training. Therefore my day off is Tuesday and my speed training is Wednesday (except over the Christmas holidays). Because of this I also have to change my tempo run as I can't do speed then tempo the next day. So Thursday becomes an easy run and Friday becomes my tempo run.

Hanson's Method Week 1 Plan

Monday      - Off
Tuesday      - Off
Wednesday - 5 x 400 metres speed training with 400 metres recovery
Thursday    - Off
Friday         - 5k with a pace of 6:20
Saturday     - 5k with a pace of 6:00
Sunday       - 6.5k with a pace of 5:40

Hansons Marathon Method

On the 9th November it will be exactly 18 weeks until I run Barcelona Marathon again. My first goal was to try and finish in 3 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds or less. This would be quite a challenge seeing as my best marathon time stands at 4 hours, 27 minutes and 19 seconds which I got in Berlin 2012.

As I didn't get a place in London Marathon 2015 and this has always been my ultimate running goal I started looking to see what the 'best for age' qualifying time was for a woman. It's 3:45. So my challenge for Barcelona 2015 has now changed into trying to qualify for London 2016!

I am aware that this is quite a BIG challenge so I needed to find the right (and proven) training program for me. I have decided to follow the Hansons Marathon Method as many people have had a lot of success with this plan and knocked a lot of time of their previous PB's. I have never followed a training plan completely before and certainly never trained more than 3 times a week consistently. I also take photos and talk a lot while running marathons, taking my time at water stations, and going to the toilet A LOT. I figured if I work on all these things I actually do have a chance of at least a SUB 4, if not qualifying for London!

The Hansons Marathon Method (I'm following the beginner plan as the advanced looks way too hard) starts off slow but then gets pretty serious very quickly. It's written in miles so I've had to work out roughly what it is in kilometres.

Here's an example of week 11:-

Mon     Tue                           Wed   Thurs                   Fri       Sat       Sun

8k         6 x 1.5k Strength      Off     Tempo - 13k       9.5k     13k      25.5k

(easy)   (400m recovery)                 (5:15 pace)           (easy)  (easy)  (5:40 pace)                                                                                                               

I'll be writing a post every Sunday about how the week's training has gone. I think the hardest thing will be getting out of the door 6 times a week during the cold Danish winter!!

Wish me luck! I'm going to need it..........