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Benefits of the Hal Higdon Training Plans You probably won’t find any elite runners who’ve trained with his programs, but I bet you have one or more friends who have! His plans are incredibly popular as a starting point for figuring out mileage and how to put together a decent marathon plan.
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No gimmicks, just solid training plans that are easy for the majority of new and intermediate runners to follow without injury. I’m certainly drawn to his more simplistic and no-nonsense style of training. Hal Higdon was first a very successful runner who competed in 8 Olympic trials, then a successful writer for Runner’s World and multi-time author starting in 1966 and has now been a well respected running coach for many decades. In contrast to the 3 day a week style of the FIRST marathon training method or the high mileage, high intensity of Hanson Method today we are exploring the Hal Higdon Marathon Training Plans which feel like a great moderate way for most folks to jump in. These training plans follow a pretty standard progression of workouts and utilize the 80/20 method varied by runner experience. Since Hal Higdon provides one of the most robust number of free marathon plans, it’s a must discuss. As a running coach, I’m often asked about the best marathon training plan and of course there’s a LOT that goes in to that answer.
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