Improving times using plan for second time

by Jennifer
(USA)

How to improve the marathon times with the 100 day plan the second time :

"I used the 100 day plan and just finished my first marathon. I was able to run the entire marathon, and I finished in 4:53. I felt great the entire time!

I began training using the 4:30 plan and a heart rate monitor. After running the half marathon, I switched to the 5:00 plan (my predicted marathon time was 4:57). The only thing I didn't follow exactly on the 100 day plan was the long session. Starting in week 9, I began running the entire long session rather than run/walk.

I would like to run another marathon and improve my time. My heart rate zone never ended up matching the pace chart. Should I use the pace chart this time or do you have other suggestions (cross training, additional runs, etc)? Thanks so much for your plan!"

Answer Hi Jennifer and congrats on your first marathon !

Now, I always recommend using heart rate if you can - so you should stick to that even on your second marathon.

When using the 100 day marathon plan over and over again, see my posts here : Long term marathon training including the links within that post. It pretty much sums things up.

You can also add in there some extra cross training but just sticking to the system itself will improve your times as you get more miles + experience under your belt.

I wish you all the best with your training.

regards,
Marius

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