Hansons Marathon Method: Run Your Fastest Marathon the Hansons Way

In short, this training program WORKS! I think it would be difficult to say that one training program is better than another because we can't have two programs at the same time and in the same conditions to compare with, but I was very pleased with the results of this program. I used it to train for my second marathon. The first one I ran in 3:19:40 and the second one in 2:58:33. Would I have done a similar performance, had I used a different training program, who knows? All I'm saying is that this program worked quite well.What you can expect from this program:- lot's of miles, on an average of 50-60 mi weekly, 6 days a week. This, for me, meant a lot of early morning rises, pounding the pavement :)- a hard (tempo) run of up to 10 mi (+ warmup, cooldown) every week. It was the hardest run of the week.- a weekly interval (speed) run. This, for me, was the next hardest workout.- the longest run is 16 mi- many slower, quite relaxing runs in betweenHow the race went:- I never felt I "hit the wall". It was rather a gradual decrease of energy with a boost during the finishing miles. The race was a slight positive split, first half at 6:45 pace/mi and second half at 6:51 pace/mi- I felt very well after the race. The next day I felt only slight muscle soreness, the second day barely anything and by the third day as good as nothing. I was very pleasantly surprised. Maybe it was training in the hills and running the race in a flat area; maybe it was the many training miles and the cumulative fatigue, I don't know... But I remember feeling very sore after my first marathon but barely anything now.- As a note: I followed the training program "religiously", only missing one speed training run because of travels. I feel this is very important, as the authors clearly state, so as to gain the cumulative fatigue effect.What I liked about the book and the program:- besides the training method, the book includes a lot of information regarding the science behind running, not missing any topic (that I could think of)- basically no injuries during the training or after the race- confidence for the race day, because of the many weekly miles, despite 16mi the longest runWhat was hard:- waking up so many early mornings :( sometimes wishing I just could take the day off...- the weekly tempo run of 10mi at marathon pace was quite difficult, but no pain - no gain. In the end it for sure paid off. As a comfort though, the closer it got to the race day, the easier the training runs became as my body got more accustomed to the workouts.- Hanson's marathon method includes a pacing chart (for all the different types of runs) but the most difficult decision was what marathon pace (or finishing time) I should choose. You first decide what finishing time you'd like and the program gives you the paces at which you should run all the different runs, in order to achieve that finishing time. I started with training at 6:40 marathon pace/mi. I could keep that for a 10 mi run, but could I keep it for 26 miles? As time went on I felt it was too much effort, so I settled for a 6:45-6:50. Since it was the first time I used the program, there was indeed some faith involved - that the authors know what they're talking about. In the end my marathon pace was 6:50, so I can say that it was very close to my training / prediction time. I know that there are detailed recommendations in the book as to how you should pick your marathon pace, but it can still be a bit difficult to make that decision. From my experience, I would say that if a month before the race, you're you're pushing near 90-100% effort / or perhaps as in my case, you're dreading the threshold run too much! realistically, you're probably overdoing it and should choose a little slower pace.Good book! Enjoy your running!

Having run regularly for over 6 years, I have had the opportunity to compete in 10 marathons and tried a number of marathon plans. During this time I've tried the free 18-week plans available on the internet; run less, run faster; and I have even worked with a live coach. Up until yesterday, the only plan that helped me to achieve the most success was the one led by the live coach but after going back to him for my next marathon, I definitely found that there were limitations to how much he could help me (unless I was willing to pay him a lot more for his constant attention).Now, I have to give the Hanson's Marathon Method it's due. Yesterday, the beginner's plan helped me to achieve an all-time marathon PR by nearly 8 minutes (sub-4 hours - finally!) at the recent Chicago Marathon. I had my doubts at first but the formula is pretty straight forward - run a ton (for me it was about 850 miles logged over a 20-week period). It gets a little more complicated than that, but that's the gist.I recommend this plan to anyone who is looking for an effective way to improve your marathon running results. It covers all aspects of training and preparing for the marathon, so if anything, it is a great reference. Personally, I look forward to tackling the advanced plan (the plan calls for nearly 10-25% more mileage than the beginner's plan) for my next fall marathon. As with any endeavor, the amount of work you put in is equal to what you get out of it. I probably followed 90% of the beginner plan to the "t" but life got in the way in the last two weeks before the Marathon and I think that may have negatively affected my results - I think I could have run significantly faster.P.S. I just ran the 2017 Berlin Marathon and trained using the beginner plan again but at a faster pace. As a result, I PR'd by another 4 1/2 minutes. If I ever have enough time to run the advanced plan, I'm sure I'd be able to see even greater gains.

Prepping for my marathon right now and it hits on basically every topic I was curious about. It's a lot of knowledge so I'd recommend reading well before you start marathon training to prepare.

This book has become my bible for all future marathons. The reviews I’ve read have been excellent with many people hitting their marathon targets from the HMM

Reçu en bon état et dans le temps. Intéressant pour planifier un marathon.

Excelente libro. Esperemos tener los resultados esperados este prox Junio 2018 en el maraton de san diego, seguire el entrenamiento fielmente

Lo consiglio vivamente sia a chi vuole correre la maratona per la prima volta sia a chi vuole migliorare il proprio tempo purchè si voglia/possa fare 5-6 uscite alla settimana.Il mio obiettivo è di correre in 3:40:00 fra 4-5 mesi e sono alla terza settimana di corse Easy tra 06:15/km e 05:50/km, con un totale di km superiore a quanto indicato perchè ho già un certo volume di km nelle gambe (per ora 70 km/settimana, 6 volte alla settimana).Il metodo dura 18 settimane e può essere reiterato per migliorarsi dopo ogni prestazione... quindi il libro ha validità "eterna"!

One of the best books on marathon training !