Is Hal Higdon's Novice 1 Marathon Plan Too Hard? How to Tell, and What to Change

How Novice 1 builds

Novice 1 runs 18 weeks. Each week has three runs from Tuesday to Thursday, a long run on Saturday, cross-training on Sunday, and rest on Monday and Friday.¹

Week one is three 3 mile runs and a 6 mile long run, 15 miles in all. The long run reaches 20 miles in week 15, in a 40 mile week, and every third week steps back before a three week taper.¹ The biggest jumps in the long run come late: 10 to 15 miles from week 9 to week 10, 12 to 18 from week 12 to week 13, and 14 to 20 from week 14 to week 15.¹

Higdon asks for long runs at a pace you can talk at, says there is no such thing as too slow, and tells runners not to be embarrassed to walk. He says you can skip an occasional workout but not the long runs.¹

What runners report

The reports we read are on running forums and in Higdon's own reader column. In these reports the trouble shows up late in the plan, where the long runs climb fastest.

• A runner (April 2012) trained on Novice 1 and was injured four weeks before the race. They did not feel strong as a runner until their average passed 30 miles a week.²
• A reader (October 2013) in week 12 wrote to Higdon that their calves and Achilles tendons had started to hurt, and asked about a longer peak run. Higdon answered that they sounded like they needed less mileage.³
• A runner (March 2016) with five weeks to go said even the short runs had become harder and slow, with an 18 mile run due that Saturday.⁴
• Others did well on it. One runner (May 2012) finished two marathons on Novice 1 without injury,² and another (January 2016) had used it for six marathons, starting at 65.⁵

How a coach tells whether your plan is too hard

A coach never judges a plan on its own. They read it against the running you do now. These checks catch most plans that start above the runner:

1. Week one against your last four weeks. Novice 1 starts at 15 miles a week. If you have been running much less, the plan starts above you. More in the base building guide.
2. Each long run against your longest recent run. A long run well past anything you have run in the last month is a jump, not a step. Watch weeks 10, 13 and 15. The long runs guide explains how they build.
3. How the long run sits in the week. In week 15 the 20 miler is half of a 40 mile week. The less you run on weekdays, the more one run carries.
4. How the easy runs feel. Easy running should be conversational. If the weekday runs leave you short of breath, slow them down. The heart rate zones guide explains the zones.
5. How you feel across the build. Short runs turning slow and hard, or an ache still there on the next run, is the plan telling you it is ahead of you.

What to change in Novice 1

Higdon's own answers to readers show how far the plan can bend:

• Miss a week and do not chase it. Higdon told a runner who lost a week in week 10 that the missed week is gone, and to resume at or just before the week 10 level.⁶
• Cap the late long runs. To a runner who had run marathons before and lost two weeks, Higdon suggested 14, 15 and 16 miles in place of 18, 14 and 20.⁷
• Slow down and walk. Higdon's plan says no pace is too slow for the long runs, and that walking breaks are fine.¹
• When something hurts, run less, not more. That was Higdon's answer to the runner with sore calves in week 12.³

What if it feels too easy?

Higdon suggests Novice 2 to runners who have run for a year or more and raced from 5K to the half marathon.¹ One runner who finished two marathons on Novice 1 said they could have run faster on more mileage.² Easy weeks that feel easy are the plan working. But a first week far below what you already run means the plan did not start from you. A coach starts you close to the running you already do, and builds from there.