Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Hanson Method Review

Continuing with our JEANO RAN A MARATHON coverage, I wanted to give the Hanson Method its own post. The Hanson Method was the unsung hero of Saturday's race. Yes, I put in a lot of work to get myself there, but without those crazy brothers I would undoubtedly have ended up

1) injured
2) hating running
3) dead

Okay, that last one may be a slight exaggeration.

As I've mentioned before, I chose to follow the Hanson Method without really knowing anything about it. The book was very convincing, but so are a lot of books. Their logic made a lot of sense, but so did "balancing humours" via blood-sucking leeches (!) at one time. I searched for bloggers who had followed the Hansons' plan to completion, ultimately in vain. Finally I decided to just go for it and see what happened. I would devote my body to science and prove, once and for all, whether the Hanson Method was to be trusted (I was obviously feeling a bit grandiose at the time).

So, now that all's said and done, did the Hanson Method do its job? Anyone who's read this blog for any length of time knows the answer (and if not, what's wrong with you?! I thought we were friends!), but to anyone who stumbled upon this thing by googling, oh, I don't know, "sexy jogging pics" (moving up in life!), the answer is a resounding YES. With one caveat.

The Hanson Method took my running to a whole new level. The runner I am now is unrecognizable from the runner who started this crazy plan 18 weeks ago. I went from someone who maxed out at 20-25 easy miles a week (because of chronic shin pain) to someone who can very comfortably run 50 miles in a week. I no longer consider running six days a week something that only dumb, obviously disordered runners do. In fact, it's not that hard! The gains I have made are, in every sense of the word, incredible.

Now for my caveat, which relates specifically to the marathon itself.

There is something to be said for the peace-of-mind that comes with running 20+ miles prior to race day. For someone who has completed a marathon before, I think the Hansons' program is excellent as is. As a newbie marathoner, however, I have to admit that I questioned my ability to complete the entire 26 miles more than a few times during my race.

There were a lot of unknowns that came with maxing out at 16 miles: how was my stomach going to take it, were my shoes going to fall apart/give me a stress fracture, was my body going to disintegrate at mile 20? These are questions all marathoners face to a certain extent, but I think that in my case the "what the hell's going to happen to me" factor was upped significantly (both because of my shorter long runs and my unorthodox shoes). Although it runs counter to one of the Hansons' central tenets, I think I could have used a few extra miles on my long run for sanity's sake.

Unrelated photo of my shoes because I cannot tolerate a post without pictures.

My suggestion would be that if you follow the Hanson Method and are worried about the length of the long runs, add a couple of miles on. The Hansons say that the damage outweighs the benefits after three hours of running, and yet my 16-milers took me around 2:45. Faster runners could easily run 18-20 miles without violating the three-hour rule. Plus, I very highly doubt there is a sort of "cliff" at three hours after which your body falls apart. Going ten minutes over shouldn't do any harm. Don't sue me if I'm wrong.

I have no idea what plan I'll end up using for my next marathon (you read it here first: next), but the only reason I wouldn't use Hanson Method again is if I decide I want variety; using the same plan time and time again is probably pretty boring. But, you know, old habits die hard.

Question: does anyone want to know anything else about the Hanson Method, or are we all Hanson-ed out?

16 comments:

  1. First time on your blog! Glad it worked out well for you! I'm doing the Hanson plan too, but in the early stages of it. I'm with you, running 6 days a week no longer seems crazy, but rather comfortable! I'm trying to make my easy runs longer to max out around 70mpw at peak time, so then my 25-30% of distance long runs might be a little longer too. Praying for no more injuries (i'm looking at your calf and hip!)

    Thanks for the write up! And stay away from my google search terms on how I got here, EMBARRASSING!

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  2. While I only know about the Hanson's from what I read on your blog, I definitely agree that running 26 miles when you've maxed out at 16 HAS to be very intimidating. You kind of have to trust that they know what they're doing, but at the same time...that's 10 more miles! 10! Clearly you came out of it alive and did AWESOME so perhaps there's something to be said about their craziness. I'd be interested in following their plan myself, but I KNOW I couldn't follow it as diligently as you!

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    1. Well, if you can't, it's only because you have REAL responsibilities (baby, anyone?)! Being a real adult + training diligently would be very challenging.

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  3. Ha! I'm using something rather similar to Hanson's (but due to my truly wackaloon work schedule, it contains somewhat more flexibility bestowed by me, including the flexibility to do two-a-days instead of one longer time-consuming run). No, I don't think there's a cliff that your body falls off after three hours. On race day, a slower marathoner might take five or six hours - are we not supposed to do marathons? Don't tell me I'm falling apart after three hours, either. Been there, done that, didn't fall apart - I'm just slow.
    Hanson's does take a tremendous amount of discipline though. That's probably its biggest strength: overcoming the mental challenge of running six days a week on tired legs. And if a longer long run helps you develop mental discipline - go for it.

    ...so what's the next marathon? :) ("Well, that escalated quickly.")

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    1. Mmm, I'm not sure yet because I'm heading to grad school this fall and don't know what the workload's going to be like, but I certainly hope to be able to run Eugene (where I'll be) at some point!

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    2. Hey, I went to grad school at UO!! Eugene is a GREAT place for long distance running!

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  4. Nice review. I can see how mentally it is good to have done at least 18 miles, but hey-you still did fantastic! Are you going to do Eugene next year??? I really hope you can fit in running + grad school + blogging (because I would miss you!). Seriously, you will be busy and stressed beyond belief but you will NEED the relief of running and Eugene has amazing running opportunities.
    And, really, how did the dude above find your blog? By leaving *that* in the comments, the rest of us are bound to be curious.

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    1. was a joke! We both follow Running with the Sunrise and crossed blogs there. Sorry it wasn't more exciting :(

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    2. Ahaha, it was indeed a joke. I was excited at finding a blog written by a male so started commenting away! He was nice enough to return the favor.

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    3. I'm not sure whether I'll do Eugene, but I hope I can! I have NO idea how much time I'll be able to devote to running/blogging, but it certainly is a nice outlet. We'll just have to wait and see!

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    4. Ahaha. Joke is on me. I was looking for an exciting scoop!

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  5. Not only do I really like reading your blog for entertainment value, but it's also been really cool to read your journey down the Hanson's road. I'm really glad it worked well for you!

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  6. From a coach's perspective, I've enjoyed following your Hanson journey, Jean-o. It's been informative for me, as well - and has emphasized to me the power of slow, easy running.

    I totally understand your concern about the max mileage - no matter how physically prepared a person is, the mental aspect can't be ignored. And I agree with you - there's a tremendous mental boost to having "seen" 20 miles, knowing there's just a 10K left (versus 10 miles!).

    I guess my questions (albeit way, way late in the game) would be: What was the MOST challenging part for you? What did you LOVE about it? What did you HATE about it? What would you say to a friend embarking on their first Hanson's training cycle?

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  7. When I was originally using the Hansons program, I talked to a friend (of a friend) who had used it before (and done many, many other marathon programs, too). And he said, even having been a veteran marathoner, that he always threw in 1-2 20+ milers just for peace of mind. I think I would have to do that for all the fears that you expressed, ha.

    I'm SO glad it all worked out so well for you!! You have me intrigued again.

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  8. Your post totally made my morning- I’m glad to hear a newbie survived the plan and race! I’m training for my first marathon with the Hanson Method. Their method seems legit to me, but I really like the idea of throwing in a few 20 mile runs to ease my mind. Thanks for the review!

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  9. Amy, who blogs over at Run|Write|Hike recommended I read your review, and I'm glad I did! I'm currently 14 weeks in to the Hansons plan in preparation for the Chicago Marathon in October. I have found it challenging but also feel like I'm getting in great shape as a result. I think your point about adding a couple miles onto one of the long runs is a good one, especially for someone running their first marathon who needs that mental confidence that they can hit the distance.

    It's encouraging to hear that the plan worked for you - I'm hoping I can make it through these next four weeks and say the same!

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