marathon plan (the boring, technical stuff)

Hi all. Hope you've run many happy miles since we last spoke, I know I have. Addison and I ran her first 1 mile fun run in May and it was the happiest mile I've ever run. I could NOT have been any more proud. That same evening I brought my 5K PR down from 29:01 to 26:22.
Then on June 1st, Addison and her Daddy ran another 1 mile fun run and thanks to some unseasonably cool weather, she dominated the mile and I brought my 5K PR down again(!) to 24:44. I never ever in my life imagined I would run under 25 minutes for a 5K. I hope this proves that persistence is key to running.
I've probably been averaging 20-25 miles a week most weeks and am slowly acclimating to the heat. And by acclimating, I really just mean sweating profusely like a piggy. Oh well. I've also been VERY busy on the "rest of my life" front and that is why I have been absentee here. Do forgive me, I haven't forgotten you. Right now I am mentally gearing up for my first marathon training cycle and below I have copied and pasted (because I don't have any computer skills above that) what my current thinking is for a plan. It is from the very respected Hal Higdon website, and I have made some minor modifications, mostly to the first half of the plan. I bumped up the first several weeks runs from 3, 5, 3 to 4, 6, 4 because that more closely mirrors my current runs and I like even numbers. :) (I also added a total column to see how many miles are scheduled for that particular week and a date column so you can see when I am beginning and where I should be as the months roll past.)
The only long run I modified was the second scheduled 20 miler and I bumped that up to 22 miles. I realize there is much debate about running more than 20 miles in training. I don't know which camp I sit in just yet, but I think I will put down to run 22 and form a real opinion after I actually become a marathoner.
As for a little reasoning as to why I chose this plan, and not one of his novice plans, mainly has to do with what I realistically think I can accomplish while also serving as a challenge throughout. There are more actual running days in this program, and the mileage is a bit higher than the novice plans, but still nowhere near the more advanced plans. There is no prescribed speed work or tempo runs, with the exception of occasional runs that should be run at "goal marathon pace" and are indicated with "pace" after the mileage number.
I have never run 5 days a week (consistently) before, but I run 4 fairly easily and I would like to see how my body responds and recovers. I also took out the cross training day and am just calling it a rest day. Of course, this may all change and I drop a day of running a week (as my body requires) or tweak the mileage here and there, but I think it is pretty sound even with my own changes factored in. I like the idea of having 5 days scheduled knowing that life happens and if I miss one of the week day runs I have plenty others scheduled to keep me progressing forward to my goal on November 18.
On the day where the schedule calls for a half marathon race, I am still trying to sort that out and it may require some slight juggling of weeks. I am hoping to run a half in Winslow, AR, sometime in September with my run buddy N. We shall see, and if not, I will simulate race conditions as best I can.

Without any further ado:

Hal Higdon’s

(Modified) Marathon Training Schedule: Intermediate 1

Date	WEEK	SUN	MON	TUES	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	TOTAL
15 July	1	Rest	4 m run	6 m run	4 m run	Rest	5 m pace	8 m run	27
22 July	2	Rest	4 m run	6 m run	4 m run	Rest	5 m run	9 m run	28
29 July	3	Rest	4 m run	6 m run	4 m run	Rest	5 m pace	6 m run	25
5 Aug	4	Rest	4 m run	7 m run	4 m run	Rest	6 m pace	11 m run	32
12 Aug	5	Rest	4 m run	7 m run	4 m run	Rest	6 m run	12 m run	33
19 Aug	6	Rest	4 m run	6 m run	4 m run	Rest	6 m pace	9 m run	29
26 Aug	7	Rest	4 m run	7 m run	4 m run	Rest	7 m pace	14 m run	36
2 Sept	8	Rest	4 m run	7 m run	4 m run	Rest	7 m run	15 m run	37
9 Sept	9	Rest	4 m run	5 m run	4 m run	Rest	Rest	Half Marathon	26.1
16 Sept	10	Rest	4 m run	8 m run	4 m run	Rest	8 m pace	17 m run	41
Date	WEEK	SUN	MON	TUES	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	TOTAL
23 Sept	11	Rest	5 m run	8 m run	5 m run	Rest	8 m run	18 m run	44
30 Sept	12	Rest	5 m run	5 m run	5 m run	Rest	8 m pace	13 m run	36
7 Oct	13	Rest	5 m run	8 m run	5 m run	Rest	5 m pace	20 m run	43
14 Oct	14	Rest	5 m run	5 m run	5 m run	Rest	8 m run	12 m run	35
21 Oct	15	Rest	5 m run	8 m run	5 m run	Rest	5 m pace	22 m run	45
28 Oct	16	Rest	5 m run	6 m run	5 m run	Rest	4 m pace	12 m run	32
4 Nov	17	Rest	4 m run	5 m run	4 m run	Rest	3 m run	8 m run	24
11 Nov	18	Rest	3 m run	4 m run	Rest	3 m run	Rest	2 m run	12
18 Nov		Race Day!							26.2