Anyone used RWs Smart Coach?
3 watchers
Oct 2012
12:21pm, 12 Oct 2012
First-time poster!!
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pablo7
Hi Having never attempted to train for a specific race, I thought I'd do so for the Lancaster Half on Nov 4th. With only 8 weeks to train following a 10km run, I thought I'd try Smart Coach from Runners World. I punched in my best 10km time, specified training level "very hard" and that I'm doing between 21-25miles/week. The resultant plan was:- tinyurl.com Having never done a half marathon before, I am unsure what pace to aim for (although would love to crack 2hrs). Anyone ever used this before or alternative plans they'd recommend? Cheers |
Oct 2012
12:25pm, 12 Oct 2012
291 posts
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AndrewS
You could do a lot worse than having a look at Hal Higdon's HM plans and choose one that suits your needs best of all. www.halhigdon.com Good luck |
Oct 2012
12:27pm, 12 Oct 2012
2,100 posts
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HermanBloom
I have been researching a few training plans, and when i asked the question on here I had a few people come back and say that Smartcoach is, well, rubbish. As andrew says, Hal Higdon seems to be popular with people. I sued him fior my first Half Marathon last month (though I was rubbish at following it!) and it did the job.
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Oct 2012
12:27pm, 12 Oct 2012
2,101 posts
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HermanBloom
sued? Bloody hell  Used ofc. |
Oct 2012
12:48pm, 12 Oct 2012
227 posts
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Fitz
Smartcoach is easy to use and helpfully guides you to different types of runs at different paces while building you up to the required mileage. Overall though, I find their paces a little slow (for me) and I end up playing around with the speed inputs to get a pace-plan I'm comfortable with.
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Oct 2012
4:16pm, 12 Oct 2012
2 posts
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pablo7
Thanks for the feedback Andrew/Herman/Fitz. Appreciated. I have found myself running faster than the recommended paces on Smart Coach as well as a little further on occasion. I will see the plan through to completion as I may as well finish what I have already started. I've had a quick look at Hal Hidgon and it looks pretty good so cheers for that and I will certainly be giving those a try for my next race. Herman - glad you corrected yourself there!
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Oct 2012
6:59pm, 12 Oct 2012
2,076 posts
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Robbo62
I found the Smart coach times too slow, the last two H/ms i have followed the FIRMAN schedules, worth a read and there is a thread on Fetch about it.
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May 2017
10:22pm, 23 May 2017
1,702 posts
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Fitz
I see RW's SmartCoach is no more. Shame, I used it lots of times for mara and half-mara training plans. Does anyone know of good alternative tools? RW used to let you configure plan length, training intensity, recent / target times and different race distances. Thanks |
May 2017
11:02pm, 23 May 2017
1,588 posts
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StuHolmes
Have you looked at Train As One? trainasone.com
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May 2017
4:55pm, 28 May 2017
1,703 posts
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Fitz
Thanks Stu, I'll check it out.
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