Marathon Training Plan Description

The marathon training plan that I am using starting Sunday (12/28) is the Marathon: Own It plan from Train Like a Mother.  Description of the plan is as follows:

"Best for: Another mother runner who has at least one marathon under her shoes, has done speedwork in the past, and has pinned on a race number (for a range of race distances) fairly consistently for the past 2 years.

Physical Prereq: You should be able to rip off a 10-mile run without it being too much of a hiccup in your life or on your legs.

Plan Overview: This is a fairly serious, intense plan that can get you a BQ or a significant PR, and with either, some heart-swelling satisfaction. Over the course of 18 weeks, you'll be running four to five times a week, doing three 20-mile runs, and generally turning into a sleek, fine-tuned running machine."

So.

There are a few concerns I have -

1) "Four to five times a week":  My TBT time demonstrated that four runs/week is optimal for me with everything else going on.  The plan is set up for 5 days/week with one day/week being the "if the universe is suddenly conspiring against you getting your run done, skip it - and don't sweat it" run.  I'm not sure if it is good or bad that I am already planning on skipping those.

2) "Doing three 20-mile runs":  I have run 5 marathons, including Boston.  In the course of training for those, I never ran 20 miles more than one time.  20 miles is a.lot.

3) Week 1 long run is 12 miles.  IN WEEK 1!

I am fully aware that this plan may be more than I can hack at this stage.  My plan is to try it for a month and re-evaluate.  I may need to downgrade to the Marathon: Finish It plan from the same book:

"Best for: Injury-free runners with four-plus relatively clear months who are ready to check a 26.2 mile race off their bucket lists.

Physical Prereq: Before stepping up to this plan, mother runners should have logged at least 9-12 months of week-in, week-out running, along with some experience stepping up to a race starting line.  You should be able to run 8 miles comfortably and have no current shin splints, IT band issues, or other maladies.

Plan Overview: We're not gonna lie: Training for a marathon is a big deal, but this plan makes the path to it seem manageable.  Training to cover 26.2 miles requires commitment, especially for the weekly long runs.  On this [20 week] plan, you'll do seven runs that are 15 or more miles long."

With each training recap, I will review what the plan says and then what actually occurred, similar to my TBT recaps.