Garmin Coach - Amy or Greg?

[Magellan]

Hello,

I've just done my third HM, my first two happened within the Garmin Jeff Galloway HM training plan and the (virtual) race itself was this weekend. My first and fastest was a shade below 2:28, but that was on a cycle path so no elevation. My latest was the second fastest at 2:41, and also the steepest at 388m. I want to be able to do the steeper route in under 2:30.

I liked the Jeff plan, it kept me from getting injured and I reckon I'm faster over long distances when I jeff than when I just run. But the plan itself was very samey: identical short drill runs twice a week, and weekend runs alternated between medium runs of 8.5k and long runs which gradually increased. I got no sense that it was adapting based on what I was doing − maybe that was a sign I was doing okay, or maybe it was because I hadn't set a goal time so just completing a workout at all counted as success, or maybe it was adapting and I just had no frame of reference because I only did the plan the once! Anyway, I want to try a different plan next.

With the Coach training plans on Garmin you can't see more than a week or so ahead, and I'd like to know what the difference is between the Greg plan and the Amy plan. is there anyone who has done either of them and can give me an idea of what is involved: eg are there cross training things I have to do, are the runs varied, does the distance exceed HM before the end of the plan, do the plans adapt based on how I do?

Thanking you in advance...!

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon]

I haven't tried them but I know there are various articles about them that may help. Maybe there's something in this article that will resonate with what you're after: myrunnerslife.com/garmin-co...

[misswobble Marathon]

I know someone on Greg and she is loving the stride repeats Whatever they are 🤷‍♀️😁

[Blackberrypie Half Marathon]

I've dipped into both while I was trying to sort the plan out. Amy has some fitness exercises and pre-run stretches, though these don't kick in until week 3 or 4. I found Amy seemed to get into a bit of a rut for me though that may be what I was doing. It's worth knowing that you can swap between them mid programme without having to start from scratch.

Stride repeats are basically slightly faster running intervals with running recovery. I think Greg also did cadence drills which I didn't find helpful as I have a pretty fast cadence, so I stuck with Amy for most of the plan.

They should all adapt though it wasn't always clear to me how (apparently your difficulty rating doesn't do it, but how well you conform to the specifications does e.g. my run distance and pace increased when I did a good fast run. I did like the confidence meter and in-run pace guidance but not being able to plan ahead was a bit of a pain. HM training is mostly on pause at the moment and I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I resume.

[Magellan Marathon]

Thanks everyone, I've plumped for Greg and his "strides".

[Tasha99 Marathon in reply to Magellan]

How is it going? I’ve never used garmin for a training plan. Is it realistic?

[Magellan Marathon]

So far it’s totally realistic. There’s a lot more running with Coach Greg than there was with Coach Jeff. But now the daylight begins nice and early I can manage more. It’s nice and varied. There are long easy runs, shorter easy runs (and both of those can be run at your choice of 100mins / 70mins or 45mins /30mins) and race pace runs, also progression runs where you do two thirds at an easy pace then the last third at a pace faster than race pace. Also drills: cadence drills and interval speed drills. I’m only two weeks in so it will probably change, but for now I’m liking it.

[Curlygurly2 Half Marathon]

I'm glad you posted this, I'm going to do one of these next. I've been doing a Garmin Heart Rate Zone based HM plan, frankly it's been a disaster for me, now I can't even sprint faster than 9 min pace, not much faster than walking pace......I have 4 weeks to go till my virtual HM, I intend to follow the plan till then but not follow the zone parts, and hope to get a bit of speed back...

Nevertheless, I've enjoyed the idea of having a plan, and I've pretty much decided to go with Greg for the next one...so far it sounds just what I need.

Which did you choose? How many runs per week, how many weeks?

Please keep me posted, PM me if you like xx

[Magellan Marathon]

I'm doing Coach Greg's 13-week plan with four runs per week and a goal time. I'm liking it so far. My watch tells me how fast to run each time and buzzes if I get too fast or too slow.

[jediflamaster]

I picked amy cause she's hot.