If, and only if, I actually decide to run a first marathon I need advice on training plans. All of the novice plans start their long run at quite low mileage in the first few weeks (5-8m). I already run about 10-13m for my LSR out of a weekly milage of about 25m. I suppose I would be aiming to run a marathon in 4 to 4.15hrs. Should I follow the plans and cut back my LSR mileage at the start or carry on at this milage until the plan catches up?

Pacing is another issue I'm confused about. I run my LSR at about roughly 90 seconds slower then my race pace for a marathon would be but this always contains really big hills and the marathon itself would be mostly flat. I can fairly comfortably run at my would-be-race pace for many miles on the flat. The plans all emphasis the importance of not running too fast on the LSR, but I'm loathe to slow down. Should I ?

Perhaps I should step up to the intermediate plans but I'm really cautious about this. I want to 'respect the distance'. I have been running injury free for over a year now but do find that I get fatigued each time that I shift up a gear (I'm 47).

All advice and thoughts really appreciated. I'm a cautious person teetering on the edge of making that marathon decision.

Just realised that my post sounded ambiguous (if, but only if...). I would definately appreciate any advice; I just haven't mad a committed decision to a marathon yet. If I do it will be Paris 2015. Like I said, Im cautious.

What, me dither? Surely not

if you want a personalised plan then you can`t go wrong with a mcmillan plan, but it will cost

I've signed up for the Paris Marathon 2014!