29?! Yikes, the one I was looking at had a 23- and 26-miler, and even THAT was too much for me. The injury thing you bring up is what really gets me...maybe that's how he justifies the two 30-45 minute weekday runs, so that you can recover from the weekend.
I know part of the reasoning behind those super long runs is getting used to being on your feet that long (but THAT is why you do a 20-22 miler at slower than race pace!!
) and getting you confident that you actually can tackle the distance (but the 20-22 miler also does that!
)...eh, I don't know.
Okay, I see it now - the 29-miler on December 15 in the Time Improvement plan. I was looking at the total beginner plan (which is the one I was considering using to train for the 2012 WDW Marathon). I mean...I don't know. I'm sure it's fine for some people, and when I was using his half plan for my first half I really liked having a long run one weekend, then a 3-miler the next, etc...I guess my preferences have changed since then. I used Higdon's Novice Supreme for the 2012 WDW Half and actually didn't get the 20-miler in thanks to the weather, so I maxed out at 18 and felt really good during the race.
Of course, I'm one of those runners that stops to take a picture at every mile marker and meets almost every character, so that may have had something to do with it!