There may be instances in which you may need to or want to modify your plan. Please follow the suggestions below when considering how best to modify your plan.
Since Stryd cannot know which are your best days of the week for training, you may wish to move training days on your calendar to the better day for you. You can do this in the Stryd app -> Analysis tab -> Current Plan -> Scroll down to Specific weeks.
The caveat that Coach Palladino insists on is: to avoid back-to-back higher-stress days (interval day / tempo day/ long run).
Always keep at least one EZ (easy) aerobic run or off day between high-stress sessions. High-stress days should be followed by a rest day or an easy run.
Note on the long runs in the marathon plans
If you average slower than 9:00/mile (5:35/km), and wish to reach a maximum long run of about 20 miles / 32km, instead of the maximum of 3 hours in the plan, then reverse engineer the LR (long run) duration from whatever 20 miles / 32km would likely take you, following the progressions backward to the beginning of the plan. For example, 9:30 miles x 20 miles = 3h10m. Week 15 then becomes 3:10, week 14 becomes 3:05, week 13 becomes 3:00, and so on, working backward. In this example, the week 1 LR would be 1:40. Then ask yourself, can I safely step into the plan at a 1:40 LR?
If you average faster than 7:15/mile (4:30/km), you might consider capping the long run progression at 40-45km total, rather than continuing to progress LRs to a full 3 hours. (do continue to follow the tempo duration progression within the LRs until your selected cap is reached)
Modifying the duration of MP (marathon pace) tempo within a LR (long run)
Some people wish to increase the MP tempo duration within the LRs. If this is of interest to you, please consider these points:
Understand that the default of the marathon plans is 20 minutes of MP tempo in the first LR, and 40 minutes of MP tempo in the peak LR.
You would add the same duration to the MP tempo for every LR in the plan (so that load progression is appropriately maintained). For example, if one wished to do a 60-minute MP tempo in the peak LR, then one would add 20 minutes (default 40 minutes + additional 20 minutes) to every LR in the plan.
Then, one needs to consider whether the new starting MP tempo duration is reasonable at your current level of fitness. For example, if adding 20 minutes of MP tempo to every LR in the plan so that the peak LR MP tempo is 60 minutes, you would start the plan with a 40-minute MP tempo in the first LR of the plan. Can you complete a 40-minute MP tempo in the first LR of the plan with reasonable certainty and safety?
Modifying the weekly volume of the plan
You may wish to add volume to the plan because you are accustomed to higher volume. If this is of interest to you, please consider these points:
Runners are often reluctant to cut back volume a bit and rebuild. However, that is often what they need. And guess what? They won’t lose fitness as they might fear.
If you wish to add a bit more volume, then do so cautiously and follow the progressions in the plan. For example, you may want to add 5 minutes to the easy run days. If the easy run days are 40 minutes at the start of a plan, and you bump them to 45 minutes, then when the plan prescriptions progress from 40 to 45 minutes, you would progress from your bumped up 45 minutes to 50 minutes. Follow the progressions when there is a step.
Avoid making easy aerobic runs longer than 60 minutes - that should be a duration cap for easy aerobic runs.
Consider what the end-plan volume would be - too much???
Modifying the plan to incorporate biking and swimming
The plans were developed as run-only plans. They were not developed for run training in the context of training for a triathlon - they are not triathlon run plans. Consider using a triathlon-specific plan that includes run power, or hire a triathlon coach that is knowledgeable in run power. That said, triathletes have successfully modified their plans to integrate with their triathlon plans. If you wish to use a plan in the context of your triathlon training, please consider these points:
Dropping from two higher intensity sessions per week to one per week. You will likely have to apply some higher-intensity sessions on alternating weeks and drop others completely.
Dropping the easy aerobic runs to 1 or 2 per week.
Dropping to a total of 3 or 4 runs per week.