Looking for a 4 (maybe 5) day a week marathon training plan

I ran a marathon 3 years ago with Team in Training and am considering running another one (this time on my own) at the beginning of next year.  My preference is to run only 4 days a week but all of the plans that I've been finding are for 5-6 days of running.  Does anyone have a plan that they'd recommend?  Thanks! 

www.runnersworld.com has tons of training programs for all fitness levels.  Give that a shot and good luck!

One program that seems to grab the attention of runners who don't want to train 5-6 days a week is the FIRST (Furman Institute or Running) program. In a nutshell, the marathon training plan is based on three key workouts per week: one run that is faster than your 10K race pace ("fast" pace), one run that is slower than your 10K race pace but faster than your goal marathon pace (aka tempo pace), and a run based on your goal marathon pace (usually 20-30 seconds per mile slower). You are then encouraged to either cross-train or do easy runs on the other days.

The advantages to this type of program is, of course, that you can train for a marathon by running three days a week. The drawbacks to this type of program are:

1. You have to know your planned goal marathon pace and 10K pace--lots of less experienced runners don't know this.

2. You exchange the reduced number of days that you run for increased intensity. So while you run three or four days a week, your workouts tend to be more intense than those for some who does a typical five or six day a week program, which tend to have (on average) one "tempo" or "fast" paced workout a week.

3. The increased intensity in workouts can lead to an increased likelihood of incurring injuries, especially for newer runners or those with biomechanical inefficiencies.

You can read more about the program by going to this link:

http://www.furman.edu/first/fmtp.htm

Another program I suggest is the Novice Training Program by Hal Higdon, which will allow you to train on a 4 day/week schedule, and emphasizes slower average paces. The Novice 1 program features 2 easy runs (3-5 miles), 1 "sorta-long" run (starting out at 3 miles but builds to 10 miles at its peak), and a weekend long run. The Novice 2 plan substitutes the "sorta-long" run with a Pace run, where you run those miles at goal marathon pace (which I think is nice because your body learns how marathon pace feels in the process).

Please check out this link for more info on Higdon's Novice Programs:

http://www.halhigdon.com/marathon/Mar00novice .htm