Goal of Sub-3 Hour Marathon (Read 15845 times)

lansyd - 05/02/09 Rotora Marathon, NZ v02maxed - 05/02/09 Rotorua Marathon, NZ Outee - 05/04/09 Belfast, Belfast, IRE 3 RA'ers in the barrel this weekend (Plus Monday) How are you feeling?

Thanks for thinking of me/us. I'm feeling a mix of excitement (thinking of the crowd), nervousness (thinking of the sub 3 goal), & fear (thinking of the pain). My final preparation was interrupted by a cold a few weeks ago, but I'm still hoping for the sub 3. I've played around A LOT with different pace strategies (there are a few hills to get through), but I've finally printed out my wrist band and I'm ready to go. It will be tough/hard, but in any case I'm looking forward to crossing the finish line, picking up my finishers medal, and getting a massage.

Training update & looking for some advice too from the sub-3hour crowd if you'd be so obliged Well my planned 10mi calibration race on 04/19/2009 was the best DNS every as my first son was born! Unfortunately I had done a taper to that race and had to write a final exam that week, had little sleep due to the new bambino (getting better), and took a hit in the mileage as you can see from my log. I did a 7mi tempo run today at an avg. of 6:17/mi (although this is Garmin time) with the last 3 miles at ~6:10/mi. It felt awesome, but I did have the wind at my back (but as an out and back course I fought the wind the whole way out). This is the fastest I've done a tempo of this distance and was obviously due to my dip in mileage. I've also done 2 MP long runs of 15 and 16 miles at ~6:50/mi, 5 weeks and 2 weeks ago respectively. I've left these runs tired and happy to quit, but feeling like I could have done a bit more distance if I really had to. I regularly try to integrate MP into my long runs in some shape or form, normally for the final 5-10 miles. Anyhow, my goal race is 05/31/09, which leaves 5 weeks of training beginning this Sunday, of which I need to taper in. Does anyone have any input for me regarding how I should proceed given the dip in mileage I had over the last two weeks? Should I try and climb up to the high 70's/low80's again, increase my mileage for 3 more weeks, or keep things steady/lower and do more sharpening, etc.? ...and I'm obviously looking to try and run sub-3 come goal date. Thanks for any input anyone might give! And congratulations to all you recent sub-3 finishers!

Sparky, first off CONGRAT on becoming a Dad! I just had my first three months ago. After reveiwing your log, I noticed you already have big miles prior to the dip the last two weeks and with five weeks to go I say ramp your miles back up. Your body is used to it. You have plenty of time to taper. Your marathon pace runs are great but have you thought about doing some tempo runs. I may have missed them in your workout but they definitely help. I'm in a similiar situation with my sub three coming up in just over two weeks. What was going to be my biggest milage weeks, the last two weeks have become the lowest due to being sick. My body was just totally run down from lack of sleep (new baby), racing, training, and home projects. Since my body isn't used to big miles, I've decided to just go for speed in the last few weeks and hope that my legs hold up the last 6-8 miles. I plan on racing two 5K's this weekend. Racing has become my tempo runs this year. It you have been following this thread most people will tell you it's the miles that count and I believe it. It just hasn't work out for me so I have to try another way. I still hope that I will eventually be able to run high miles like you do. In my case, I'm going to need a great weather day to achieve my goal but I think with your milage you are going to have strong legs when your need them regardless of mother nature.

Yes.

I ran a 10k on 4.4.09 before Boston... Its a good test for the marathon.... However, just note that at any sign of pain/injury from running a fast race, bag it immediately... I'll let you know how running a HM 13 days after a marathon goes on Sunday... I'm not a "marathon maniac" like bhearn, might be a rough one....

Thanks... BTW dcv2002, I looked back at your Garmin splits from Boston and I plan to use that as a road map for my upcoming marathon 5.24.09...1:27 - 1:28 then finish strong. Where or how do I create these bands with splits? I saw bhearn's a couple weeks ago and I've seen the pacetats.com but is there a homemade method besides a pen on my forearm?

Where or how do I create these bands with splits? I saw bhearn's a couple weeks ago and I've seen the pacetats.com but is there a homemade method besides a pen on my forearm?

I made the splits in a spreadsheet, plugged them into a nice format in Illustrator, printed it out, and wrapped the whole thing up with clear packing tape.

I'll let you know how running a HM 13 days after a marathon goes on Sunday...

I like the quote Jim24315 gave about resisting running fast for the number of miles raced previously (26), until that number of days has passed since that race. Be cautious is all I wish to add and good luck with that dvc2002.

I made the splits in a spreadsheet, plugged them into a nice format in Illustrator, printed it out, and wrapped the whole thing up with clear packing tape.

Muchas Gracias bhearn... I found it from the link you posted before Boston.... http://www.hearn.to/paceband.pdf.... and I am well on my way to creating my own.

lansyd - 05/02/09 Rotora Marathon, NZ v02maxed - 05/02/09 Rotorua Marathon, NZ Outee - 05/04/09 Belfast, Belfast, IRE 3 RA'ers in the barrel this weekend (Plus Monday) How are you feeling?

Good luck guys. May the weather be fair and the day a success. Jim, to jump from a different thread, I'm thinking pretty seriously about doing Cowtown in early October. There's a lot to like. John