How to get to Boston (Read 1303 times)

Nobby-san,

What is your best recommendation on how to increase the stamina or maybe the ability to hold that MP required for 26.2?

I"m not trolling. Very serious question here.

High mileage and MP workouts?

For what it is worth it took me three years and 7 marathons to qualify for Boston.  When I started running I thought Boston was not even a possibility but after seeing significnat improvement in my first 3-4 marathons, I changed my mind.  I think everyone has given you some good advice.  My approach was to continue to train smart and do the things to stay healthy.  After the first 3-4 marathons I began to set goals that incrementally would get me to my BQ.  I had to go from a 4:28 (first marathon) to 3:35 (BQ).  I had some setbacks and had some marathons with terrible weather, but eventually got there.  I personally could not handle the high mileage of 70-80 miles, but maxed out around 60 and probably averaged less than 40 miles a week.  I focused on quality runs with intensity when necessary but really didn't do a lot of speedwork. 

Good luck!

But when I'm not training for a race, I tend to slack off a lot.  

I have that problem too. But it's an easy one to solve. Just make sure you always have a race to train for.

As far as Boston, I'm not even sure its worth the effort to get me there.  ... 

 

I'm not sure I like running enough, which is why I tend to run lower weekly mileages, just enough to set PRs, but not enough to enter another class of runners.

If you're willing to up your miles, you may find that your PR jumps get bigger. One of these days, you'll see a realistic jump into BQ territory.

Give Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning a read. Even if you don't decide to do one of the programs -- BTW his max-55 mpw plan got me my first BQ -- you'll learn a lot.

The same way you get to Carnegie Hall...

Practice, practice, practice.

Saying you want to do something is fine.  Actually setting it as a goal and then working towards it is an entirely different animal altogether.  And that's your biggest stumbling block to getting a BQ time.

If you're not sure you even really enjoy running, then I would say you're better off not really bothering with it, because it will take a fairly lengthy period of sustained systematic training to get there (otherwise, you'd be much closer to it than you currently are).  And doing that type of training has the potential to make running less enjoyable.

It all comes down to what you want out of life.

This is awesome! Thanks for sharing. I just read through everyone's answers.  I'm trying to BQ next year.

I hope to be able to add to this over time, if you know anyone who's BQ'ed get in touch!

Nobby-san,

 

What is your best recommendation on how to increase the stamina or maybe the ability to hold that MP required for 26.2?

I"m not trolling. Very serious question here.

 

High mileage and MP workouts?

Not trolling but serious answer; I don't know.  Well, I kinda do but the thing is; there seem to be different types of runners; one who gain stamina by going far; the other who seem to use up stamina by going far.  If you are doing those super long run (18 or 20 or whatever but it takes more than 3 hours) every weekend or very frequently and, while seemingly you can handle these runs, you need 2 or 3 or 4 days to recover from the effort.  As we all know, ideally, you "BUILD ON" stamina; meaning, if you go for an hour today, you take easier day the next day or two by going, say, a half an hour or whatever but you can easily handle that, as you should, and perhaps next weekend, you may go for 1:10...so on and so forth and, during the course of, say, next 7 or 8 or 9 weeks, you'll build up to 2-hours or so and, while doing so, you'll gain strength and the pace actually pick up.  That's ideal, isn't it?  And it makes sense--you're able to do more faster because you are GAINING STRENGTH.  How many of you out there actually do this?  On the other hand, you go for a long run of, whatever, 2:45 today; you're utterly exhausted and you need to take next 3 days off, or cross train, because your body can't handle it and....you seem to be stuck there and your pace never gets any faster...  Then you're over your head.  It's probably not so much of; "to build stamina, you'll need to run longer than your target race distance...(28?)" or anything like that.  You'll need to sit down and analyze what your limitation AT THIS POINT is and work within that limitation.  You do that, and you'll keep improving.  You ignore that and you just follow some cookie-cutter formula like "you need to run 3 X 20-miles"...then you lose focus on YOU.  You'll be in a rot.

In terms of "holding MP for 26.2; so going 26.2 ain't that difficult, you just slow down and you'll get there.  How about MP?  Well, how did you get your target MP?  If it's based on logic progression, it'll come itself naturally.  If you set that up first because it's your BQ or it's a nice round number (4-hours) or because your neighbor had run it and surely I can't be slower than him/her...and start working out off that; then you'll be in trouble.  I knew of this young guy whose girlfriend ran her first marathon in 3:40.  He figured he "should be able to run" sub-4.  He trained accordingly and....never had completed one to this day.  I have no idea where he got this sub-4 idea (probably because his girlfriend ran sub-4).  But if he trained according to his ability, he may have or may have not.  But he didn't; and he never did.

I don't think you necessarily need "high mileage", whatever "high mileage" means, to run a good marathon.  I don't even think you need to do lots of MP, whatever this MP is for you or wherever you got it from, to do well.  You just need to build-up sensibly and the rest should come naturally.  For some, it may take a bit longer, or quicker, to break 4-hours than some others for whatever the reason.  You need mileage AND speed or whatever else you may call it.  Far too many today's "marathon training" ONLY focuses on mileage.  They don't seem to have a balance.