Question about Marathons, the wall, and the pace that gets you there. (Read 1290 times)

Good thread. Ive been there due to combination of starting too fast., and training too little. THere has been a very identifiable correlation between my training, and my bonking. Ive had a couple races where I trained ok. But ran way faster than I ever should have. I felt great until about mile 18--then got into the 12 minute range, then 14-15 minute miles. I am running the Pig in just over a month. This is more to establish a baseline for my fall goal marathon (Columbus). Maybe I have some ShanGen type magic..but really I hope to run as smart as I am capable of. If I can keep up around the 40-50 mpw range that I only just hit last week, I will be better prepared than I have been in a couple years (thats how bad Ive been).

Ya, now I really want to do a 22-23 mile run (I think it is a bit close to race day for that though) I guess I'll just go out a bit slower on my next long run and see where I'm at for miles 18-20. I didn't really get in the kind of training I wanted the last 2-3 weeks because I've been having knee trouble and couldn't get down to much faster than 7:00 pace (which is bad) so I've been trying to cut back a bit w/out taking a week off. I'm more in the swing of things now so I should be able to sharpen up a bit. So, hey, another question, I have 4 Sundays until race day (which is the 5th Sunday from now) How should I do long runs? I figured the one the week before the race should be something much easier, like 10-12. That gives me 3 weeks that could be legit for training. I now want to do a 22 to see what it is like (relatively speaking, I bounced back pretty fast after the 20 miler, I was essentially good to go for track today, so I don't think 22 will be devastating to the rest of my week) Is that the kind of thing I should pursue ASAP to leave me some time to recovery more for the marathon, or can I mix in another 18 miler before I go for the 22 (then do another 18-20, then the 10-12)? I guess it probably isn't a huge deal at this point. I'm thinking of investing in a couple a GU or two for my next 20+ run, to see if that helps at all. Thanks for the responses everybody.

Investing in the Gus is probably a pretty big deal. Need to try them before the ract to see a) if they help and b) if they make you puke.

Thanks Trent. NOW you tell me that stuff.

So, hey, another question, I have 4 Sundays until race day (which is the 5th Sunday from now) How should I do long runs?

I followed Hal Higdon Intermediate and his plan calls for your last 20 mile run 3 weeks from race day. I ran that one as a fast finish long run with the first half about 30-45 seconds slower than MP and the last half at MP or slightly faster. You get the benefits of working MP without quite the beating on your body. After that I did 15 (2 weeks out) and planned on 8-10 the week before at an easy pace.

Investing in the Gus is probably a pretty big deal.

This is Gus the mini-dachshund. I assure you that investing in a mini dachshund certainly turned into a big deal for me. Good and bad.

Also, and with all respect due to Gus the mini dachshund, if your training AND effort combined are inappropriate for a marathon attempt, no amount of sports gel will help you.

No, LT has nothing to do with the problem at hand. I'll admit I cringed a little when I saw those two letters appear on page one, and I sort of knew at that point that a major derailment was probably inevitable. Still, I ignored it anyways in hopes it would just go away. And here we are talking about wiener dogs. Heh heh. Fisheye. Things always go awry when we start to talk physiology. We should stick to running.