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

Bhearn, what happen to the last few weeks of your log? Some of us wannabe's need to see what you fast guys do in the last few weeks.

Sorry, I'll upload it from my Garmin next week. Oddly enough I got off track with the log when the auto Garmin import came online, because I had to go and sort out which runs were already there. The daily ritual of manual entry went away, and that was that.

This weekend is like living in some sort of bizarro universe. I'm running two marathons, and srlopez is taking a week off!

I think I could qualify at the biginning maniac level with a marathon and a 50 miler within 13 days, but to me Maniac status is a mindframe and I am not there ... yet. One of these years I will run the gambit in WI in the spring with: (Dates Based on this year) Milwaukee - Indoor (1/17) Trail Breaker 4/4 JailBreak 4/25 or Pineline 4/25 Kenosha 5/2 Lacrosse or Eau Claire 5/3 Lake Geneva or Eagle River 5/9 Green Bay 5/17 Mad City 5/24 I really wish 4/25 and 5/9 dates would go SAT / SUN - 8 in 5 weeks would be fun -

You want to qualify for NY, that's easy... turn 40. I hate to tell you, but the guaranteed entry deadline for NY is May 1.

I know about the May 1st cutoff date, BUT you can actually still qualify at the Brooklyn Half Marathon which is on 5.30. You must have met the appropriate qualifying time between January 1, 2008, and May 1, 2009 (an exception will be made for runners wishing to use their time from the NYRR Half-Marathon Grand Prix Presented by Continental Airlines: Brooklyn in May, 2009) . Include the race name and date with your application. I will probably blow up big time trying for it, but what the heck, its not like I'm trying to break 3 hours or something.... 6:19.8/mile pace.... Ouch that's gonna hurt... McMillian says my marathon time converts to about 1:24:40...

On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being most confident, I was probably feeling about a 5. Coincidentally, I drive by the finish line of the marathon I was targeting evey day on the way to work. I'd pull up to the traffic light every morning and glance to the left at the finish line and get all apprehensive and think stuff like "Holy crap. You're gonna feel like shit when you're comin this way in 6weeks/5weeks/4weeks/3weeks/2weeks/next week/Sunday!" I may have psyched myself out. The workouts I'd done and racing benchmarks prior to my marathon indicated to me that I was capable of doing 3 hours. Just based on that I shoulda felt like an 8 but I'd blown up on so many marathons before that my confidence just wasn't great. Never mind what can happen with weather and other things you have no control over. I ran 2:59:08.

Even though it was a very long time ago, I still remember my first and I was not very confident. I ran well anyway, breaking 3 hours by quite a ways. The following I year I was extremely confident and ended up running 10 minutes slower on the same course under almost identical conditions. I went out way too fast. In the marathon I believe that having some doubts can be a good thing. It's that healthy fear that we've all heard about. What gives me the highest degree of confidence are: 1. Race times leading up to the marathon. Although there is no guarantee that a good time at 10k or half marathon will translate to a good one at the marathon, it is always good for a confidence boost and is a strong indication that our training is working. It is also highly unlikely that the we will meet our marathon goal if we don't have at least a couple good races at other distances during the weeks leading up to the big one. 2. Feeling good on training runs. While the race times have to be there, they aren't of much value if they've left me so beat up that I'm not feeling good on most of my training runs as the marathon draws closer. To be coming off a couple strong races and still feeling good during workouts is the ideal situation and is great for the confidence. The important thing at this point is to not let that confidence turn into cockiness or overconfidence. I could list "believing in my training" or "knowing I've put in the work", but they are pretty much a given if #'s 1 and 2 are there.

Well, my wife and I are back from Boston. Congrats to all on your fine races. We had a great time before and after the race. My wife got to run the 5k the day before and ran really well. Got to tour and visit the city and enjoyed that. Don't know what happened in the race but just didn't have it. On pace at 10k and close at the half but was working way too hard to hold the pace. It beat me this time but I'll be back. Ran a little 10k this morning and legs burned every step. Too bad I couldn't have done that a few days ago.

Well, my wife and I are back from Boston. Congrats to all on your fine races. We had a great time before and after the race. My wife got to run the 5k the day before and ran really well. Got to tour and visit the city and enjoyed that. Don't know what happened in the race but just didn't have it. On pace at 10k and close at the half but was working way too hard to hold the pace. It beat me this time but I'll be back. Ran a little 10k this morning and legs burned every step. Too bad I couldn't have done that a few days ago.

ksrunr, I was tracking, and pulling for you, as well as the other RA people the whole way. Boston isn't an easy course to run fast. Recover and continue what you've been doing - I feel certain you are on the right path to get there. And congrats on a nice time!

Well, my wife and I are back from Boston. Congrats to all on your fine races. We had a great time before and after the race. My wife got to run the 5k the day before and ran really well. Got to tour and visit the city and enjoyed that. Don't know what happened in the race but just didn't have it. On pace at 10k and close at the half but was working way too hard to hold the pace. It beat me this time but I'll be back. Ran a little 10k this morning and legs burned every step. Too bad I couldn't have done that a few days ago.

Ks; I was tracking the race as well and figured something had gone wrong. I knew that you had been dealing with a nagging leg problem not long ago. All the numbers said you were in better shape than when you ran 3:06 at Hartford but the marathon is a strange beast. Keep on pluggin' and your day will come.