12 weeks is plenty of time. It all depends on what your conditioning is going into the program. If you're starting from scratch, then I'd say no. But it seems you have a really solid base coming into the program, so if you stay healthy, you'd have a great shot at doing well.

Bill- You are in shape for a BQ in May. Do the training and it will happen. Your marathon PR will be 7-10 minutes faster than your current PR. I would modify the training to include medLR's with pace and extend the LR appropriately. (email me if you want me to give you some suggestions in more specific terms...) Your 5K pr's are not soft. The recent 10K and 1/2 marathon predicts a solid chance at sub 3:45 and could be closer to 3:40 in reality. The recent 1/2 M training overlaps with M training and you do not need to worry about trying to fit a Pfitz 'program' into your training...You should know your body well enough by now to know what you need to do. The base you have cannot be extended but should be enough to get you to the starting line with a very good chance at a PR. 2008 should be a very good year for you for racing. Dale ETA-missed word

Hey Bill, There are 2 ways to look at the “…ain’t getting any younger!” One is to be in a big hurry to accomplish things “before I get too old” and the other is that trying to cram too much into a short period can speed up the aging process. I can relate completely to the being in a big hurry part, and I also have the experience of trying to cram too much into too short of a period fresh in my mind. I did very close to what you are trying to do, with the only difference being that one of my long races was a 30k rather than HM. My “triple” was HM, 30k, and finally the marathon. I’m still paying the price and am not the same runner I was a few months ago. Whether I return to that level again remains to be seen, but the doubts have started to creep in. Had I had run only 2 of those 3 I think I would have been ok. I say just put the age thing out of your mind and focus on your goal. You are going to stay younger longer by not being in too big of a hurry and you will run faster too. My first choice would be to put off the marathon until fall but I think you can be ready by May. Weather would be a concern though--could be hot at that time of year. If you decide to go for it in May I would advise running only one of the HM’s and not tapering mileage for it. I’d just run easily the week before and keep the mileage up, but that’s your call. You would have time to recover from a second HM (I think) but it’s just not optimal, imo (“I keep tapering, racing, and reverse tapering - over and over”). You are far better off to use that time to train, running as many miles as you can. Again, I stress the word “optimal”. Of course you can run all 3 races but I don’t think it will give you the best chance of running your best marathon. Do as I say, not as I do Best of luck, whatever you decide

Bill - I think you can do it and quite easily. I basically did a 12-week program last fall (following base-building) and am doing the same this time. The key is having the good base which I think you do. You seem to be in great shape now and have already been doing some good speed work as well. I'm with Jim in thinking you don't have to do a lot of racing or for that matter, a lot of long runs. I'm planning on racing one HM in March (if I can get over this achilles thing okay) and 2-3 long runs of 18-20 with some MP in these. I do believe in total mileage though and I would focus on getting up to 55-60 mpw and sustaining this for 4-6 weeks, most of this easy paced. Include 2 speed runs a week and I think you'd be fine. It wouldn't surprise me in the least to see you PR and BQ in the spring. Good luck. PJ

Thanks to everyone for the comments and suggestions. I've decided to go for it. My application is in the mail for Eugene. Dr. Dale offered to review my 12 week plan so I sent him my spreadsheet. I'll let you all know what he changes/suggests. Thanks again everyone. Bill