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I need some race schedule advice (Read 446 times)

    I was thinking about my plans for 2008 and I've got 5 races I want to do. A couple of 10K's in April and May. That's no big deal. Then I'll take the summer to prep for a marathon Aug. 31st. Now comes the dilemma. I promised to run the St.Jude Half Marathon on Dec.7th with an old fraternity bud. We did it last year and I ran it injured and we finished in 2:10. I know this year he wants to break the 2 hour mark and that's easily doable. The next weekend is the Dallas White Rock marathon and I told my wife we'd do that since we had a crappy first marathon experience in Chicago. Is doing a half-marathon the weekend before a marathon completely insane like I think it is?
    jEfFgObLuE


    I've got a fever...

      I was thinking about my plans for 2008 and I've got 5 races I want to do. A couple of 10K's in April and May. That's no big deal. Then I'll take the summer to prep for a marathon Aug. 31st. Now comes the dilemma. I promised to run the St.Jude Half Marathon on Dec.7th with an old fraternity bud. We did it last year and I ran it injured and we finished in 2:10. I know this year he wants to break the 2 hour mark and that's easily doable. The next weekend is the Dallas White Rock marathon and I told my wife we'd do that since we had a crappy first marathon experience in Chicago. Is doing a half-marathon the weekend before a marathon completely insane like I think it is?
      If you race the half, the answer is yes (it's insane). If you run the half as an easy run, or as a pseudo-tempo (easy 3 miles, run 7~8 miles at your goal MARATHON pace, cool down), then the HM is no big deal.

      On your deathbed, you won't wish that you'd spent more time at the office.  But you will wish that you'd spent more time running.  Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.

        Depends on what your goals for the marathon are.... I was in a similar situation last year. I signed up to run the Richmond Marathon on November 10, 2007 with a large group of my friends. However, Raleigh (where I went to college and lived for a period of time) was bringing back the marathon to the city on November 4, 2007. I really wanted to support that race - so I decided to run the 1/2. I ran the 1/2 at an easy pace for me (1:54) - I really wanted run at a slower pace than that but I just could not let myself back off more than I did. When I got to mile 16 or so of the Richmond Marathon just 6 days later, my legs were feeling really heavy. I really struggled those last 10 miles, partly because of the race the weekend before.
          My marathon goal is to finish in under 4 hours. I doubt the Aug one will be conducive to that as it's in my parent's hometown and I've seen the course. Plus, August in Mississippi means it'll probably be hotter than Hell. My problem will be like yours in that I won't hold myself back in the half-marathon. I'm too damn competitve. My other option is to talk my wife into doing the marathon at St.Jude instead of the Whiterock in Dallas. That way I'll kill two birds with one stone. The half-marathon and marathon run the same course with the HM'ers turning off. I'd be able to run with him and then continue on and do the marathon. It'll just rely on my ablity to sell it to her. Dallas is her hometown and I know she wants to do it.


          The Greatest of All Time

            I concur with Jeff. If you 'race' the half the marathon the following week will not be pleasant. You might have to let your buddy break 2 hours by himself. Or you could race the 1/2 and jog the full. Is that Marathon in Dallas in Whiterock Park, which has some ponds inside it? I think I have done some long runs there. It's flat and hot as hell in the summer but probably not too bad in December. You never know Dallas weather in December. It could be 80 or there could be an ice storm.
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