Forums >Racing>Marathon training advice
I'm signed up for the MCM in late October and the Carmel Marathon in March. I'm really hoping to BQ at one or both of them. I'm 37/F so my BQ time is 3:40, and I'll be shooting for 3:35 to get in. Been running 5 years- 2 marathons, 3:58 in 2014 and 3:50 in 2015 on 25 and 33 mpw avg respectively.
Recent race times-
21:50 5k in September
1:16:40 10 mile race in November in ideal conditions- solid 35mpw average at this time, all easy miles
1:47 half marathon a few weeks ago, very hot conditions
46:40 10k last weekend, very hot conditions
II was at a solid 35mpw for several months last fall before having heart ablation surgery in December. It took me about 2 months after surgery to get up to 20mpw. I'm currently running 30-35mpw and slowly building. All of my training miles right now are in the 9-10 minute mile range. I run easy to avoid injury and because I'm still building a base.
Here's my question. If you were me, would you go for a BQ in October at the MCM or wait till March at Carmel?
When I plug my recent race times into pace calculators, I get numbers all over the place- some seem to think I'm capable of a 3:30 marathon and others have me at 3:45. I know I lack endurance, but I'm wondering if I could get into 3:35 shape with a solid training cycle this summer. If I go for the MCM, I will do a training plan and follow speedwork, temp runs, etc. I'm looking at the Pfitz 18/55 plan but I'm open to any ideas of plans that have me running 5 days/week and peaking in the 50 mpw range.
OR if I wait and try to BQ in March at Carmel, I'll take it easy this summer, keep building mileage, add long runs, some with race pace miles, but mostly keep it slow and easy. I will hopefully run a solid marathon in the fall, and then look to the spring to BQ. Carmel is definitely a more BQ-friendly race (crowd, weather, course, travel time) for me. I'm pretty confident that if I could run a 3:45ish MCM that I could hit my BQ time in March with a more focused training cycle this winter. However, this leaves very little time for rest/easy miles (maybe 4-5 weeks) between the MCM and my Carmel training plan, if I do an 18 week plan. This worries me as an injury prone runner.
Advice? Opinions? Ideas? Thanks in advance.
How many miles per year have you been running over the last 5 years? The closer to 1500-2000 per year that you've been doing, the closer you will actually be to those calculators and to running the race that you want.
We have pretty similar times (I'm a little older), your 5k is a little faster but your half marathon a little slower, probably reflecting the lower mileage. My marathon time last year was 3:37 something. I'd say you are definitely capable of a 3:35 and with a good training cycle or two (or three) you will get there.
Things to think about:
- if we are similar, you are going to need to average at least 40-50 miles a week for the cycle with a peak maybe closer to 55-60 per week. you can do this but if you ramp up your mileage too much too soon you are going to end up injured and not racing any marathons. I would feel it out and see how your body is handling it.
- consider a half marathon about 3 weeks before the October marathon and then check a good predictor. I like this one from Slate. Assuming you haven't been running 2000+ a year for the last 5 years, I would aim for a goal closer to a slower predicted time. If it's still saying 3:35, go for it. If not, save the effort for March and get in another good cycle.
If it were me, I wouldn't rush things. I would train this cycle and just see how it goes and not decide on a goal until I get through it. You've got the speed as evidenced by your 5k time. Now you just need the patience.
My two cents.
Pace Prophet
If I were you I wouldn't make a decision until a lot closer to October. Your fitness then will (hopefully!) be better than your fitness now.
How many miles per year have you been running over the last 5 years? The closer to 1500-2000 per year that you've been doing, the closer you will actually be to those calculators and to running the race that you want. We have pretty similar times (I'm a little older), your 5k is a little faster but your half marathon a little slower, probably reflecting the lower mileage. My marathon time last year was 3:37 something. I'd say you are definitely capable of a 3:35 and with a good training cycle or two (or three) you will get there. Things to think about: - if we are similar, you are going to need to average at least 40-50 miles a week for the cycle with a peak maybe closer to 55-60 per week. you can do this but if you ramp up your mileage too much too soon you are going to end up injured and not racing any marathons. I would feel it out and see how your body is handling it. - consider a half marathon about 3 weeks before the October marathon and then check a good predictor. I like this one from Slate. Assuming you haven't been running 2000+ a year for the last 5 years, I would aim for a goal closer to a slower predicted time. If it's still saying 3:35, go for it. If not, save the effort for March and get in another good cycle. If it were me, I wouldn't rush things. I would train this cycle and just see how it goes and not decide on a goal until I get through it. You've got the speed as evidenced by your 5k time. Now you just need the patience. My two cents.
Thanks! I usually get around 1,000 miles a year. Definitely trying to work on getting higher mileage more consistently. I'm trying to be smart about it and build slowly. Do you think a half 3 weeks out from race day would be okay? It's not too close? There's one exactly 3 weeks before my marathon that I'd like to run, but worry it's too close. Also it would definitely conflict with the training schedule I'm looking at, which would have me running my last 20 that day.
I think that is perfect timing. 1 mile warm up and 4 miles cooldown gets you 18. Depends how closely you want to follow your plan. This is what I would do and have done my last two marathons. 18 with 13 at half marathon pace should be plenty.
This sounds like a good plan. Thanks!
Will Run for Donuts!
If you run MCM for time, get there early so you can get close to the front. They don't have corrals (well, they do, but they're self-assigned) and it's 25-30K runners, so it's a cluster for the first several miles. I ran it last year and lined up where I thought I'd run that day (3:30-4:00) and literally spend nearly ten miles dodging slower runners. Lots of walkers were lining up in the sub-3:00 part of the corral to give themselves more time to make the cut-off. It's a huge flaw in a race that big. Personally, I'd never try for a BQ at the MCM, but others have done it successfully, so best of luck to you.
I've heard this from several people. I'll definitely get there early and elbow my ahead of the walkers. I was thinking of jumping in with a pace group, but I've never run with one before.