Forums >Racing>2013 Sub-3:00 Marathon Goal Thread
Hey Clive,
Can you put me down for Lehigh Valley?
Gville Kevin (37/no) – 08SEP2013 - Via Lehigh Valley Marathon.
Time to get this done.
Thanks
Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and roguesWe're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes
Missed it: 3:02:47...got caught up in racing and left the chase pack to run after the leader at about 3 miles. Ran in 2nd/3rd throughmile 13 in 1:24:2x before dropping back and just running for the BQ.
delucj - congrats on a PR! (it's a PR, right?). Nice job. Just wondering, if you were targeting sun 3, what made you go 1:24 half race? I would definitely try to hit 1:29 instead - pacing is important, I believe. Until, of course you had a faster time in mind.
paces PRs - 5K - 5:48 / 10K - 6:05 / HM - 6:14 / FM - 6:26 per mile
Based on a 1:20:50 HM back in March I thought I could run 2:55 and went out on that pace, but when I found myself in 2nd place I forgot about pacing and just went after the leader...I knew it was a bad idea at the time but having the flashing lights of the pace car fifty to one hundred meters in front of you makes it so tempting...
Doc, my tooth hurts
I had been debating whether or not to shoot for sub 3 and have been waiting on the weather report also since last years GB Marathon was so hot they closed the course. It's not a slam dunk by any means but should be a good challenge. I'm actually going to aim a little bit lower than sub-3. I'm basing it off of the terrible half marathon I ran first week of April, so I know there is a possibility I run a really great race.
extendedsolo (30/no) – 19MAY2013 – Cellcom Green Bay Marathon (Green Bay Wi) – Goal = 2:57:59 RESULT = ______
Worth it though to chase the leader and the pace car, I bet! I've never been in that situation and I might have done the same just for grins. Enter a bigger one that insures you won't be near the lead and the 2:55 should be a piece of cake.
Do you still think you could have run 2:55 if you hadn't have chased the leaders?
I just ran a 1:20:47 and am debating going after a 2:55 as well (in 3 weeks). McMillan says 2:50, but I don't want to be too aggressive. My goals are BQ and sub-3, but it looks like a 2:55 could put me in contention for an AG win.
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Nashville, TN
Do you still think you could have run 2:55 if you hadn't have chased the leaders? I just ran a 1:20:47 and am debating going after a 2:55 as well (in 3 weeks). McMillan says 2:50, but I don't want to be too aggressive. My goals are BQ and sub-3, but it looks like a 2:55 could put me in contention for an AG win.
I would say that according to your HM time you should run sub 2:55 easily. And your training long runs confirm that. The only thing which seems strange to me - you ran 3:22 marathon after 1:22 half previously. Looks like you faded at last 6-7 miles considerably. And your monthly and weekly mileages are on a light side. If I were you, I would stay on a conservative side and shoot for something like 2:58-2:59, at least until miles 21-22 and then go for it if you feel good at that point. I would use this strategy because otherwise you are targeting almost 30 minutes PR - which is, of course, possible, but... I would still try to be on a cautious side...
Fast is better than long
anti-climactic, but...
PaulyGram (45/yes) – 15APR2013 – Boston (Boston MA) – Goal = <2:45 RESULT = DNF (bad salmon)
PaulyGram (46/yes) – 27APR2013 – Illinois Marathon (Boston MA) – Goal = BQ RESULT = 2:59:00
2017 Goals: Give up goals; they're stoopid
Give a man a fire and he'll be warm the rest of the night;Set a man afire and he'll be warm the rest of his life.
What in the Jehu?
On par with 2013 - I can have 2 weeks of good training and then do poor or mediocre training. I am at @ 2 weeks of good training again ... I need to keep it rolling. The sub 3 is definately possible, but very dependant on my beer consumption over the next 5 weeks.
Long dead ... But my stench lingers !
Switch to lite beer?
And you can quote me as saying I was mis-quoted. Groucho Marx
Rob
Already there most times - It is a matter of poor sleep and mucho eating with the beer.
Actually last night was OK - I had 1 NG Winter Warmer and I had a nice night sleep and a nice 9 mile easy run this am.
Thanks for taking the time to review my log and provide thoughts. I think nutrition was the main reason I bonked in the 3:22. I had only suffered through one marathon before that and it was a 5:29 with last than 200 miles total of running prior to the marathon. Stupid, but a 30 minute PR seems pretty reasonable in that relation :-/
Glad that you think my long runs indicate a 2:55 is reasonable. Definitely planning to go at at a 6:50 - 6:45 pace, but just haven't decided when to consider picking it up. Halfway and go for a big negative split and a 2:55? Or mile 22 (only big hill on the course) and go for something closer to 2:57?
The bad part is that I haven't even started my taper and I am already obsessing about race strategy :-/
I'd say yes. Your training log doesn't look that far off from mine; and I think I could have held 2:55 (though I might not be running as well today if I had held race pace for the whole thing) if I hadn't started dropping low 6:20s at mile 3 to go after the winner.
If you can go out at 6:50 for at least the first couple miles and keep it slower than 6:40 through the half, I would think that you can get the 2:55 in the second half. You'll have to work for it but as long as you run smarter than I did then you've got it.
Also, think about having some sort breakfast pre-race. I went in on an empty stomach after going out for lobster the night before (damn Maine) so I probably wasn't fueled as well as I could have been despite the lifesavers I took with me to eat on the course.
Thanks for taking the time to review my log and provide thoughts. I think nutrition was the main reason I bonked in the 3:22. I had only suffered through one marathon before that and it was a 5:29 with last than 200 miles total of running prior to the marathon. Stupid, but a 30 minute PR seems pretty reasonable in that relation :-/ Glad that you think my long runs indicate a 2:55 is reasonable. Definitely planning to go at at a 6:50 - 6:45 pace, but just haven't decided when to consider picking it up. Halfway and go for a big negative split and a 2:55? Or mile 22 (only big hill on the course) and go for something closer to 2:57? The bad part is that I haven't even started my taper and I am already obsessing about race strategy :-/
I think it's normal to be kind of "obsessed" with the strategy. Visualizing your race strategy is a good thing. I think also it's good you learned from experience that nutrition is important. Even for pretty young 35 years old guy like you . I usually take gels with water during a race and take Gatorade at water stops where I don't take gel. The cups are usually not very full, so, it's just a slight energy boost and doesn't fill you with a liquid up to the top. Re where to start to pick-up. Well, I can only can share my approach, which worked for me so far. I usually try to PR for every marathon (only had 6 so far - so, not too much experience) by a few minutes (or about 10 seconds per mile). Of course I should be more or less sure that my training preparation is OK with such a task :-). So, I am trying to start first couple of miles slower than my target race - maybe 5-10 seconds slower, just trying to be very conservative despite all the start excitement. Then I go with the target pace and listen to the body reaction. Usually, by half mark, if everything is OK, I feel just slightly tired, but nothing major. Basically, if everything is good, I may accelerate by 5-8 secs after miles 17-18, and if everything is good after that by mile 21-22, I would go out. It doesn't happen like this all the times (sometimes I just had pretty even splits for the whole race), but it worked pretty well in most of the cases. Of course, a lot depends on your temperament, some runners just cannot run evenly the whole race, as I noticed . But there is nothing more satisfying than having a great race, and if it's a PR race it's just feels great. And the ability to improve from race to race feels even better. I am here, in running, hopefully for quite a few years, so, I don't see a need to be in a hurry. I think our body pays us back if we don't torture it with too much too soon kind of stuff. Good luck! When is your race, btw?