Forums >General Running>Running "rules of thumb"
#artbydmcbride
Tempo runs should be at marathon pace for a distance 3 times your daily average?
Runners run
I thought that's what it meant too, but that seems a tad .
King of PhotoShop
Okay, okay. Geeze guys. I thought everyone knew this one.
This "rule of thumb" states that you can sustain your goal MP through this many miles of a marathon:
Take your average weekly miles.
Divide by 7.
This gives you your average daily run.
3 times that number is about how long you can sustain MP when you run a marathon.
Example: You run 50 miles a week. Your average daily run is about 7. (Yes, I know it is not exact. Please refrain Ilene.)
You will run at MP fairly well until about 21 miles.
It's a rule of thumb, works for some, not all.
As runners age (like me, an old guy) you might run 35 miles a week (average 5/day) but run a bunch of marathons and train with lots of 20+ mile runs. Doesn't matter what you do; maybe you'll just jog ten minutes a mile through the entire marathon. The "rule" is irrelevant for those like us.
But for younger runners seeking to run their best times in the marathon, who race it, this "rule of thumb" has been quite useful. Hope that helps. Spareribs
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/marathon_do
Okay, okay. Geeze guys. I thought everyone knew this one. This "rule of thumb" states that you can sustain your goal MP through this many miles of a marathon: Take your average weekly miles. Divide by 7. This gives you your average daily run. 3 times that number is about how long you can sustain MP when you run a marathon. Example: You run 50 miles a week. Your average daily run is about 7. (Yes, I know it is not exact. Please refrain Ilene.) You will run at MP fairly well until about 21 miles. It's a rule of thumb, works for some, not all. As runners age (like me, an old guy) you might run 35 miles a week (average 5/day) but run a bunch of marathons and train with lots of 20+ mile runs. Doesn't matter what you do; maybe you'll just jog ten minutes a mile through the entire marathon. The "rule" is irrelevant for those like us. But for younger runners seeking to run their best times in the marathon, who race it, this "rule of thumb" has been quite useful. Hope that helps. Spareribs
So if I run 100 miles a week I can run MP for 42 miles?
Yeah. I don't think that's quite the right formulation of that rule. Being able to run 3x your daily average sounds more familiar. I don't think it makes any sense to throw in "at MP".
Yeah the "at MP" part makes it (more) nonsensical. If you can only run 21 miles at a pace, it's not your MP. It's your 21 mile pace. Whatever pace you can sustain for a marathon is your marathon pace.
See, I'm pretty sharp.
And anyway according to the "rule" there's no point running more than 61.34 miles per week in marathon training. Well unless you want to bend the rules of space and time and run a 50k or 100k at MP. In which case have at it.
No Talent Drips
Can't people be less serious around here?
Dei Gratia
Sorry, Spareribs - dumb post on my part. I think I've been spending too much time on LR. Anyway, I'm gonna throw out a 'rule of thumb':
Double your 1/2 marathon time and add 10 minutes = your full marathon time (or not, the 10 minutes part is a little tricky)
jfa
^ See there's very few constants. Other than there's many variables.
Hope that helps.
Thanks for explaining, Ribs. Since it makes zero sense, doesn't surprise me that few, if anyone, has heard of it.
Rule of thumb: the answer to almost any running question....
Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and roguesWe're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes
Most thumb rules are easy-to-state (like "the 10% rule"). I've not heard this complicated one before. It is out there with Yasso 800s on the wordcount scale.One thing I like to do sometimes is... conducting an expedition in terminology archeology. Trying to uncover where something seemingly bizarre started. Was it made up? Is there some underlying reality and/or math that made more sense at one time, but which has been fuzzed over? Trying to determine the origin of "drink 8 glasses of water a day" has been fun. Anyway, it might be interesting to see who has heard of this rule before (nobody here has) and learn where it came from.
How about "that number is about how long you can sustain goal MP when you run a marathon."
Also, if you were on pace for xxx marathon time through mile xx but had to slow down you really were NOT on pace for that marathon time. You were on pace for the time you ran.
Thanks Kencarmet. I have heard that "double your half time" plus as also being 15 minutes. It's a common one.
Thanks all for the 3X rule clarification also.
And srl, I also have no idea where 8 glasses of water comes from.
Man, this whole discussion is going to be about 3 columns worth of stuff! Thank you everyone. Spareribs
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