Goal of Sub-3 Hour Marathon (Read 15845 times)

And boy, did he ever earn it. This one from Dopple's log still has me shaking my head: "4/25/2009 Run Outside Long 44 Mi 5:46:33 7:53"

Personally this is the one that I would do a sanity check on - TM sucks for really long runs 2/21/2009 Run TM Long 54 Mi 7:12:48 8:01 Its all part of the master plan 6/6-7 FANS24 Hour race - Lake Nokomis - MN http://www.fans24hour.org/ 3 weeks to recover and sharpen my insanity skills

First off, WELL DONE DOBBLE BOCK!!! I had no doubts that you would be in the 2:45-2:50 range. Me, totally different story, I had major doubts. I knew almost from the day that I discovered the runningahead website last October and particular this sub three hour marathon thread that I would need to run more miles to achieve this goal. I failed yesterday in the Rockford Marathon with a 3:03:50. Since November I have run 1036 miles in 29 weeks. That averages 35 miles a week and I am finally convinced that I personally can't go sub three with that kind of mileage. I'm sure there may be people that can but I'm not one of them. I really did give my best effort to up the mileage after reviewing many of your logs and reading your posts but life happens and changes things. I did finally get in the 40's but it was only for 9 weeks, 50's-1 week, 60's-1 week. Some how I need to find a way to run at least 50 mpw and hopefully have bigger weeks when I can. I wore my GPS yesterday and if you look at my log you will see all the details. Although I'm not happy because I didn't meet the goal, I think I still ran a good race. I ran very consistent for the first 20 miles, almost all miles were close to MP. At 20 miles I was still on pace but the legs were just tired and I felt like I could start cramping if I maintained the 6:51 average pace I was running. My legs actually felt like they could cramp at mile 13 but at that point I guess the lactic acid wasn't quite bad enough that I had to slow down. My aerobic system felt strong all day. I was still passing people in the final 4 miles, the last two guys were in the final mile. I placed 9th overall. (small marathon) http://www.theracershub.com/results_view.php?id=534&result_type=db The weather was absolutely perfect. I think the start was 39-42 with clear sunny skies with of high of 62. Mild winds. I wore a singlet and shorts and was never cold once we started running. So bottom line is that I have nothing to blame but myself for improper training. One part of me says that maybe I just don't have the legs that will ever be able to achieve this. The following link is aerial photos of the Rockford Marathon. http://picasaweb.google.com/rundahills/BestRockfordMarathon?pli=1&gsessionid=pDXR5jCrVHWvUIsRVeBLTA This next link is photos on the course. http://picasaweb.google.com/crstnamre.40/RockfordMarathon2009?feat=directlink#5336934216486602882 I'm number 45 (yellow singlet in middle)

I'd be encouraged by that race - 3:03's is stellar considering you were definitely light on miles last month. You can definitely do it and you already know the answer - more miles. Go back and make the map of the marathon 'publicly viewable' (there's a check box), that will allow us to see the course through your GPS.

flovesparko Whats funny is that you feel like you may never get to sub 3:00 and the rest of us know how agonizingly close you were to it - You were not 3 minutes and 51 seconds away - You were 6 or 7 miles of holding 6:51 pace. I don't think I can explain what I mean, but I think just a few more miles or just a tweak to training or .... just one little thing and you were there! Recover well -

"One part of me says that maybe I just don't have the legs that will ever be able to achieve this." And this is not true for sure - you already have enough speed, all you need to do is add a bit more mileage and you'll get under 3 hours for definite.

I am beginning to wonder about this. That is what I thought, I just needed more miles to knock off the two minutes from my PR and finally break three hours. However I had a problem with my shoulder last summer that caused me to miss most of my training during the fall and winter. Well the surgery caused me to miss about a month, the laziness that month off induced caused me to miss the rest of the time. This year I have run two marathons, Zoom Yah Yah in January and Lake Wobegon this month and I went into both thinking I was greatly undertrained. In fact I tried to drop out of Zoom Yah Yah but a replacement for me wasn't found and so I ran it anyway. And in both cases I was a minute or two faster than my times in the race last year and my Lake Wobegon time was my best in almost three years. And this was on minimal training. I have only run 350 miles this year before Lake Wobegon (last year it was about 650). I just wonder if more miles might be detrimental to my goal of trying to break three. Or maybe it may be the case I just don't have a sub three in my legs either. 3:02 - 3:05 that I can do but I can't seem to get under 3:02.

There are plenty of people running well under 3 hours with far less ability than either of you two.

--> Like this guy here ... well I haven't broken 3 hours yet (ask me in 2 weeks!) I don't know about spinach, but I'd be hard pressed to come close to flovespark's 38:00 10k at this point in life/training - and that's with more yearly mileage under my belt. I don't have a lot of natural speed at all (at least I don't consider myself to). When your mileage gets cranked up you'll smash 3 hours.

I'm a newbie to the thread here, but have been reading up (OK, lurking) for the past few weeks. Just gleaning a last few bits of information that will help me to achieve a sub 3 marathon. First of all, a HUGE CONGRATS to Dopple Bock on a spectacular performance at Green Bay this weekend. Can't wait to see what you do at FANS...I may be there to volunteer/spectate this year (ran the 12 hour last year). Also, can't help but be impressed with Bhearn's performance at Boston..negative split there is fantastic! And, flovesparko - if I might say - you have so much natural speed! Build up that aerobic base with more relaxed, consistent miles and you will have the power to finish off that last 10K! I'm officially attempting a sub-3 at Grandma's Marathon on June 20, 2009. Since most of my training is solo, I'm here just hoping to get the last bit of advice, confidence, heck anything it takes to reach this goal. My prior marathon PR is 3:07:43, 3 years ago at Grandma's and now I'm 3 years older. Part of me says this is an impossible dream, but I'm going for it anyway. The biggest help has been my recent weight loss (155 down to 144), along with some decent injury-free training. I just ran a "benchmark" half on May 9 and smashed my PR easily at 1:24:06. Now, I'm going to seek out the warmest afternoons for my training runs, as Grandma can sometimes deal out some nasty hot and humid weather come June 20th. Thanks in advance for any advice you may have for me. John