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

Ran my first track races since.... since H.S. (1990). Did a mile race (5:27) and a 800m (2:31). They were about 75 minutes apart in blazing sun, mid 70s, headwind on the backstretch. I'll take it, though I though the mile would be a little faster.... Oh well I'll probably try again a couple of times this summer, but I think it will mainly be the 1500m and 800m.... Oh wait this is a marathon thread... 

I'm running the Brooklyn Half Marathon on Saturday. I have no idea what to expect, since my training has been less than stellar. I think my PR streak of 2009 might be broken...

Good job alan and spinach....

wow - that was a brutal crash and burn race. it felt very easy/smooth tru about 15 miles and i was thinking i was gonna get this, then I could feel i was starting to work a little harder to stay on pace. continued to hold it together thru 21 and then the heat/wind (which felt certainly stronger than 6mph) got to me and the wheels fell off. struggled hard to get back on pace (high 6's was the plan) but found i could only hold 7:30-7:40s no matter what i did. it didn't help that i managed to stupidly stop my garmin somewhere about 18 and didnt notice for a mile or so.still, almost a 3 minute PR, and 96th place overall (out of 4500) - lots of carnage out therei'll writeup a race report after i have drunk about 16 beers.

 I read your blog (KR) - The only thing that might have got you accross a bit faster was slower than 6:33 1st 5k. (If I remember right) - That has a way of catching up with you.  Too bad the weather was a bit warmer than advertised - Really nice effort and PR.

 

You will be there this fall if you keep it up and find a nice weather race

 

Recover well!

Ran my first track races since.... since H.S. (1990). Did a mile race (5:27) and a 800m (2:31). They were about 75 minutes apart in blazing sun, mid 70s, headwind on the backstretch. I'll take it, though I though the mile would be a little faster.... Oh well I'll probably try again a couple of times this summer, but I think it will mainly be the 1500m and 800m....

 Were these races or individual time trials?  I have no idea how to find a meet in my area.

I believe I would choose  - 4 or 5 mile warmup, 10K race, 4 or 5 mile cooldown over a 15 mile MP run.  At 3 weeks out #1 or #2 on my list would be a 20-22 mile long run with some kind of quality thrown in somewhere. 

 

Ultimately, you should do what you think will give you the most confidence in your marathon time as the vast bulk of the training is done.

 buck, For Boston (4.20.09) I did.....

 

4 weeks out (3.21.09) - 4 mile race (24:17)

3 weeks out (3.29.09) - 4+ mile warm up, HM in 1:26:54 (MP-10sec), 3+ mile cool down

2 weeks out (4.4.09) - 10k race (38:49)

 

So if 3 weeks out I would do a long run with 12-13 MP miles in it, if you can find a 10k next weekend run it then.....

I’ve got a bit of a dilemma that I was hoping to get some opinions/comments/advice on…

 

What to do this Sunday:

(a) Race a 10K.

(b) Run a 15 mile marathon paced long run.

 

Marathon date for me is June 21 so this Sunday would be exactly 3 weeks pre-marathon. I plan on a two-week taper so Sunday will be the beginning of my last higher mileage week.

 

I think my inability to make a decision is due to two main considerations. (1)Which of these options will provide the best training stimulus; and (2) which will provide me with the greater confidence boost to go after a sub-3:00 marathon.  I’m leaning toward the MP long run at this point as I think it’s a more race specific workout and I think that if I can run 15 at MP without too much strain, I should be good to go. On the other hand, a solid 10K (somewhere around 38:30) would tell me that I’ve got my stamina where it needs to be and along with the endurance I’ve built up, I should be good to go! So, what to do?

 

I don’t think either option is “wrong” 3 weeks out (please comment if you think either option should be avoided), but which is more “right”. My training log is up to date if anyone wants to have a look to see what I’ve done in getting ready to this point.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Another vote for the 10k...make that an enthusiastic two thumbs up. You should be loaded with endurance already with your strong base that includes a recent 24-miler.  The race will do more to put the edge on, I think.  Nice job on the training.

I AM PUMPED for my race! And tweaking from this tapering… blah!

 

I am feeling good but still have a healthy respect for the marathon as well as this goal time. I’m pretty sure I can break the 3 hour barrier unless I do something really stupid, there’s bad weather, or I have unexpected bodily troubles on the course!

 

In October 2008 I ran my 2^nd marathon and set a PR of 3:06:33 – my goal was a BQ of 3:10. On my run this afternoon I thought about my splits and went to look at them when I got back… I really under-ran the first half because I did a 6 minute negative split.

    First Half Split: 1:36:00

    Second half split: 1:30:33

    Final Time: 3:06:33

 

I also just decided to crunch my training numbers from this cycle compared to last cycle:

 

For the Oct. 2008 cycle I ran 668mi in the 21 weeks prior to the race for an avg. of 31.79/week. I should note that I got injured during this period though…. My last 12 weeks were a total of 504mi for an avg. 42mi/week

 

For this training cycle (starting in Jan 2009) I’ve run 1325mi in the 21 weeks prior to the race for an avg. of 63mi/week. I managed to do 7 of these weeks at 70+mi and 3 of them at 80+mi. I might also note that my son was born 6 weeks ago which knocked down my mileage for about 2 weeks (not using this as an excuse for “lower” mileage though).

 

Looking back at last year’s training, I can’t even believe I ran a 3:06 on the mileage I was at… I didn’t realize it was so low!

 

I’m planning to run this Sunday’s race more aggressively than I did at my last marathon. This will be my 3^rd marathon and I know *somewhat* more of what to expect. I’m also more comfortable with my race pace, having done 3 long-tempo’s of 15, 17, 18 miles at MP.

 

I’m buzzing with energy and excitement!!