Forums >Racing>Goal of Sub-3 Hour Marathon
PS to all of you 1/2 marathoners. I only ran a 1:25:58 1/2 marathon before running (6 weeks later) a 2:56 marathon time - So I think anything 1:27 or under has a shot.
Long dead ... But my stench lingers !
Right on Hereford...
Dakota, I don't know if you were asking me about the taper, but I did include a light workout on Wednesday (4 x 800 plus 8 x 100 strides). Usually if I do something like that and follow with 3 very easy days I feel fully recovered for a Sunday race. That said, the taper can be a highly individual thing and would be a good topic for an entire thread. As I've said several times before, I don't respond well at all to an extreme taper or a lot rest days but I know of some runners who do. While I'm at it, I was impressed with the way you ran in Chicago half, especially considering the lower mileage you've run since I've known you from the forums. You have stepped it up a lot lately, so I don't want to take that away from you, but when you compare with many of us your mileage is still on the low side. It really does make a difference and there is a major cumulative effect after 2-3 years of it. At first I thought you were just a guy who didn't run a lot who had good natural speed. Now I see that you might actually be best at longer distances. Even though you are pushing 40 I see a lot of upside from here if you keep going with your recent trend of training more. No question you can break 3 hrs if you train for it, and probably with lots of room to spare if you train a lot.
Jim - What are you saying? But I do believe that a 1:26 half and high 39, low 40 10k gives you a good shot if you hit a good weather day and run a smart race. The other major factor is endurance - What Jim was refering to was that when I did it, I was running 90+ MPW. This allowed me to hold a pace much longer without haing as much relative speed.
Slow-smooth-fast
"I've been following Eddy's improvement over the last two years on this site, and it's been pretty dang solid. Sure the weekly mileage has been up and down, but over the long haul he's getting out the door and has turned himself into quite a runner. He's only now just figuring out his potential. Consistency in running is measured in years, not weeks. And over the last couple of years, Eddy's made great strides" Jeff 14 Jan 2009
JIM, put me down. I am doing the London Marathon, 26th April 2009. I would love to go sub 3, and will defo give it a good shot. I dont jnow how realisitic it is though, I have just recently broke 40 mins for 10k, but know that I have a lot of time left to get in the training. I need help though guys. When should I start marathon specific training? How do I know what exactly to do? I am someone who thrives of MAF running to get the miles in safely, and know that I could peak at some insane weekly mileage, like 80/90 miles. Would this help? Please help
Welcome aboard - Depends of what you mean by training - I like to keep up with a certain number of miles year round ... so "Training" usually means speed work. If you feel you want to build up to a higher mileage base then you are currently at ... You will need longer. Personally I like to have run a few months of the mileage I want to train at ... Mostly slow miles with maybe a moderate speed workout each week. Then I like 16 weeks to get my game face on. I would day you should decide what plan of training you are going to follow and back into the "Start" date. A decent course of action might be to build mileage until November 30th and Start an 19 week plan on December 1st. Many people seem to like Pfitzinger and Daniels. There are more plans than marathons. I personally like to do my own thing that incorporates some Daniels and Some Tinman (Therunzone.com) For the Marathon I like: Longer V02 max work (5x5 minutes) CV (Tinman) - 5x5 minutes. - either CV or Vo2 max in a week, not both Lots of LAT pace - 20-25 minutes a staple, but 5x2 mile and 25-20-15-10-5 minutes @ LAT with 5-4-3-2 minutes rest. Long progressive runs (Start slow and build to MP then finish with a couple @ LAT) Long Tempo runs (10 easy + 10-12 @ MP) and finally some just long slow runs What are you current average miles per week? Marathon expericence? What plans are you considering?
Jim - I am in the "on-deck circle" feeling confident are relaxed. Ready to stare down at my opponent and get a hit for our sub 3:00 team. Of course I realize that my most feared opponent is myself. Here's to Busiman, DCV2002 and myself - May we have fair seas and following winds! Let's all run a smart race, except a high level of pain, be safe and have fun!