Forums >Racing>Is sub 3 possible for me in 9 weeks? 16 weeks actually
Feeling the growl again
So I have a goal marathon in 9-10 weeks. Today I did an 18-miler. I also did it in relatively hot/humid conditions (upstairs treadmill). My goal MP is something like 5:50 (which is likely on the dang aggressive side). I did the first 10 miles at 6:40, then 5:50 for 6 miles before cooling down the last 2 miles. It was not a killer but it was hard enough I did not want to run those last two miles at 5:50 for fear of trashing myself for a couple extra days.
#1) MP on race day, tapered, and MP during a full training cycle, are entirely different things. Even when I was training at my best in my youthful and rapidly-recovering 20s, I could pretty much figure that whatever I could run for a hard tempo for 10-11 miles was what I'd be able to do for MP on race day.
#2) In order to handle running true goal MP in a long run like I did today, I've been averaging more than double the volume you have. You are likely way over-reaching on your ability right now, and you are certainly expecting too much of yourself in your long run when it is such a large percentage of your overall weekly volume. For example my 18-miler today was less than 25% of my weekly volume for the week, as I'll likely finish out at 81-87 miles after tomorrow.
MTA: Your log has your 7-day rolling total at 73.4 miles. You've been running anywhere from 30-50 mpw lately. No wonder you are tired. You are ramping up awfully hard.
"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand
I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills
Spaniel, if you had waited until mile 16 or 17 instead of mile 10 before you decided to pick the pace up to 5:50 do you think you would have been able to do it?
Age: 50 Weight: 224 Height: 6'3" (Goal weight 195)
Current PR's: Mara 3:14:36* (2017); HM 1:36:13 (2017); 10K 43:59 (2014); 5K 21:12 (2016)
Yes, or course, just not for 6 miles. I could have dropped 5:20 for the last mile if that's all it was. If you can't drop MP for mile 17 of a long run that you did not run overall at a fairly aggressive pace...well...it's not your MP.
BoilerTom90
I was planning to run the goal MP, but obviously it wasn't.
spaniel
I swapped yesterday's run to today's run. I just finished 5 miles today. My legs are OK.
5k - 20:56 (09/12), 7k - 28:40 (11/12), 10k trial - 43:08 (03/13), 42:05 (05/13), FM - 3:09:28 (05/13), HM - 1:28:20 (05/14), Failed 10K trial - 6:10/mi for 4mi (08/14), FM - 3:03 (09/14)
I think I had a great run today, average at 7:29. I tried some MP and it was not bad. The weather was nice cloudy, occasionally sunny. By the way, yesterday I ran 3-mile tempo at 6:23, 6:10, 6:34. The assignment was 4 miles @ 6:38. I ran out of steam and couldn't complete the last mile. I felt tired all week.
Hey spaniel, what race are you running?
2:30ish goal ? Nice.
Slow and steady never wins anything.
Hey spaniel, what race are you running? 2:30ish goal ? Nice.
RAN. That race as 12 years ago. I am a certified has-been. Though I hope to go as fast as 2:32 at the Monumental Marathon in November and sub-2:30 at Boston 2015.
I know what you mean. I'm running NYC (thought that maybe you're running it too) and PR +30 minutes sounds like a reasonable goal now when I'm old. Sub 2:50 is harder now than sub 2:20 thirty years ago.
How do you guys do it? That is like flying.
I'd ask the 2:10 guys the same thing. It's all relative.
Nah, I'm not much of a big city marathon guy anymore. Boston is the only exception. Best of luck with your race.
24 hours later I ran 7 miles. This was supposed to be yesterday's training. I probably shouldn't have run that fast. I felt quite energized. Tomorrow is a rest day, so that is good.
Why is Boston so special for you? I am still debating whether I shall register if I get qualified in 3 weeks.
#1) It was my second marathon and first "major" marathon. I had just finished college and had very little money, so scraping enough together for the trip was a major undertaking. I ran a great race and took 16 minutes off my PR to 2:37 The crowd support was like nothing else I had ever seen. It was just an amazing experience.
#2) I ran the 85F range in 2004 and managed to pull out 37th place. Placing that high in a major marathon was not something I ever thought I would do. More memorably once again the crowd support was amazing and the only reason I was able to finish that race.
IMHO it's a race where the history, local tradition, and the course make it very unique. It's not just another big city race.
For sure it's relative. You think about guys running 2:05 and think for how long you would be able to hang with them and you feel like a slug.