Forums >Racing>I want to run a marathon in under 4 hours and I'm struggling.
That was so strange that people got angry with sub X threads.
That's not exactly what happened. Heh.
RIP Milkman
Actually, that's exactly what happened. People were mad these threads were "taking up" the top spots in recent posts and that RA wasn't that kind of place.
I hope ya'll have realized these threads have a LOT of training advice going on, especially when it comes to more "advanced" topics. Also, that we help out on other topics a lot, as seen by Mikkey. He does get cranky from time to time, but he has to eat British food on a daily basis, and you would be cranky too if that applied to you
5K: 16:37 (11/20) | 10K: 34:49 (10/19) | HM: 1:14:57 (5/22) | FM: 2:36:31 (12/19)
ok then.
Mmmm Bop
Actually, that's exactly what happened. People were mad these threads were "taking up" the top spots in recent posts and that RA wasn't that kind of place. I hope ya'll have realized these threads have a LOT of training advice going on, especially when it comes to more "advanced" topics. Also, that we help out on other topics a lot, as seen by Mikkey. He does get cranky from time to time, but he has to eat British food on a daily basis, and you would be cranky too if that applied to you
Hey, we’re not allowed to eat chlorinated chicken in the UK....well, not until Trump gives us a great trade deal post Brexit!
5k - 17:53 (4/19) 10k - 37:53 (11/18) Half - 1:23:18 (4/19) Full - 2:50:43 (4/19)
If you must come here then have your goal threads in the user groups so that you can’t be seen or heard. LOL
The funniest thing was all the posters who moaned about us coming here. I haven’t seen any of them offering training advice when anything comes up. Just lurking and waiting to be negative when this topic comes up.
Runs in the rain
There is a sub-4 in the user groups. It seems not to have been used since 2014, but as I am also interested in attaining that 4 hour or better marathon goal, like 5 minutes faster than a Boston qualifier for someone my age, I made a new post on this old forum and will see if it attracts any interested members. https://www.runningahead.com/groups/runningdonuts/
Long distance runner, what you standin' there for?Get up, get out, get out of the door!
Caffeine-fueled Runner
I'm also going to cast my vote for Pfitzinger's 18/55. My PR was run "easy" because I was on vacation and wanted to enjoy my last few days after the marathon. However, the first time I used his plan, the last 10K were strong and fast (and getting faster) as I approached the finish line. I really committed to the plan over the summer for a the fall marathon that represents my PR. I shaved almost 18 minutes off my PR and in the last 2.2 km passed more than 50 people as I cruised to the finish.
The hardest part of the plan was the intense Tuesdays. But the combination of runs and blends of easy to more challenging runs really made that marathon the easiest ever (and I am 66 years old).
As for diet: One thing that I feel helped me was running training runs fasted and not taking on food or supplemental energy for any run less than 16 miles. I had a working energy pattern for race day but the fact that my body was accustomed to running longish distances without supplemental calories made my life a lot easier on race day. That is patterned under some of the writings of Matt Fitzgerald.
PR's--- 5K 24:11, 10K 49:40, 10-Mile 1:26:02, HM 1:56:03, Marathon 4:16:17
Maniac #11112, Fanatic #14276, Double Agent #2335
If you must come here then have your goal threads in the user groups so that you can’t be seen or heard. LOL The funniest thing was all the posters who moaned about us coming here. I haven’t seen any of them offering training advice when anything comes up. Just lurking and waiting to be negative when this topic comes up.
Ok, sport.
It is true that I have not offered much in the way of 'training advice.' Yup. Neither here nor RWOL.
It's cool, though.
To the original poster, although I followed Pftiz for a couple seasons and Jack Daniels V2 for a few more, when I "made the leap" to sub 4, THAT came through a whole lot of easy miles and a whole lot of long runs known as "other marathons". 200+ sub-4 marathons later (in all the states), "worked for me".
The struggle is real, and it took time, and then it worked out. But everyone is different.
Prince of Fatness
Lots of goal threads from long ago. Here's one...
https://www.runningahead.com/forums/topic/70563edd540f4325bbe9177e6f37e5c4/0
If I remember correctly, all of the "moaning" was daily threads filling up the main forums, not goal threads. Daily threads have lived in groups on this site for as long as I remember.
And I've conversed for years with the people that you claim to be lurking and waiting to be negative. Um, don't think so. But we all have our own realities I suppose.
Carry on.
Oh, since we should all be here to help, to the OP I agree with the very first response to your post. Run more. Consistently. Your times aren't bad. Most people wanting to break the 4 hour marathon just need to run more. That was my experience and unless you are super talented (I'm not) there's no getting around it.
Not at it at all.
Lots of goal threads from long ago. Here's one... https://www.runningahead.com/forums/topic/70563edd540f4325bbe9177e6f37e5c4/0
From 2008...Wow, I don’t know what to say!
Good luck with that.
Si, there's a difference between an x-time goal thread, which we've had off and on literally forever in RA terms in the main forums, and the good ol' "post a brand new thread every day for people to check in with what they ran and random comments... and make sure it has some kind of joke combining the day of the week and the word 'daily' or 'dailies' ". That's some old school stuff from the days of RWOL and coolrunning which has also been in groups here forever, usually growing with new invasions from these other boards. Once from coolrunning, at least twice (maybe 3 times?) from RWOL. Always mapping to when these other boards do something really dumb and piss everyone off.
Rock on.
I ran my first marathon in 2016 in 4 hours and 24 minutes. I had done bunch of half marathons, 10/15K races previously but doing a full 42K was somethign very different from what I expected and required a lot more training. I didn't do enough training, 3-5 days/week and not enough speed work nor base easy runs. Put more foucs on long runs on weekends.
In 2019 I gave another try and this time 6 days/week average 60-95K/week and used the Hansons Marathon methods and it worked for me.
I finished in 3:47 and qualified for Boston 2020 for my age/gender division.
When you put in enough time/effort to establish baseline and speed/tempo workouts with right diet, you can do it. I've only been running 5 years and still a lot to learn and train but if I can do, anyone can do it. Good luck!
Thank you everyone, I've started increasing my miles and I'm happy.
What I started doing was, run for 7 days straight, take a day or two off, then do another 7 days of running. In those 7 days, I'm running between 93 and 100 KM.
Thank you everyone, I've started increasing my miles and I'm happy. What I started doing was, run for 7 days straight, take a day or two off, then do another 7 days of running. In those 7 days, I'm running between 93 and 100 KM.
You only posted the thread last week. 🧐