2013 Sub 4:00 Marathon Goal (Read 1274 times)

Turbolegs


    Hello everyone.  Wanted to see if you all wanted to merge groups. We moved our sub 4 group from runners world to here because of all the issues at Runners World.  We set it up so that we can have monthly chat threads, race schedule thread, and RR threads. Please come over and join.

     

    Seth

     

    Hey Seth - Welcome to RA. Some really frenetic activity going on here since the exodus - the more the merrier.  I agree that it would be good to have a single thread rather than have multiple threads for the same objective. However, as you might have read in one of the threads that debated starting a thread in the open forums vs. starting one from within a group, the former finds favor with quite a few people as its easily traceable and posting into this thread is convenient with bump-ups to notify. This format has worked well in the past, which is why you see that traditionally in RA, you have 3 race goal time threads at 3, 3:30, and 4 hours, all in the open racing forums.

     

    If you wanted to move your group thread into this one, you can request Eric or one of the mods if they can do it for you. Happy running !!!

    I dont sweat. I ooze liquid awesome.

    npaden


      What is the link to the sub 4 hour group.  I get lost trying to find the right user groups.  I'm in a marathon user group already, but it doesn't get much activity.  I'm ready for everything to sort out soon one way or the other.

      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)

      WWBurhop


      Three Martini Lunch

        What is the link to the sub 4 hour group.  I get lost trying to find the right user groups.  I'm in a marathon user group already, but it doesn't get much activity.  I'm ready for everything to sort out soon one way or the other.

         

        Here's the group that is a bunch of us RW refugees.  We have a lot more daily chitchat  than it seems the race goal threads here at RA are used to.  I'm agnostic on party room versus open forum.  http://www.runningahead.com/groups/runningdonuts/forum

        M: 3:31:56

        HM: 1:37:33

        Turbolegs


          Here's the group that is a bunch of us RW refugees.  We have a lot more daily chitchat  than it seems the race goal threads here at RA are used to.  I'm agnostic on party room versus open forum.  http://www.runningahead.com/groups/runningdonuts/forum

           

          FIFY.

          I dont sweat. I ooze liquid awesome.

            I would be in favor of a merger, but I prefer the thread in the general forum to the Group option. Any passers-by will see the thread more easily than they will trying to find a group, and lots of the Groups are inactive (but not the Donuts)

            Personal bests (bold = this year): 5K - 23:27 / 5M - 38:42 / 10K - 49:31 (track) / 10M - 1:24:26 / HM - 1:51:17 / M - 3:58:58

            Next races: NYC Marathon, Nov 2014 

            LedLincoln


            not bad for mile 25

              I can understand that it may be confusing or frustrating to the newcomers who kept hearing 'stay out of the forums - you should hide in the groups', and now we are recommending the forum for this.  I think it depends.  If you want the posts to be confined to training and racing the marathon, as opposed to daily chit-chat (no value judgment on this, mind you), then the forum is best.  A group is better in the other case.  SRL probably has the best insight on this.

              xor


                I dont know that I do, really. I am super busy right now so the one thing I will say between meetings is this: dont consider a user group to be 'hiding out'. unless you are trying to hide. I would like to see them be more discoverable, but the party room concept is super cool and way flexible. The rwol thing where you stuff a group's thoughts all into one thread does not have to be that way. Anyway, I dont think there is a wrong answer here. It will all be fine. user groups are cool, not places for a time out.

                 

                pcaharrier


                  Goal race: Norfolk Freedom Marathon (http://www.freedommarathon.org/Norfolk_Freedom_Marathon.htm)

                  Location: Norfolk, VA

                  Date: Nov. 11, 2013

                  Goal: Finish (and secondary goal to break 4:00)

                   

                  I ran track and cross country in high school which, at age 30, seems more like a distant memory than I care to acknowledge.  I dropped off from running in college in favor of intramural sports and became even more of a couch potato during and after grad school.  This past spring, almost on a lark, a couple guys from work and I decided to get off the couch and run the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach back in September.  I did the Jeff Galloway walk-run method and finished the hot, muggy, and mercifully mostly cloudy race in 2:19:37 (I was shooting for closer to 2:10:00, but with the heat I was satisfied to get across the finish line without requiring medical attention).  Afterwards, we met up with another acquaintance from work (a much more accomplished runner than any of us) who treated us to some after-race beverages.  On the whole it was a great experience and I think I can safely say that I am even more hooked on running than I was in high school.

                   

                  I did a cross country 8k the weekend before Thanksgiving and hit my goal of breaking 40 minutes (39:41, after starting out too fast and hitting an unexpected patch of short but steep hills over the middle three miles).  I have another half marathon on the calendar for February, but over the past month or so the itch to do a full marathon got the best of me.  There is one nearby in March (the Shamrock which someone else already mentioned), but both because of work and the shorter timeframe I decided against that one.  The weather in November around here seems to be pretty good for distance running so I started looking at the Richmond Marathon and the Freedom Marathon in Norfolk.  Right now I'm shooting for the Norfolk Freedom Marathon on Veteran's Day weekend; it's smaller, flatter, I can sleep in my own bed the night before, and it's much easier for family to come out and watch.

                   

                  In any event, this will be my first marathon.  At this point, of course, the primary goal is simply to finish.  That seems like a very achievable goal so, as a secondary goal, I'm shooting to break 4 hours.  I've put in a "practice race" half marathon at 2:04:40 and hope to break 2 hours at my next one.  With those under my belt, despite being my first marathon, 4 hours seems like a reasonable time goal.  I'll probably go with one of the Hal Higdon plans, but I'm still trying to decide which one.  The mileage for his Novice 1 plan seems to be less than I'm doing right now and even the Novice 2 looks like at least the early weeks would be a step back.  Has anyone used those plans to train for a marathon?  If so, based on your experience and my brief history here, can you offer any advice about which training plan to go with?

                   

                  Edit: I really didn't intend to write quite that much.  It also looks a LOT longer after it posts to the forum  Sheesh!

                  Turbolegs


                    Goal race: Norfolk Freedom Marathon (http://www.freedommarathon.org/Norfolk_Freedom_Marathon.htm)

                    Location: Norfolk, VA

                    Date: Nov. 11, 2013

                    Goal: Finish (and secondary goal to break 4:00)

                     

                    I ran track and cross country in high school which, at age 30, seems more like a distant memory than I care to acknowledge. 

                     

                    In any event, this will be my first marathon.  At this point, of course, the primary goal is simply to finish.  That seems like a very achievable goal so, as a secondary goal, I'm shooting to break 4 hours.  I've put in a "practice race" half marathon at 2:04:40 and hope to break 2 hours at my next one.  With those under my belt, despite being my first marathon, 4 hours seems like a reasonable time goal.  I'll probably go with one of the Hal Higdon plans, but I'm still trying to decide which one.  The mileage for his Novice 1 plan seems to be less than I'm doing right now and even the Novice 2 looks like at least the early weeks would be a step back.  Has anyone used those plans to train for a marathon?  If so, based on your experience and my brief history here, can you offer any advice about which training plan to go with?

                     

                    Edit: I really didn't intend to write quite that much.  It also looks a LOT longer after it posts to the forum  Sheesh!

                     

                    Hi Joseph - Welcome to the group and congratulations on first setting this as a target. I started running at about the age of 30 with absolutely no running background and have enjoyed it a lot thus far .. and i think in the early days, the gains in speed and stamina with training are a lot steeper than when you are more seasoned...so you are definitely in for a rollicking time no matter which of the popular novice training plans you use.You never know - you might just surprise yourself on how well your first marathon goes ...

                     

                    Higdon is a decent start .. am shooting in the dark here because i have no idea what your mileage now is or how you are structuring your runs .. but my 2c is... if there isnt too much difference between the early weeks of his novice 2 plan and your current running regime, and you arent completely tired at the end of most of your runs now, then you can start on his plan but run your current schedule until the two intersect and then you jump in on the Higdon's plan. If this isnt easy to manage, then just start on a clean slate and use his plan all the way.

                     

                    Have a look at Running Wizard training plans as well, Nobby (who is active on RA) developed it (if i am not wrong with Lorraine Moller).

                    I dont sweat. I ooze liquid awesome.

                    pcaharrier


                      Thanks for the tips!

                       

                      I thought I had set my log to be visible, but I guess I only thought about it.  Should be visible now.  In any event, I'm in the 20-25 miles per week range and plan to work up to about 30-35 while I train for my next half marathon in February.

                      Venomized


                      Drink up moho's!!

                        I will toss my Garmin in for the chasing a sub 4 in 2013.  I will likely run Crossroads Marathon in Lowell, IN in April.  Its a hilly bitch but its local so I can get out there and train on the course and learn the GDMFing hills.

                        Turbolegs


                          I will toss my Garmin in for the chasing a sub 4 in 2013.  I will likely run Crossroads Marathon in Lowell, IN in April.  Its a hilly bitch but its local so I can get out there and train on the course and learn the GDMFing hills.

                           

                          Welcome to the group venomized. Nothing like being able to run the race route in training. And training on hills will make you faster as well so you should be all set if you hold your training together. All the best and hope you have fun getting to the start line.

                           

                          It would be great if you could share some info about yourself ... age / sex / years of running / billionaire or not / guitarist with pink floyd etc .... Big grin

                          I dont sweat. I ooze liquid awesome.

                          Turbolegs


                            Thanks for the tips!

                             

                            I thought I had set my log to be visible, but I guess I only thought about it.  Should be visible now.  In any event, I'm in the 20-25 miles per week range and plan to work up to about 30-35 while I train for my next half marathon in February.

                             

                            Saw your log Joseph - decent consistency , so you should be able to slowly ramp up your overall mileage with time.

                            I dont sweat. I ooze liquid awesome.

                            Dreamn


                              Hi, I'll join the convo here.  I also post in the Running Donuts group.  I'll be going for sub-4 at the Richmond Marathon on November 16, 2013.  It's quite a ways out, but I decided to skip a spring marathon and just enjoy shorter distances in the spring before starting another training program. 

                               

                              Richmond will be my 4th marathon.  My first marathon was Philly in 2011 and I was undertrained and bombed, finishing in like 4:37, something like that.

                               

                              I increased my mileage and trained better for Chicago 2012 and finished in 4:03.  I ran Philly 6 weeks later, only to get sick (which later turned into  "walking" Pneumonia) and finished in 4:15.

                               

                              My half and 10k times indicate that I should be around 3:46 to 3:50 fo a finish.  So sub-4 in 2013 or I'm done with 26.2 Smile.

                              Turbolegs


                                .  So sub-4 in 2013 or I'm done with 26.2 Smile.

                                 

                                Hi Dreamn .. welcome to the group ... 4th time lucky sounds like a charm. Smile And you must be dreamn if you think you can walk away from marathoning just like that ... you can check out any time you like but you can never leave ..... Smile

                                 

                                All the best !

                                I dont sweat. I ooze liquid awesome.