Forums >Racing>October 18th Marathon <4 Hour
Hello all, I am training for my first full marathon on October 18th. I started training at about a 1/2 marathon as my top distance. I have slowly built up and I am at 18 miles for my weekly distance run and 19 miles this Saturday.
As this is my first marathon, I want to make sure I do it right. Please take a look at my plan and provide any feedback.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1r_-cyMQFn65_KbFVw1gAayhkHx_-ZY7SDrItFEh8raI/edit?usp=sharing
The current "discussion" occurring with another forum member (kilkee) is whether or not to split my distance runs over 2 days when I run for more than 3 miles.
My goal is to run a <4 hour race. I was injured last year for this same race and need to take it slow.
My objective rankings are as follows;
1. Finish the race injury free
2. <4 Hour Finish
3. Lose 10 or so lbs, this will probably happen regardless as long as I follow the plan. I am 6'2 about 189 right now.
I deeply appreciate everyone's guidance. I'll definitely factor in everyone's advice to come up with the best plan for me.
Consistently Slow
6 weeks out. It is to late for a plan of any real value. What is you current 10k race time?
Run until the trail runs out.
SCHEDULE 2016--
The pain that hurts the worse is the imagined pain. One of the most difficult arts of racing is learning to ignore the imagined pain and just live with the present pain (which is always bearable.) - Jeff
http://bkclay.blogspot.com/
55 Minutes for a 10k.
My last distance run during training averaged about 9min and 15 second miles (also including my warmup and a 1000' hill).
I believe I'm on my way to hit my goal time, just looking for any helpful tweaks to my current plan. My target avg pace per mile 9min 9sec
My only observation is your taper week. It looks like you have rest built three out of four days before the race which is more than I think I'd suggest. Even if they get replaced by some slow, short mileage runs, that feels like too much rest to me. I also don't know about the ten miler at better-than-race pace five days before your race. The mileage seems ok but my personal opinion is by the week of your race, you either know the target pace or you don't and it is about easy mileage.
There are lots of people on here who run way more marathons than me so they could totally disagree. If you look at my log, my last marathon was May 23rd so you can see the couple weeks leading into it. I was following the Hanson-Brooks plan pretty closely.
Good luck!
I think your plan is fine. I wouldn't worry about any minor tweaks--the details are not what matters. Marathon training is mostly a blunt instrument.
Runners run
Any thoughts on my peak mileage runs that I split over 2 days? This is putting me at a single longest distance run of 20 miles. To me, I feel I shouldn't be splitting the runs, but I am taking advice from someone that folks trust.
Hal Higdon's intermediate 2 still shows a training peak distance run of 20 miles.... that's just a big leap. I know if I had to tack on another 6 miles on my 18 miler on Saturday, I probably would have crumbled. Maybe I'll feel differently in a few weeks.
My training plan should get me there, but I just think splitting the days might not be that great. I was considering pushing my top run to 22 miles and removing the split runs.
Thanks all!
Tom
Any thoughts on my peak mileage runs that I split over 2 days?
I don't understand what this means.
#artbydmcbride
I think you should do your 20 mile run all at once, on the same day.
The purpose of the long run is to get you used to being on your feet for a certain length of time (and to a degree a certain mileage). Many training plans recommend that your longest long run for a marathon be for 3 to 3 1/2 hours (typically between 16 and 20 miles). Splitting it over two days does not get you used to having to keep moving when you may be mentally and physically tired.
So for the marathon you should do the long run in a single session on a single day.
I agree. I think the only way you should run the long run over two days is to run late at night so that you cross over midnight. If it is in two different sessions on different days it is not "a long run", it is two runs.
I'm assuming you mean that you should split runs that are longer than three hours, right?
20 miles is a nice goal for a long run, but it isn't a necessity to finishing a marathon. If 18 miles gets you to three hours on your feet, I think that would be sufficient.
One thing I don't understand is the 200s and 400s that you're doing. I think you'd be better off using that day to add mileage rather than short intervals. If you feel like you need to get your legs moving, strides at the end of some of your runs will help.
There was a point in my life when I ran. Now, I just run.
We are always running for the thrill of it
Always pushing up the hill, searching for the thrill of it
*******
55 Minutes for a 10k. My last distance run during training averaged about 9min and 15 second miles (also including my warmup and a 1000' hill). I believe I'm on my way to hit my goal time, just looking for any helpful tweaks to my current plan. My target avg pace per mile 9min 9sec
RA predictor 10k @55:00 = 26.2 @ 4:20******50:30= 3:59:43
Not meaning to rain on your parade.
I have found it to be extremely reliable.
RA predictor 10k @55:00 = 26.2 @ 4:20******50:30= 3:59:43 Not meaning to rain on your parade. I have found it to be extremely reliable.
I suspect that 10k PR is a bit old. With a 50 10k, a 9:15 paced 18 miler would just about kill me.