Question on BQ training (Read 210 times)

The details between workouts being 0.5 mile, and 800m repeats is completely unimportant, up until you're measuring something as about 5k vs 3 miles it's not worth losing sleep over the conversion.

If you haven't trained or raced 5k/10k, and you haven't done any speed work, you might get a lot out of training for and running a spring season of something like 4 5ks and 2 10ks, so that you can experiment with different workouts and see what works well for you.  Then hit July/August, and start the marathon buildup for the fall with that extra knowledge, and probably some new prs.

Also, training and racing shorter will help those pace calculators become more accurate because race predictors assume appropriate training for the race distance, which you haven't really done with the LSD work.  Basically I think you'd learn a lot from training for some shorter races that would answer a lot of your questions.

That is what I was asking about tempo runs - the training plan wasnt clear to me. So I read that I should be doing tempo runs at a bit slower than 10K pace. And you answered my other question - I should train at current fitness not necessarily goal pace. Which also tells me that as fitness level increases, I would be training at that level. And hopefully sometime in 2014, I will be working at goal pace.

How about the mile interval repeats?  I need to sustain a 7:42 to be under a 3:25 to BQ.  Should my mile intervals be at that pace? or should they be faster?  I cant find anywhere that states how fast I should be running my mile intervals.

Don't over think it.  Continue the strong base and long runs, ramp up your miles gradually, include speedwork and occasional short distance races (as speedwork, as fitness-checks, to build more race experience, and for fun).

My first BQ came after I had decided to ramp up mileage a bit, but I really attribute it to the inclusion of once a week speedwork (fartleks, hills, whatever).  The trick for me was that I did it every week.   I now include speedwork twice a week, which works well for me, and I've gotten quite a bit faster.

But, as a lot of fast guys on here will say, the BQ will come with a combination of time/consistency/high mileage.

Congrats on the 3:45.  I have no doubts a reasonable person could knock 20 minutes off of that without killing themselves, assuming some solid training.  My money is on you making your goal. Don't forget to rest and bla bla bla all that other stuff.

Short version:  Consistent speedwork + more miles.

Thanks guys. That answers my initial questions.

My training log on here isnt complete, I log to an excel spreadsheet mostly.

But I'm guessing you probably dont know too many people who lost 72 pounds in 4 months through jogging and ran a marathon ( a 3:45.06 in Columbus last weekend)  to celebrate the accomplishment either.  So maybe now I am taking that next step to work towards getting faster in hopes I can run a BQ in 2014.

I recommend reading "Pete Pitzinger Advance Marathon Training." I followed his 18-55 plan (18 weeks peak @ 55 mi/week) and BQ last January in my first marathon. Next, take your recent race and plug in your time and distance into McMillan Running calculator (http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/index.php/calcUsage/calculate). Click the "Calculate" button and you will see what you should race at different distances. Click the "Training Paces" tab on the left and you will see the paces you need for intervals, tempos and all other workouts. Good luck, stay healthy and train smart.

I've had a tremendous year getting fit, and just ran my 1st marathon in 5 years. I ran a 3:45.06 and trained exclusively with long slow distance and no intervals / tempos / etc.  I would like to start training to work towards a BQ time. I'm 47, so I will need to get under a 3:25. That means I will need to take off 20 minutes from my marathon.

 

So I put together a training plan for a March marathon, (and I dont necessarily project to BQ at that marathon, but I want to train towards that eventual goal) so let me ask some questions.

 

Intervals. My plan includes 1/2 mile and mile intervals.  Should I run these 1/2 mile intervals in 3:25, or should I go faster? (something about Yasso 800's - but I'm doing 1/2 mile instead) And as for the 1 mile intervals: should I do these in a 7:42 mile pace (which is faster then what I need to BQ), or something faster?

 

5K / 10K tempo runs: Based on my current half and marathon times, a race pace calculator suggests I can run a 5K in 23:06 (7:26 pace) and a 10K in 47:59 (7:43 pace). BTW - I havent ran any 5K's or 10K's in years. However, if I plug the BQ time into the pace calculator, it suggests I run a 10K in 43:42 (7:02) and a 5K in 21:02 (6:46). So when I go out and do these tempo runs, should I be going out at my current projected 5K & 10K pace, or should I be working up to a BQ projected pace?

 

Maybe more questions to come. But constructive comments are appreciated. Thanks.

Careful if you use a Pfitzinger plan and do his tempo workouts. He has you doing up to 7-mile tempos, which is a solid workout if you are a sub-3 guy, but a lot more brutal if you are going by current LT pace for a 3:45 guy. E.g. If you call LT slightly slower than 10k pace, and try to run 7 miles of that... you get the picture.

Pfitzinger is great, and I recommend his plans too, but here and there it's clear he is thinking of faster runners.