Forums >Racing>2021 Sub 3:00 Marathon Thread
DW: Nice race. Your negative split would have looked even better without all of those turns at the end. It's strange they didn't push the turn around out 50 feet to avoid the 180 at the start/finish. After reading your race report, I'm leaning toward a time trial on the track.
JT: Impressive turn around considering you were stuck walking early in the week!
Keen: Nice job on the TT. Do you have a goal for the half?
Cinnamon: Looks like the elevation and hills are speeding up your fitness.
My Week:
47.9 miles
M: 3.1 miles easy (8:53)
T: 8.4 miles with 3 mile tempo (7:06, 6:52, 6:44)
W: 3.1 miles easy (8:49)
T: 7.1 miles with 8x600m (2:14, 2:18, 2:18, 2:16, 2:17, 2:17, 2:18, 2:14)
F: Off
S: 6.6 miles easy (8:48)
S: 19.5 mile long run (8:45)
Yesterday I ran the last 19.5 miles of a buddy's first, DIY marathon. It rained lightly at the beginning, but pretty hard the entire second half. Luckily, it wasn't too cold out. I'm feeling much fitter than a week or two ago. Going back an forth on when I should schedule the 5k TT. Leaning toward 3/14 so I can get an extra week of workouts in.
Cobra Commander Keen
Ian - I've been in the 80s for previous recent cycles, but I've limited myself to 70-72 miles or so per week along with trying bigger workouts. Have you tried any of those gadgets to keep your PF from tightening up overnight?
Otter - The wildlife count comes from me running in quite a rural area - it gives me something to do. Progress is progress! Keep it up.
jhudak - No specific goal time for the half, I just want to put up an honest effort since I'm not in PR shape. I'm just going to go out at what feels like HM effort and my time will be whatever it will be.
5k: 17:58 11/22 │ 10k: 37:55 9/21 │ HM: 1:23:22 4/22 │ M: 2:56:05 12/22
Upcoming Races:
OKC Memorial 5k - April 27
Bun Run 5k - May 4
Keen: Great work on the time trial; those are tough mentally and physically.
DW: Good to hear what the technician said about Landice! Also glad that your mill is fixed now. Good news you can get the shot so soon! In CT people 45 and older can get it starting March 22, so not too much longer.
Ian: Nice mileage; I hope that pesky PF leaves you alone.
Otter: That's a brisk pace for your 7 mi run; sounds like things are moving along well.
Cinnamon: Strong week. That Sunday 12 miler looks like a sub-3 marathon shape run, especially considering the altitude.
jhudak: Nice week and long run. I just noticed we both ran 47.9 miles last week!
PT visit went well today, though she was more focused on alignment issues with my sacrum which caused the hammy issue. Overall less torture than I was expecting. Feeling pretty good now; I was even able to (very carefully) do deadlifts during my strength workout today.
2:52:16 (2018)
Keen-No I haven't used any gadgets,touch wood it's felt really good the last week or so and only a very slight ache for a little bit in the morning but hardly anything now.
JT-Great news on the PT,hopefully you can keep improving.
5k 17:35,10k 36:43,10m 61:55,HM 1:24:03,Full 3:07:39
JT: did you ask your PT if it was OK to do deadlifts after your appointment? Anyways I hope she got you all fixed up! I always check with what is ok to do the day of and day following an appointment. Maybe one doesn't need to, but from my past experience of a torn hamstring, I ask.
Oops....No, I did not ask about it; probably should have. But in my defense I used very light weight (about half what I usually use) and just did one set. Just kind of testing the waters. I knew from stretching it the past couple of days that the motion would not present a problem (at the start of the injury I could barely touch my knees!). 10 miles easy this morning felt great!
On another note, I've been watching some documentaries/mini-movies about the big ultras on Youtube while on the treadmill, and I'm
1. envious of the folks who live in the mountains out west and can run in that beautiful environment
2. actually thinking I'd like to try some sort of longer-than-a-marathon race at some point. Never thought I would consider it but after seeing these, I am very inspired and interested! Walmsley is just incredible.
Mother of Cats
JTReeves - from what I understand, there are a lot of popular trail races and such in the New England area - have you tried those?
I have to admit, I've watched ultra and trail running documentaries with fascination, just like I watch stuff about Iron Man triathlons, mountain climbing, cold water swimming. And yet I have absolutely no desire to try any of them. I guess some people get inspired, others develop a renewed appreciation for their heated house and comfy couch.
JHudak - regarding the 5K - I'm told that the weird course is apparently the standard Bishops Events course for HP - ignore what the website says. And yeah, given that course, I wouldn't use it for a time trial. (though I'll admit I was curious to see what your impressions would be if you ran it).
Cinnamon- I agree with the others - you are getting into really good shape. I really hope one of your races happens this fall - it would be great to see what you could do.
Everyone's gotta running blog; I'm the only one with a POOL-RUNNING blog.
And...if you want a running Instagram where all the pictures are of cats, I've got you covered.
There are indeed a lot of them. I just haven't really been interested until now. There are 2 in particular which are very close to where I live. One is a 50k/50 mile/100k run around Lake Waramaug, which is a flat 7.6 mile loop. That might be a good one to start with (the 50k). The other is a 50k with a lot of climbing (>8000 ft) which might be a subsequent target. The Lake Waramaug one is just a couple weeks after my April marathon so not an option this year. I'll see how I'm feeling post-marathon and maybe find something during the summer; plenty of options available.
Years ago I did the Jay Mountain "Marathon" up in Vermont. It was way longer than an actual Marathon and involved several miles of stream running, swamp "running" a grind up the mountain, river crossings. It was a blast and took me around 6 hours.
I did a road 50k once on an up and back 2 mile route on an island with a nasty hill in the center of the island so basically 30 hills. My strategy there was to back off about 10 seconds per mile for the Marathon and hang on to the pace for the last 5 miles. Cool race.
One thing I noticed about the Ultra-Marathon community is that not very many care about winning or even their time. They are about the experience and sharing that with other nuts in their community. I loved the energy. They were a fun group to be around.
The underlined sections are inconsistent with the italicized point, IMHO :P
JTReeves - that flat 50K did sound like a good "starter" ultra (not that I would know). Shame about the timing.
Problem Child
Boston announced a virtual option and says the in person race will be a much lower overall number but still 80% qualified runners. Unsure if you have to qualify for the virtual option.
Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.
VDOT 53.37
5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22
JT: There's always The Fall 50 (M, not K), in Door County, WI. It is point-to--point, 99% paved, about 3500' of elevation (IIRC). Mid to late October, so if it times out just right, you get all of the fall colors. Oh, but then you probably see that every year. ;-)
Late to the party, last week was a bit of a transition week from the elliptical to running. I'm hopefully back outside permanently now, although they're suggesting a significant winter storm for sometime next week, so we'll see. Nice to have temps in the 30s & 40s (above).
RP - I believe the virtual option is open to all. It's a way to keep the race financially viable in a year where they almost certainly can't have the normal size in person field, but will still be bearing the costs of a large race. I think it's a good idea.
OMR- how did it feel returning to running after the elliptical?
omr the problem with The Fall 50 is it's smack dab right in the middle of CIM training.
dwave I expect the 70k spots to fill quite rapidly.
Years ago I did the Jay Mountain "Marathon" up in Vermont. It was way longer than an actual Marathon and involved several miles of stream running, swamp "running" a grind up the mountain, river crossings. It was a blast and took me around 6 hours. I did a road 50k once on an up and back 2 mile route on an island with a nasty hill in the center of the island so basically 30 hills. My strategy there was to back off about 10 seconds per mile for the Marathon and hang on to the pace for the last 5 miles. Cool race. One thing I noticed about the Ultra-Marathon community is that not very many care about winning or even their time. They are about the experience and sharing that with other nuts in their community. I loved the energy. They were a fun group to be around.
The Jay Moutain has been added to my list, thank you!!
The 50k road ultra sounds downright awful. I'm not a fan of loops or roads.
I completely agree with your comments on the ultra running community however I've found so much more joy in short trail races. They have the same energy, the same after-race food & beer & party, and I get to run faster (relatively speaking) while also enjoying some of those crazy features like stream crossings, absurdly steep hills, mud, the occasional literal climb and I'm not wiped out the next week. As a bonus I occasionally get to pass road racers who are faster than me in the late miles because they have little to no experience pacing extreme mud/hills/terrain! It's like XC on crack (at least the best courses are).
1600 - 5:23 (2018), 5k - 19:33 (2018), 10k - 41:20 (2021), half - 1:38:57 (2018), Marathon - 3:37:17 (2018)