Most people ( except for Miss Alaska who uses one marathon as a training run for her next marathon) don't train the full 26.2 miles before the race.

heh, That is the way I prefer to do it. Just think, run a marathon every 3-4 weeks, get an 18 miler in there after you recover a bit, then taper for the next one. Works for me. Heck it DID work for me for 6 months or so. YMMV.... (please note, I'm not suggesting anyone else do this unless you know you recover well!) Salad, love the desiciveness there. Will spending just an hour at altitude make any difference? I figured you'd need at least a couple days... a week would be better. Oh well, an overnight is better than nothing. Brian, good to hear you had a good time and want to do another. Interesting talk of "the wall." You definitely train your body to be more efficient with those long runs, teach it to burn fat (if you've got it...) and preserve glycogen. Cash, I've heard Figbash quote that 2,000 calorie thing so much, but I've also heard other people say it's hogwash... you can train your body to store more and some people just aren't that efficient. So, whatever, its very much like the concept of carb-depletion and carb-load. Some people respond well to that, and some think they do so get some effect that way. Most women do not. I've hit the wall a few times, a couple times in training on purpose. Gotta know where it is in order to move past it. Awesome tempo run last night. Dropped DS2 off at the start of his 5k race he was doing with his teammates, and I hit the road for my run. I don't do that race cuz it's "family oriented" on a bike path, which means tons of walkers, strollers, kids and dogs. Funny thing... several kids were on leashes, some dogs were not!! I ran past the race turnaround point and kept going. Did some "streetlight fartleks" where I'd put on the speed from one streetlight to the next, then recover between the next. 8.25 miles in 1:06 on the nose, for avg pace of 8 m/m. Thundershowers broke loose just as I was done.

evanflein, yeah, not ideal but the best i can do. i got up to 5.5 for a while tonight, will go to 6 tomorrow and sleep at the 3500. im pretty used to going from sea level on a friday to 10k and sleeping, then going to 14k and suffering... this is only 6k... the altitude is the least of my worries.

Mr. I - Wish I could tell you why 4:00 is such a big deal. Maybe I knew I could break 5:00, knew I couldn't break 3:00, so that was the natural number. Kinda silly I guess. Hope your run goes well tomorrow, nice to hear you're finally shaking the sickness.

Agreed on the 4:00 time comments. BQ remains the Holy Grail. 4:00 had to fall first. Now it's a long way to go to get to 3:30 so next number for me is sub 3:50. Love trying so either way I'll get there. I'll just run faster or get older and run the same. When I grow up, I want to run in sub-zero temperatures without complaining, BQ and be a Maniac. Salad: Good running this weekend. Nice 7-miler this morning at Marathon Pace.

When I grow up, I want to run in sub-zero temperatures without complaining, BQ and be a Maniac.

Can I get the fancy license plate too?? (in all seriousness I am totally jealous!)

Mr. I - Wish I could tell you why 4:00 is such a big deal. Maybe I knew I could break 5:00, knew I couldn't break 3:00, so that was the natural number. Kinda silly I guess. Hope your run goes well tomorrow, nice to hear you're finally shaking the sickness.

Brian, You could break 4 on your next one. You and I both ran 4:06 for our first. I ran 3:58+ for my second. I have to admit, break 4 felt wonderful. "subfour" is a great mantra.

4 hours is a big milestone for me as well. I think I can reach it and maybe even go as fast as 3:45 if I get my training together for this fall (avoiding more injuries). As far as BQ goes, my main strategy is to keep the same pace as I get older 4.5 yesterday at probably too fast a pace. Couldn't help myself. Leg talking to me a bit today but not terrible. HM next Sunday. We'll see how it goes. Hoping to go 2 hours (15 minutes slower than my last one).

Finished the 5-mile race this morning in a self-timed 38:37. Splits were: 6:57, 7:49, 8:09, 8:04 & 7:36. Well off the 37:00 I thought I could do this one in. Still a PR. Old record for me was 39:19. No pulls, tweaks or twangs so I'm in good shape to cutback in front of next weekend's 50.