CAN I RUN A 2:50 MARATHON OF 50 MILES a WEEK?

What have been your times for other distances off of 50 mpw training?

4:54 mile...that's it, don't usually do 50mpw. i'm a low mileage guy, but then again i've never tried high mileage

If you are young and fast you better believe that you can. The Concrete Runner is older but I crank out 92 miles per week on the concrete and run 8 sub 2:30 marathons per year. Here is what you need to do if you only want to do 50 mpw.

10 miles hard on the crete.

Rest

2 x 5 miles hard on the crete.

Rest

10 miles easy on the crete.

Rest

20 miles with the last 10 hard, all on the crete.

Go for it kid and remember to keep it on the crete!

You want to train for a 26.2 miles race by doing only 50 miles a week. Unless, you have a some kind of talent, you won't do it.

In fact, I don't understand how runners come to this forum and say that they're training 50-60-70 miles a week for 26.2 miles race and EXPECT to run a pb. THAT HAS NEVER MADE SENSE TO ME. Unless their previous pb's were done with very minimal training or under bad weather conditions, most runners don't run close to their true potential in the marathon by training 50-60-70 miles per week.

If you expect to run to the best of your ability in a 26.2 miles race then you better start training. Don't fool yourself with 50-60-70 miles a week idea.

Now if your goal is to finish, then you're free to find whatever minimal training program which will allow you to finish the race,definitely a different scenario.

I agree with nonsense. Can you run a 2:50 marathon? I can surely say its possible but it depends..what are your PR's for other distances? Nonsense is correct though, the race is 26.2 miles, a 2:50 marathon is respectable among the overall us population (now some letsrunners will tell you they are all faster than you and you suck!) but running 50-70 miles a week will not help the chances of you doing it, not that it can't be done, but it is a long race and you have to toughen your legs/mind by running a good deal of mileage along with many other forms of workouts. Talent will only get you so far. Ive known many runners who had FAR more talent than me and didnt get the distance right or run as fast as I have, it takes work and 50-70 miles a week and talent alone wont get you a good time so dont rely on it if you do have a good amount of it. 80-100 miles a week and up will surely prepare you for the distance. I dont know your history, what you have run, goals but if you really want a 2:50 marathon, educate yourself on the distance, emulate and study those that have run that time and more importantly those who are the best in the world. They all can teach you something.

Good Luck!

Nate

www.wcapsoldier.blogspot.com

There was a guy in my club BITD who was already a masters runner and broke three hours on a *tough* course, averaging less than a marathon (total) per week for the previous couple of months. He was not a national-level runner for his age, either.

Some people just have that particular gift. It's pretty damned rare, though.

It's not easy, but it can be done. I just ran 2:47 last month off of consistent 50 mpw. I did have a week of 60 and a week of 70 about a month and a half before. I had five 20 milers and a couple of 18 milers average between 6:45 and 7:15 pace. Included also were a tempo and a track workout during the week. tempo was usually 10 miles with 4-5 miles at 5:35ish pace and track work was usually 8 x 1000 at 2:25 with 60 sec rest.

Yo, Concrete Runner -

Did you grow up on the crete?

dump a duske wrote:

can i? how do i do it?

okay, this is an interesting topic so here is my opinion.

as far as background, i have run some pretty good pr's in track/xc and consider myself more of a long distance than a middle distance runner. (did an 18 mile tempo in 5:20ish on a relatively flat gravel course)

i am recently coming off an injury that kept me from running a while (well that and laziness)... got out of shape and am now trying to get back into decent running shape. i am doing roughly 40-50 miles a week now and have been for a few weeks, and honestly i don't think i could even run a distance of 26.2 in any time right now. even if i were to run 50 mpw for the next 4 months and get into okay shape i would imagine it being quite a stretch just judging by the couple of 20 mile long runs i did when i was on 90-110 miles a week and in great shape. that also being said there is no doubt i could run 16 mid for 5k right now, so i am not in like atrocious shape.

if it is possible for you to do it i think you will be in a world of pain during the last 30% of the race, and for the next several weeks that you probably have never experienced before. i personally wouldn't even want to try it off of 50 miles a week cause i have an idea how much it would hurt.

anyways, if you wanna try it, good luck! it may be possible, but i certainly wouldn't want to try it, lol

I drive my ride on da crete! I keep in on da creep too, bout 2 miles an hour.

I've never run more than 50mpw and usually average 40-50. I've run a 1:17 half marathon, so a 2:50 marathon would be no sweat, kimosabe. These people who are saying you can't run a 2:50 marathon on 50mpw just have no talent so don't understand that someone with just a bit of talent can do this without any problem.

I ran 3:22 on less miles than 50 at the age of 49.

Had only run for 10 months in my whole life.

I have absolutely no natural ability.

If you are young it is no problem.

There is a big difference between 3:22 and 2:50, kimosabe.

2:50? are you serious? I could do this on 40 mpw..no doubt.. I can run 16:30's on 10mpw...easily done if u have the talent.... ok ts..go ahead..

I've run 2:49 off of 50-55 mile weeks so please don't say it cannot be done.

The mileage has to be quality with no junk, running races including 5k/10k and a half marathon, and three 20+ mile runs.

That 2:49 was done at age 41

Ran a 2:37 in Chicago in '94 at age 37 using the same training methodology.

I ran 2:48 a fortnight ago in my second marathon having averaged about 40mpw for the 3 months before, highest about 65mpw. Don't have much natural talent or great pbs (17:15 5k, ~36min 10k). Just made sure that I got 4 20ish milers in during that time and then did a bit of cycling to help general aerobic fitness. Injury meant I could only really run twice a week (on treadmills) for the last 5 weeks, but as other posters have said, just make sure you make the miles count. Lots of tempo and marathon pace gear.

I ran 2:48 at age 38, after 2yrs of running, running 4x/week:

Sun - 2hrs

Tues - 8x1k @ "Yasso" pace (i.e. 2:50 marathon -> 2:50 800)

Thur - 45-60mins @ 90% of MP

Sat - 30 easy, 8x200

that was it. Thats all you need. If a person who weighed 220lbs in 2000 could run 2:48 in 2005, while taking BP medication(i.e. me), you can run <2:50 on 50mpw now.

I ran a 2:37 off 50 miles a week. It can be done. My core workouts were long intervals, fairly long tempos (10 - 13), and long runs - once a week. The other days were fill-in miles.

To all of you who responded, please read my post again. what I'm saying is that unless you have a small amount of talent, running 50 miles per week is not going to allow you to run the fastest time you could possibly run at this distance.

Look, guys stop trying to find short cuts if you really want to know how fast you could run a marathon then don't fool yourselves with this idea of 45-50-60-70 miles per week. It's a 26.2 miles race, not a 1500 meters, it takes a lot of work to sustain 6:30 pace,if you don't have much talent. You need more mileage than (45-50-60-70 per week) and plenty of marathon specific work outs to run as fast you could possibly run.

If you have time constraints which only allow you to do 45-60 miles per week then go ahead. But please do not tell others that they can run up to their true potential by doing 40-50-60-70 miles per week.