How in the hell did Paula Radcliffe run 2:15:25 for the marathon?

yes

~120 mpw, every 8th day off, 2-3 vo2 max or tempo runs + 1 long run during the cycle.

She trained like a madwoman. Maybe why she's always injured now but many stories of 140mpw with an hours work on the cross trainer each day along with core strengthening. I believe Liz Yelling trained with her for a little while and lasted about 10 days before being completely spent. She said the intensity was more than she'd ever seen and she couldn't believe anyone could train so hard without breaking down.

you'll enjoy the middle one on the page.

Add that she trained at altitude. But 2-3 tempo/VO2 max per week and a long run, plus 120 mpw, is not an insane level of training at all. That is just normal.

She was always an endurance monster, and her potential in the marathon was obvious from her 10,000 efforts- she always liked to front run and set a fast pace, only to be outkicked by the East Africans on the last lap. I always thought, if she just pushes the finish line back, she'll outlast them all.

I'd put the women's 3,000 (8:06.1) a notch above Paula's WR - but those two are in different league to anything else I agree. You have to remember to few women today are approaching 2:19, how impressive a 2:19 is still considered, and how 2:15 is still a WORLD AWAY from such a time.

Incidently, I'll always be curious how fast junxia could have run a marathon had she took them seriously and not run them at the end of long (WR breaking) seasons. No doubt she would've been the first to smash 2:20 and probably the only runner in history who could've matched a 2:15. Apparently she ran a 66 minute second half in her 2:24 in 93.

I continue to be amazed at the changes in our sport during my lifetime!

When I was 16, Jim Peters lowered Yun Bok Suh's world best time of 2:25:39 to 2:20:42.2. The longest race for women in the Olympics was 200 meters.

By the time I ran my first marathon in 1961, Abebe Bikila had lowered the world best to 2:15:16.2. By then women were running 800 meters in the Olympics.

The first woman ran in the Boston Marathon in 1966. Roberta Gibb Bingay, ran Boston, unofficially, in a time of 3:21.40.

I raced in Boston in 1967 when Gibb ran it again and Katherine Switzer became the first woman to enter the race. She ran about 4:20.

We all know what has happened since then. It is amazing! The sport of marathon running has come a very long way in my lifetime.

Wow u must b really old.

Not really. Most of my friends are older, or are gone.

Every women's record is pretty strong.

10.49, 47.60, The Chinese records.

You could argue Paula's record is not legit because she had male pace settes in an all female race.

If a noncompetitor jumps in at the end of someone's race and paces them, the time would normally be thrown out for record or even qualifying purposes.

In a mixed race men can get away with pacing women because they are technically racing other men and and entered in competition.

Paula was paced by runners that were not in any competition.

Hey, it's still a 2:15 marathon.

Now that is an interesting post!

Thanks for that perspective OA.

mike

Does anyone have an example of a typical base week, marathon prep sessions, and finally peaking phase training? I'm curious to if she was doing anything remarkably different in training or if it was simply talent and consistent training to what others are doing.

Someone correct me if wrong, but I remember her having an 8-day cycle where her 8th day was very easy or off.

Also, she had Gerard Hartmann, who apparently was working wonders on her injuries and recovery. I noticed that after their falling out around '03/04, her performances started dropping off (relative to her 2:17, 15 days)

One of my women was following a couple of my men in a 10k once and the meet referee told me to get her away from them, and when I told her that, she went in front of the men and they sat on her the rest of the way and no-one said a word that it was illegal for them to sit on her.

poop

Danny Komen wrote:

I believe Liz Yelling trained with her for a little while and lasted about 10 days before being completely spent. She said the intensity was more than she'd ever seen and she couldn't believe anyone could train so hard without breaking down.

Considering that Liz Yelling was barely capable of breaking 32 or 2:30 at her peak, it shouldn't be too surprising that she couldn't handle the training of a much, much better runner. It seems rather presumptuous and unrealistic for Yelling to think that she could come anywhere close to keeping up in training with someone who was 20-30 seconds per mile faster in a race.

jtupper wrote:

One of my women was following a couple of my men in a 10k once and the meet referee told me to get her away from them, and when I told her that, she went in front of the men and they sat on her the rest of the way and no-one said a word that it was illegal for them to sit on her.

I'm guessing that neither of your men claimed to set a world record in that race.

I was surprised by Paula's insistence on having male pacers assist her in the separate women's race at the 2003 London marathon, even after competitors complained about the special treatment that she was receiving, and even after reasonable questions were raised about the propriety of such pacing arrangements in an all-women's race and the legitimacy of a women's "world record" set under such conditions. I thought much less of her after that. (Her subsequent whining about every little bump, bruise, spider bite, and tummy ache has further diminished her in my eyes. I still think that she's the best female marathoner in history. I just don't find her to be especially admirable.)

EPO is one helluva drug.

X-Runner wrote:

Every women's record is pretty strong.

10.49, 47.60, The Chinese records.

You could argue Paula's record is not legit because she had male pace settes in an all female race.

If a noncompetitor jumps in at the end of someone's race and paces them, the time would normally be thrown out for record or even qualifying purposes.

In a mixed race men can get away with pacing women because they are technically racing other men and and entered in competition.

Paula was paced by runners that were not in any competition.

Hey, it's still a 2:15 marathon.

Granted it is 2 minutes slower, but Paula did run 2:17 at Chicago in a mixed race. I believe Wejo was with her on that run.