Transitioning to lower mileage in the marathon (female)

uhhhh bummer...no idea why my nice detailed post got cut off after a few words? But the gist is, I've run 5 marathons, the latter three off high mileage (averaging in the 85mpw range, peaking at or above 100) which at this point feels unnecessary and unsustainable for my current lifestyle/motivations/interests. I'm toying with the idea of running a spring marathon, and although I don't need to PR, I kind of don't want to bother if I'm going to be running like 3:20+. I still want to run a reasonably strong race. So I'm looking for a "train smarter, not harder" type of situation. In the past, I've been pretty zen about my day-to-day paces and distances, and just aimed for a high weekly volume. This summer, I dropped down to 30-40 mpw and felt great, and hadn't realized how compulsively tied I had felt to the higher volume. I don't want to go back to that, so for now, I'm digging the lower volume.

Given this, I'm wondering if anyone has experience with transitioning to lower mileage and still having a good marathon experience (maybe averaging in the 50mpw range, peaking about 70 or so?). I know I respond well to high mileage, but I suspect that I can get away with substantially less... and perhaps save myself some time and place less stress on my endocrine system in the long term, etc. Advice from other women especially appreciated!

This was first posted on here in 2005. I copy it every so often because not only does it have a good schedule but it roughly tells you what results to expect timewise.

Training through the early months of parenthood is tough but doable. The Tinman schedule posted above is excellent. You could sustain that schedule and improved for a long time training like that. Throw in one or two races per month and you've got a nice recipe.

If you're like me, you may find out that you prefer this type of training to your previous methods. I have been following the same basic schedule for three years now:

M-50 minutes with 7 miles @ aerobic threshold (5:45 pace)

T-50 easy plus striders

W-50 minutes with 3 x 1 mile at 12k pace (90 second rest)

R-50 minutes easy plus striders

F-50 minutes easy plus striders

St-2 hours medium with striders

Sn-50 minutes easy plus striders

On this training, I have run 15:12 5k, 31:30 10k, and a 2:28 marathon---not PRs, but within 2.5%. That is, I'm training at 50% of my former training mileage, but racing at 97.5% of my personal bests. I actually like running again too.

My revised training schedule was precipitated by the birth of my daughter.....good luck Milt.

ol cm9-8

can you link to the thread from 2005 where that originally appeared? thanks in advace.

thanks for the link.

striking_distance:

since you asked specifically about the marathon, and mentioned you were open to 50 uto 70 mpw, i would recommned the Benji Durden plan. see this thread which discusses it some

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=535788