7 weeks until Chicago Marathon, how should I crash train to run the best I can? 7 flat pace possible?

u ken dew it

I'm not a coach. I've just run a lot of marathons and I know what works for my body.

You have a good recent half time that will put you at your 3 hour goal. You also have speed and the experience of racing -- even it's been a couple years. You have these things going for you.

I would start at 13-15 miles this weekend. Get your long runs up to 18-20 miles two weeks before the race. For some of these long runs, I would plan to run the first 3/4 slowly -- not even worry about the times -- then if you feel better, pick up the pace near the end. You don't need to run any of these faster than your goal pace.

Don't ramp up total weekly volume too much. But get some mid week runs in at your goal pace, even if only a few miles.

Listen to your body and understand the line between soreness and the onset of injury. The first you can push through. The second, stop.

Go into race day feeling good. But HOLD BACK.

This is totally doable. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

ive never crash trained, but best of luck to you. i do think 3 hours is ambitious given what you explained how your training has been inconsistent but the half time is good. it will hurt like hell on race day but still possible. definitely need to up the long runs though, im not sure how to portion it out so you dont get injured too fast, but at the same time, you definitely need to have gone the distance before race day. imo its hard to build up to 20 miles in 7 weeks...id say maybe just take them very slow so you dont get injured and make sure to hydrate/take breaks since you're probably not as conditioned as you used to be

I was going to say the same thing.

7 weeks out -- 13-14 miles long + mid week 6 miles @ 6:45 pace

6 -- 15-16 miles long + mid week 7 miles @6:45

5 -- 16 miles long + mid week 8 miles @ 6:40

4 -- 17-18 miles long + mid week 8 miles @ 6:35

3 -- 16 miles long + mid week 9 miles @ 6:30

2 -- 20 miles long + mid week 10 miles @ 6:30

1 -- 12-14 miles long + mid week 6 miles @ 6:15

0 -- Race week -- Mid week 3x2 mile @ 6:45 comfortable.

I'd go out in 1:29-1:30 and see how you feel at 20 before picking it up.

Dude, more like 6 1/2 weeks now.

Illinoisphotographer wrote:

7 weeks out -- 13-14 miles long + mid week 6 miles @ 6:45 pace

6 -- 15-16 miles long + mid week 7 miles @6:45

5 -- 16 miles long + mid week 8 miles @ 6:40

4 -- 17-18 miles long + mid week 8 miles @ 6:35

3 -- 16 miles long + mid week 9 miles @ 6:30

2 -- 20 miles long + mid week 10 miles @ 6:30

1 -- 12-14 miles long + mid week 6 miles @ 6:15

0 -- Race week -- Mid week 3x2 mile @ 6:45 comfortable.

Don't listen to this guy ^^^

^that guy posted a pretty solid plan in my opinion for someone that needs to crash train and only has 6-7 weeks to do it. why would you say not to listen? at least justify your opinion if you're gonna bash on his plan that he laid out

goforgold wrote:

^that guy posted a pretty solid plan in my opinion for someone that needs to crash train and only has 6-7 weeks to do it. why would you say not to listen? at least justify your opinion if you're gonna bash on his plan that he laid out

My whole idea behind that was he's a former 32:30/15:45 guy, so he's got the talent to run under 2:40 (barring injury, correct training, good race, mental grasp of a marathon etc).

He also ran 1:24 in a HM a month back (just under 6:30 pace), which I assume he wasn't training much for. Starting out at 13-14 miles for a long run would match a HM which he ran a month back. Increase a mile or so each week, with a down week in there to prevent injury.

Tempos are the easiest way to gain strength and are the best workout for a marathon, barring long pace intervals (4x5k, 6x 2mile etc). They're also the least demanding on your body since there's not a lot of starting and stopping. Generally speaking, Tempos should be somewhere between M and HM pace. We'll use his 6:28 as his HM pace and 7:00 as his M pace. Start off in the middle and work your way up in mileage slowly and down in pace, slowly. Ideally, each week, he's getting a little stronger from the prior week's mileage.

The 6 miles @ 6:15 pace 2 weeks out is a good rust buster and helps get some turnover. The 3x2 mile @ 6:45 the week of is to get his legs loosened up at just slightly faster than MP and should be done with complete rest between intervals.

As always, a lot boils down to race day. I've seen quite a few former college teammates blow up hard on race day, including a few former national qualifiers. I've also seen guys who were never in top groups in college end up breaking 2:50 on just base training. Everyone's different, and until you've run your first marathon, you don't know what's going to happen at mile 20++

I think the "tempo" paces are too quick. The 9-10 miles at 6:30 pace is about in the middle of what 10 mile/13.1 race pace should be for a 3:00 hour marathoner.

Lip Kitten wrote:

Illinoisphotographer wrote:

I was going to say the same thing.

7 weeks out -- 13-14 miles long + mid week 6 miles @ 6:45 pace

6 -- 15-16 miles long + mid week 7 miles @6:45

5 -- 16 miles long + mid week 8 miles @ 6:40

4 -- 17-18 miles long + mid week 8 miles @ 6:35

3 -- 16 miles long + mid week 9 miles @ 6:30

2 -- 20 miles long + mid week 10 miles @ 6:30

1 -- 12-14 miles long + mid week 6 miles @ 6:15

0 -- Race week -- Mid week 3x2 mile @ 6:45 comfortable.

I'd go out in 1:29-1:30 and see how you feel at 20 before picking it up.

I think the "tempo" paces are too quick. The 9-10 miles at 6:30 pace is about in the middle of what 10 mile/13.1 race pace should be for a 3:00 hour marathoner.

Agree they are too fast. Do them at marathon pace or very slightly faster (10/15 sec mile)

I would also get my LR distance up quicker. So maybe a progression of 15, 18 (with middle 4 at MP), 20, 20, 18 (with last 6-8 at MP), 20, 13. If you do them slowly enough (except the MP section obviously) you should avoid getting hurt.

All other days should be very easy, say 8.00-8.30. Throw in a few strides on a couple of days a week.

Lip Kitten wrote:

Illinoisphotographer wrote:

I was going to say the same thing.

7 weeks out -- 13-14 miles long + mid week 6 miles @ 6:45 pace

6 -- 15-16 miles long + mid week 7 miles @6:45

5 -- 16 miles long + mid week 8 miles @ 6:40

4 -- 17-18 miles long + mid week 8 miles @ 6:35

3 -- 16 miles long + mid week 9 miles @ 6:30

2 -- 20 miles long + mid week 10 miles @ 6:30

1 -- 12-14 miles long + mid week 6 miles @ 6:15

0 -- Race week -- Mid week 3x2 mile @ 6:45 comfortable.

I'd go out in 1:29-1:30 and see how you feel at 20 before picking it up.

I think the "tempo" paces are too quick. The 9-10 miles at 6:30 pace is about in the middle of what 10 mile/13.1 race pace should be for a 3:00 hour marathoner.

I'm just going off what the OP posted. He's been doing 5-7 mile runs at 7:05-7:30 pace and ran a HM at 6:28 pace. Ideally, the OP takes the workouts serious and does improve. Given his 32:30 in the recent past, it's not too unrealistic to see him improve significantly once he starts doing some LT work and more miles. I'd assume after 4-5 weeks, the OP could probably run a 1:20-1:21 HM if he wanted to.

Personally, I went from a lazy summer of 45-50 miles/week to running a 2:43 6 weeks later at Twin Cities with a similar structured plan (though longer/faster tempos).

BUNNY VERT FUGAZI