What do I need to do to run a 2:30 marathon?

Whats your PR in the mile? Once we determine your LT (thats when your legs really burn) we can easily design a training program fit for your needs.

For now, start with training for a 1/2 marathon and get that around 1:11:30. You can thank me later.

-Cheers

Wow, lots of helpful info @future2:30marathoner....I think we need more background here...

2.30? You need to buy a good bike.

Currently a 3:15 marathoner eeking my way down to 3:00 (Was 3:33 earlier this year)

Curious to hear the advice here. As I am really seeing a serious plateau in my current training, and looking to tweak things.

future2:30marathoner - What does your current training plan look like? With those sort of times a fairly well planned out schedule with some serious training will be in order. Not to mention a careful look at nutrition.

Yeah, @future2:30marathoner you are going to definitely need to give us some more details if you want input.

So in lieu of details I will say, hire a good coach, and follow their plan.

booooooring.

Run Faster. Run more often. Eat better. Stretch on occasion. Cross train a bit to prevent injuries.

The 'ol tried and true approach.

Sorry for not giving more insight into my training here. To answer your questions:

- My mile PR is 4:19 (but that was a few years back)

- Do you have any training advice for how to get to the 1:11:30 mark for half marathon? I've run 1:13 before.

- Currently running about 50 miles a week with very few workouts.

Thanks for your help.

Try running an interval session of 26 x 1 mile @ 5:40 pace and then a 200 at 42 seconds with 0 seconds rest in between any of it

I'm sure bumping up your mileage would definitely help. Running 2:30 off of 50mpw sounds tough because you would probably need some longer workouts and just more base I guess. Or heck, Gwen Jorgensen ran 2:41 for the marathon off of triathlon training. Maybe add in some long bike rides and cross training if your body can't handle more than 50 mpw.

future2:30marathoner wrote:

Sorry for not giving more insight into my training here. To answer your questions:

- My mile PR is 4:19 (but that was a few years back)

- Do you have any training advice for how to get to the 1:11:30 mark for half marathon? I've run 1:13 before.

- Currently running about 50 miles a week with very few workouts.

Thanks for your help.

This is easy. Double your mileage. That's it, keep doing the rest. 50 miles is selfie taking crowd territory.

Too common wrote:

This is easy. Double your mileage. That's it, keep doing the rest. 50 miles is selfie taking crowd territory.

Agreed.

I got within a hair of 2:30 on a tough course. Mostly it took 14 weeks of 100-120 miles/week with some really hard marathon pace workouts in the last 6 weeks.

I think a big part of it is figuring out how to work the miles into your schedule. For me, I can only really do one of those buildups a year. I have to live too much like a monk to make it work with my other commitments. During the rest of the year, the trick is to stay healthy, not gain weight, and not let your mileage drop so much that you won't be ready to start serious training when the time comes.

future2:30marathoner wrote:

Sorry for not giving more insight into my training here. To answer your questions:

- My mile PR is 4:19 (but that was a few years back)

- Do you have any training advice for how to get to the 1:11:30 mark for half marathon? I've run 1:13 before.

- Currently running about 50 miles a week with very few workouts.

Thanks for your help.

This is an an easy one, run a lot more miles.

I was able to get from 1:13 half down to 2:27 in a few training cycles.

Up the mileage. At least up to 70 mpw, do it gradually.

Stay consistent. Are you running 50 mpw or is it like 32 35 50 52 41 etc.

Cosistency kills.

Respect the long run. Do 18-20 milers every week. Once you get comfortable at 20, do 20-24 during your marathon specific phase (100 days or so)

Long intervals, tempos, cut downs will help more than the intervals you have done in college and high school. Take your 1/2 marathon pace and drop a few seconds for these.

To run a 2:30 marathon you need to:

1. Run 26.2 miles

2. Run those 26.2 miles in 2 hours and 30 minutes.

/thread.

100 mpw

Old Man Runner really cuts to the point there...

future2:30marathoner wrote:

What do I need to do to run a 2:30 marathon?

5:43/mi

Keep an eye on the 5 hour pace group, making sure that that you have run twice as far as the group at every point in the race. Having the pacing help will be of great assistance.