Training my girlfriend for sub 3 marathon - what's a good workout for this? HELP

Does she ever do 10K to 1/2M races? Those can be indicators. I recommend "Advanced Marathoning" by Pfitzinger and Douglas which got me under the 3:00 barrier. 15-18 mile runs sound more like MP workouts...hopefully there are also some quicker 20-40 minute long truer tempo runs.

The a2m workout.

What does she look like ?

pics ?

Actually, the 19:15 5 K is relatively faster than the 3:15

The 5 K to marathon conversion is a bit of a stretch, but if you believe one of those calculators, the 19:15 5 K 'predicts' a 3:03:42 marathon. I am not saying she can't improve her speed, but she has a bit of speed if she is doing 5K at a 6:12 pace.

I would put more emphasis on the 14 - 16 milers at MP over 23 miles of a slower pace. Prepare her to run MP.

Here is a link to some good marathon info I have bookmarked over the years.

5 Key Marathon Workouts

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=2487659

Does it Matter how fast your run the long run (Featuring Coach Canova)

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=1363335&page=1

Training seems fine. She will benefit most from an expert pre-competition mastering. You know the drill, 48-72 hours pre-competition, no drama, no problems. She will be more than ready.

When I was going for sub 3 I felt like the longer jack Daniels tempo runs were the most beneficial. I can't remember paces, but he has a chart showing if you do a twenty minute tempo at x pace, you should do a thirty or forty minute tempo at x paces. Those longer "tempo" runs were the most beneficial to me.

Pfitzinger Advanced Marathoning.

I was running 3:10 - 3:20 and loosely following Higdon, at about 35-45 mpw. Pfitz got me to sub3, although it took 3 efforts. 3:03 then 3:00 then 2:59. If she's already running 40 mpw, you are squarely in the land of marginal diminishing returns so you need to be smart about what you do with upping the mileage I was running low 60 mpw when I went sub 3. Longer tempo runs and longer midweek runs helped me.

Hereisanswer wrote:

Pfitzinger Advanced Marathoning.

I was running 3:10 - 3:20 and loosely following Higdon, at about 35-45 mpw. Pfitz got me to sub3, although it took 3 efforts. 3:03 then 3:00 then 2:59. If she's already running 40 mpw, you are squarely in the land of marginal diminishing returns so you need to be smart about what you do with upping the mileage I was running low 60 mpw when I went sub 3. Longer tempo runs and longer midweek runs helped me.

agreed, love me some Advanced Marathoning....

i was in similar boat, AM got me to sub 3 with 60-65mpw...

AlbanyNewYorker wrote:

She will eventually be running 15-18 mile "tempos" to prepare for the marathon.

Any pace that you can sustain for 2 hours (which is 18 miles for a 3hr runner) is not related to tempo pace. And if you're running 18 miles at MP, it's just an exhausting workout that does little to simulate lactate threshold training. She is far better off running true threshold pace (1hr to HM pace) and progressing from 3-4 miles continuously to 5x2 mile or even 4x3 mile over a period of 8-12 weeks.

Training your girlfriend/spouse is a recipe for disaster. When the inevitable bad thing happens it's gonna be your fault.

Broadly speaking, running 200m repeats to train for a marathon is damn near useless IMO.

David S. Pumpkins wrote:

Broadly speaking, running 200m repeats to train for a marathon is damn near useless IMO.

I'd actually argue this. I wouldn't advocate 200's the way a 800m runner would run them, really fast with short rest. But running 6-10 with 200m rest at about 3k pace is a great strengthening routine as well as working on form and efficiency that translates well to the marathon. I would never claim they're tantamount to threshold work. But just another small piece of the puzzle.

That's why I qualifed "broadly speaking". If you do a whole bunch of them with short or active rest and at not all out pace they have a function, but I don't know that it's better than say...doing 400's or 800's at 5k pace. If you're doing them "to develop speed" it seemed to me to be of the sprinter variety and one certainly one of the smallest pieces of a 26.2 mile puzzle.

So you may argue with me, but I won't really argue back.

There are probably a dozen threads about running a sub 3 thon. (Now one more). Search them.

I would get her to run the 3 x 2 mile repeats, 2 x 3 mile, 3 x 5K, etc. @ 6:20-30 pace or so. If she can do that "she" should be able to run sub 3 hours.

What pace are these 15-18 mile "tempos"?

Firstjof all, as a SUNY Albany alumni, let me say Go Danes.

Secondly, abandon the speed work when you get about three months out from race day. From there, do a heavy emphasis on tempo efforts with a healthy dose of marathon pace work.

I mix my long runs and my tempo runs per a Daniels approach. Something like 2 easy, 4 x 1 mile at tempo, 6-8 miles easy, 3 x 2 mile tempo, cool down.

Other tempo sessions typically look like 6 x 1 mile; 4 x 2 miles; 2 x 3 miles.

Definitely include 3 medium long runs (13 miles) at marathon pace. Also have her finish a few of her long runs with 4 or so miles at marathon pace.

What (other than being her boyfriend) qualifies you to coach her? It doesn't matter if you can break 3:00. What matters most is if you can separate the boyfriend aspect from the coach aspect. I am sure there are other coaches in your area that you can contact. Has she been coached by others to where she is? Do both of you and the relationship a favor and contact someone else.