Over/Under 3:30 @ CIM Sunday? No training runs over 5 miles, first marathon

TaxRunner wrote:

Allen1959 wrote:

Years ago I was chatting with a guy at the start of a marathon. He had never run further than 10 miles. Ever. I was shooting for 2:40, and he said he would tag along. At 24 miles, I started to fall slightly off pace, and he easily took off ahead of me.

If you don't mind me asking, what Marathon was that and what year?

That was Philadelphia Independence Marathon, 1982. Why do you ask?

This is the blue collar marathoner that America has been waiting for. Thank you Nic!!!!!!!!

Allen1959 wrote:

Years ago I was chatting with a guy at the start of a marathon. He had never run further than 10 miles. Ever. I was shooting for 2:40, and he said he would tag along. At 24 miles, I started to fall slightly off pace, and he easily took off ahead of me.

If you don't mind me asking, what Marathon was that and what year?[/quote]

That was Philadelphia Independence Marathon, 1982. Why do you ask?[/quote]

Because I remember having that exact conversation before the start of the Atlanta Marathon in 1982. And I was the guy who had never run further than 10 miles in my life, and decided to run my first marathon the week after Cross Country season ended my Senior Year.

I ended up running 2:39:05 and finished 12th overall.

I was in 8th place with a mile to go, but ended up running the 26th mile in 8:45 and getting passed by 4 people. I crashed really bad the last mile. I was hoping to run 2:35 that day, but that wasn't realistic.

TaxRunner wrote:

I remember having that exact conversation before the start of the Atlanta Marathon in 1982. And I was the guy who had never run further than 10 miles in my life, and decided to run my first marathon the week after Cross Country season ended my Senior Year.

I ended up running 2:39:05 and finished 12th overall.

That is an amazing coincidence! Same year!

Thirty-five years ago.

I ended up with 2:40:30. At the start, we lined up too far back for a large marathon on a narrow road. Went through the first mile in something like 7-flat, then I think the third mile I foolishly ran 5:20 trying to get back on target.

I was 23 years old, and never ran a faster marathon, as life got a lot more complicated after that (although this year I ran an age-graded "2:36," whatever that's worth).

I assume you ran many faster marathons after that? What was your eventual PR? Still running? Regardless, a 2:39 debut as a teenager having never run further than 10 miles -- darn impressive!

Allen1959 wrote:

I ended up running 2:39:05 and finished 12th overall.

That is an amazing coincidence! Same year!

Thirty-five years ago.

I ended up with 2:40:30. At the start, we lined up too far back for a large marathon on a narrow road. Went through the first mile in something like 7-flat, then I think the third mile I foolishly ran 5:20 trying to get back on target.

I was 23 years old, and never ran a faster marathon, as life got a lot more complicated after that (although this year I ran an age-graded "2:36," whatever that's worth).

I assume you ran many faster marathons after that? What was your eventual PR? Still running? Regardless, a 2:39 debut as a teenager having never run further than 10 miles -- darn impressive![/quote]

Yeah, your starting line story brought back vivid memories for me from my first marathon. I had no idea what I was doing, and just figured that I'd run to finish as well as I could.

I was actually 23 at the time, having just finished my last cross country eligibility in the fall of 1982..

Like you, I never ran a faster marathon, although I've run a total of 7 marathons. Life/family/career sort of got in the way of training well at times. I'm still running and have a goal of breaking 3 hours in 2019 when I turn 60.

TaxRunner wrote:

I was actually 23 at the time, having just finished my last cross country eligibility in the fall of 1982..

Like you, I never ran a faster marathon, although I've run a total of 7 marathons. Life/family/career sort of got in the way of training well at times. I'm still running and have a goal of breaking 3 hours in 2019 when I turn 60.

Ha! I thought you meant high school senior year. So, we were both 23 and set lifetime PRs that year. That was my sixth marathon. My first was 14 months before that. And after, well maybe another 20 or so.

Also, coincidentally, I have been eyeing a sub-3 goal at age 60. I was on target this year, until injuries curtailed my training. I ran 3:07. Figuring the predicted slowdown from age 58 to 60 is about five minutes, I will need to improve by "12 minutes" by 2019.

Biggest challenge will be getting and staying healthy. I never had knee problems until this past April. Now I can barely walk, even after taking two months off since the marathon.

Best wishes to you!

To the OP: After my first marathon, I swore I would never run another. Six weeks later, I was toeing the line for Marathon Number 2. Thirty-five years from now, maybe YOU'LL be reminiscing about that first one of dozens!

WOW this is crazy!

You guys should go back to Atlanta and break 3!!!

That's a fun coincidence. Why I love LRC

8:00 miles just isn't that fast for someone who has run 340 days in a row, is the takeaway. That's remarkable consistency that clearly makes up for the lack of individual sessions of any length.

So the Idiot Marathoner is at it again. I ran Catalina back in March (3:23) and this Sunday I'm taking a swing at the 3 hour barrier at the Ventura Marathon. Had a decent training block going until I got sick about 3 weeks ago. Still cautiously optimistic. Last 8 weeks mileage, most recent first: 41, 50, 20 (coming off sickness), 27 (when I got sick), 49, 47, 33, 46.

Probably not the most text book build up in terms of workouts, did not have that many big runs, mostly just slow mileage with my high school cross country girls. Had long runs of 15 and 18 miles. For the 15 I did the last three at MP, for the 18 I did the middle 13 at around 6:40. A couple weeks ago did a 6 mile fartlek of 2' on 1' off at 6:00 - 6:15 pace for the on's. This week I did my last hard day, 2 x 5 miles at a little quicker than pace with a mile easy in between.

Pretty confident I can make it to 15 or 16, but then the last ten I have no idea if I'll be able to hang on. Should be an adventure one way or another.

What do you guys think, sub 3:00 gonna happen?

Idiot Marathoner wrote:

What do you guys think, sub 3:00 gonna happen?

Heck no...

That 18-miles run already indicates that you're on. Just go for it dude.

Definitely go for it. You've got a good track record of nailing things so far, even big goals.

However, I do think you might be a tad undertrained. Those workouts are great. And I think you'll get to the 20 or 22 mile mark no sweat. It's the last few miles that might catch up to you.

But, you've got a ton of talent. Maybe that can push you really far. My guess is if you really, really trained for a marathon, you'd be in the 2:30s. So in theory a sub-3:00 is pretty doable for you. Hopefully that's the case this weekend.

Enjoyed reading this thread. You seem like a great guy. Best of luck, but I'm going with 3:02.

Hardloper wrote:

Idiot Marathoner wrote:

What do you guys think, sub 3:00 gonna happen?

Heck no...

Would your answer change if I told you I'll be wearing Hokas...?

Also, just for info: Ventura is a point to point, net downhill course. A little up and down roll in the first half, but then the second half loses 800 feet to the finish. Boston legal.

I will definitely be "going for it". Plan is to run 6:50s until I can't, or till I finish. I'm not really a hedge my bets kind of guy, for better or for worse.

You’ll do it, easily... By that I don’t mean you won’t suffer but you’ll do it... Embrace the pain of the last 10K and you got it;)

Hell, I’m 48 and train less than you do and can run a sub-3 marathon. Plus, I have nowhere near the genetics you do... Go get it!!!

Idiot Marathoner wrote:

What do you guys think, sub 3:00 gonna happen?

This is a fun thread.

I'm betting you can do it.

William Jefferson Blythe III wrote:

You're so fvcked I love it!

LOL

Idiot Marathoner wrote:

Would your answer change if I told you I'll be wearing Hokas...?

In that case hopefully the last 8 miles won't destroy your joints as much...

I think your training indicates 3:05 shape at best but I could be wrong, we'll see.

Bib 795