Training Log for a 2:30ish Boston Marathon 2018

I don't have the time or energy to post a detailed training plan but I am going to shoot for sub 2:20. Ran 2:25 last June on an 80 degree day with high humidity. This will be my first Boston.

The only thing I am considering is a couple race prior. Either a half marathon Mar 4th or a 30km March 25th (might just use the first 5km as a strong warm up and run last 25km hard).

KYtrailrunner ... looks like you'll be a nice dude to roll with. :)

I have kind of been ignoring the timing of Boston because I decided that I won't officially decide on whether I am racing until after my half marathon, but this thread made me look at the calendar and realize I have 18 weeks left after this week. Which is actually probably perfect - I have been doing fairly heavy amounts of threshold work for a bit now, and my Boston plan would involve me starting 6 weeks of vo2max work next week, then followed by 12 weeks of mostly threshold work. The 6 weeks of vo2max work following all of that tempo work should actually be a really nice lead in to the Houston Half. So a vo2max block, then Houston, which I will use as the basis for my Boston goal time, then 12 weeks or so of marathon oriented threshold pace work.

Assuming I peak at 95 miles (which I may decide is too much given I will be 46 by the time Houston rolls around), my mileage starting next week will be:

76

76

66.5

85.5

85.5

66.5

95

85.5

76

95

85.5

66.5

95

76

66.5

66.5

This is very similar to how I trained back in 1982....and ended up running 2:23 in The New York Marathon..... Based on what you wrote it seems like you can run faster than 2:27.

Like you, I chose to close hard, like sub-16:00 for the last 5K on a couple of the mid-longer runs--- but it was more palatable o do that on 12-15 milers as opposed to the 23 milers. Had a lot of sub-58:00 10 milers closing in 10:30 last 2M. I would throw in workouts like 4 X 400 in 0:58 with 400M jog in between, then a nice distance run after (I have no raw speed). I did a lot of it on my own so don't think you can't train alone when necessary.

I also ran a 25K race three weeks out which definitely helped a lot. Actually, I ran the 25K at a 5:39 pace then the Marathon three weeks later at a 5:28 pace into a North East Wind. The 25K did wonders.

Unless sponsored by Nike or somebody, you can get a near-max benefit from self training, mixing in a combination of hard closes, occasional long runs, doing repeats of your good choice, racing/not over racing and maintaining a good base to achieve / get you 90 percent to where you want to go.

It worked for me.....

Good Luck.

Shooting for sub 2:37 at LA marathon in March.

46yr by then. Ultra background. 140mpw is easy. Anything faster than marathon effort has been non-existent.

So it'll be a very different approach for me.

Is that close enough to jump on board?

I’m going to tag on here as well. Going into last year I had a 2:48 PR, but in a string of three races went 2:43-2:37-2:34.

Next up is Boston, realistically shooting for 2:31/32, but sub 2:30 is a much more exciting goal to chase after. Much of my improvement over the past year and a half has come from increased mileage. Jumped from 50ish mpw to averaging 90 mpw in my last buildup, peaking at 105.

Currently I am training for a half the first week of January. Then I’m going on vacation and won’t be able to run much for a week, but once I’m back from that it’s 12 weeks of fun until Boston.

Pantman wrote:

Shooting for sub 2:37 at LA marathon in March.

46yr by then. Ultra background. 140mpw is easy. Anything faster than marathon effort has been non-existent.

So it'll be a very different approach for me.

Is that close enough to jump on board?

What kind of ultras have you done recently? Might have heard of you

reed wrote:

What kind of ultras have you done recently? Might have heard of you

Not raced much in recent years - string of DNSs due to struggling with depression. Finally got in a 50M in October but fell at mile 43 and damaged my ribs pretty badly - but I suppose a late DNF is a step up from DNS, right? Last ultras I actually finished were some 50ks last year - Harding Hustle and Bulldog

Lol. Canova would DISAGREE. The marathon is all about extension not lowering some voodoo physiological number. You should try actually training for the race you are planning to run rather than doing 6 miles 90s style intervals surrounded by 70 miles of junk.

It's usuallycloser to 12-14 miles of 90s style intervals surrounded by 70 miles of basic aerobic effort.

Smoove wrote:

It's usuallycloser to 12-14 miles of 90s style intervals surrounded by 70 miles of basic aerobic effort.

Smoove FTW!

I'm a fan of all the Canova postings, though, to be fair. I also found it interesting how much intensity was in Kipchoge's training in the log that recently surfaced leading up to Berlin. Lots of pretty quick (90's style?)1ks, 800s and 400s and 1 min on/1 min off efforts.

I have no qualms with Canova style training - including long continuous efforts of alternating paces. There's more than one way tonwffecruate the adaptations that we are trying to achieve.

Don't forget some hill training for Boston! Extended downhills and then "transition workouts" where you practice climbing up grades of 3-6% for 800m-1km. And some hilly long runs with some rolling hills (prob. should go at least 18-20 miles...if not 22 when doing higher mileage over 80mpw or so).

Great points on the "Vo2max pace work." I think it's all about Running Economy (efficiency) around marathon goal pace. So you are doing a few 5km-10km pace sessions (be they fartlek and/or 1km repeats or 1600m repeats or 800m repeats) to maintain biomechanics and stride length/power....but also to spike the heart rate and the ability to deal withs some lactate/lactic acid. The theory is that this will improve efficiency (Economy) all paces slower than Vo2max (especially velocity at Lactate Threshold). You get your lactate threshold/tempo run pace down (say it gets down to 5:25-5:20 pace) and marathon race pace around 5:40 will be a lot more "comfortable." Still, it's a marathon so you need some "speed-endurance"...once you can run 3km-5km repeats and/or long efforts at that 5:25-5:20 pace range you need the extend that with stamina building high mileage and long runs (so 5:40 pace can be sustained for 26.2 miles on rolling hills).

So the bulk of "quality" workouts could be around 5:30-5:15 pace although some "Vo2max/speed work" could be sprinkled in down to 5:15-5:05 pace or so. Then some quality long runs in the low 6's as well. Easy day mileage and recovery days might be as slow as 7:15-7:45 pace though.

I wouldn't treat Boston like a flat marathon (i.e. Chicago, Houston) though. When I ran well (for me) there in 2015 I did some key sessions on Mags (hilly fartleks and medium long runs) as well as up/down the Boulder canyon (2-4% grade extended downhill and uphills for 4km).

thanks Sage. I've actually thought about you a bit while designing my schedule, as I'm in a similar boat going from trail ultras to road racing. I was training for TNF50 and not UTMB though, so I wasn't even doing over 10k/week climbing regularly. I hope you get fast again before Houston!

As for my planned hill sessions, I'm in Sacramento, so much like the CIM course, we don't have big hills. I do my runs on the bike trail in Sac and there is a portion with some extended grades of about 2-7% for maybe a mile or two. So unless I'm doing repeats up and down that hill, I'm likely to have about 800' of climbing in my 20 mile run which seems like enough for Boston, as long as I'm running pretty hard up those hills.

Smoove - was just creeping this thread and wondering why the sharp down weeks in the mileage totals?

ShreddyEddy wrote:

I’m going to tag on here as well. Going into last year I had a 2:48 PR, but in a string of three races went 2:43-2:37-2:34.

Next up is Boston, realistically shooting for 2:31/32, but sub 2:30 is a much more exciting goal to chase after. Much of my improvement over the past year and a half has come from increased mileage. Jumped from 50ish mpw to averaging 90 mpw in my last buildup, peaking at 105.

Currently I am training for a half the first week of January. Then I’m going on vacation and won’t be able to run much for a week, but once I’m back from that it’s 12 weeks of fun until Boston.

I’m in a similar boat. 2:30 sounds great, 2:32/31 more realistic based on my PB. Will train like mad and then run the Big Half in early March to see where I am. Have a few good tools left to use including proper high volume training bloc (have only maxed out at 80mpw for two weeks in previous mara build) and leaning out a bit more. Wanna get a bit faster in the next few weeks and then just gonna pour on the miles and specific long run workouts.

Great thread...

Inoffset the higher intensity weeks with lower volume and just generally try to give myself a bit of recovery from time to time. The weeks where I will be mid the mid 60s will be weeks with my toughest workouts - typically my three 13 mile runs at marathon pace, which are the toughest workouts on the calendar for me (unless I find a half marathon in which to do them, then race day magic kicks in even though I'm not racing them). Looking at my local race calendar, that will only happen for 1 of the 3 this time around.

reed

That leaves us at today. I'm doing another 50k trail race next weekend, hoping to just compete and see how hard I can push it. I wouldn't be considered the favorite to win but I want to hang with the leaders as long as possible. After that I'll switch my focus 100% to roads, racing a flat 30k in early February where I will try to run at least 2:29 marathon pace. After that I'll have about 9 weeks til Boston.

reed

It seems you may be in Northern California (I'm guessing due to the mention of CIM more than once) and am wondering about the 30km you mentioned. Tell me more about this race, it is very interesting to me timing-wise and everything.

Bye the way, love this thread!

Quest for 30k wrote:

reed

That leaves us at today. I'm doing another 50k trail race next weekend, hoping to just compete and see how hard I can push it. I wouldn't be considered the favorite to win but I want to hang with the leaders as long as possible. After that I'll switch my focus 100% to roads, racing a flat 30k in early February where I will try to run at least 2:29 marathon pace. After that I'll have about 9 weeks til Boston.

reed

It seems you may be in Northern California (I'm guessing due to the mention of CIM more than once) and am wondering about the 30km you mentioned. Tell me more about this race, it is very interesting to me timing-wise and everything.

Bye the way, love this thread!

Jed Smith Ultramarathons in Sacramento. it's a 4.8mi flat loop you repeat as many times as you need to do the 13.1mi, 30k, 50k, or 50mi distance plus an out and back to make up the difference. Not a trail race, but not a road race really. I'd guess it's about 60% pavement, 40% unpaved dirt path. Not the fastest course ever, as the unpaved parts definitely slow you down some. The benefit is regular aid stations and lack of significant hills.