Is it possible for me to qualify for the Olympic Trials for the Marathon?

"Through Christ who gives me strength all things are possible."- 2:06 marathoner who claims his pr is 2:04

Focus on breaking 2:40 before the OT

Your college PRs are all faster than mine (I ran 4:28 for the mile and 15:07 for 5k), and I have run 2:18:54 for the marathon. Yes, you can do it. But understand that it will take many years of dedicated, disciplined training. For guys like us, developing the ability to race a fast marathon requires tens of thousands of miles and a very mature mental approach. If you pursue this goal, do not get greedy. Take small, consistent steps year-over-year. Eventually, with enough work and a little luck, this is something that you can absolutely do. Best of luck to you.

I run an 11 flat 100m. Is 9.49 possible? See how dumb you sound

shoetime wrote:

Focus on breaking 2:40 before the OT

Yes, I realize that this is premature. But I function best with crazy goals.

mrb8 wrote:

Your college PRs are all faster than mine (I ran 4:28 for the mile and 15:07 for 5k), and I have run 2:18:54 for the marathon. Yes, you can do it. But understand that it will take many years of dedicated, disciplined training. For guys like us, developing the ability to race a fast marathon requires tens of thousands of miles and a very mature mental approach. If you pursue this goal, do not get greedy. Take small, consistent steps year-over-year. Eventually, with enough work and a little luck, this is something that you can absolutely do. Best of luck to you.

This is exactly the type of answer that I hoped might be out there. I know that 2020 is WAY quick, and that 2024 would make this way more realistic. I just have to keep myself focused not expect gains to come so quickly.

Yes, sometimes the line between dreaming big, delusionional thinking, and reasonable expectations is too thin and fine.

Speaking of fine, the pop-up ad of the girl on a surfboard luring tourists to come to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem gives new meaning to "Seeing the Holy Land".

M.A.G.A.

Even if people call you delusional, only you know how much you'll work for it.

I didn't spend 8 years in martial arts and 2 years in running to just NOT use those skills towards training for soccer.

I learned balance and patience at least from those cumulative 10 years. Now I just need the technique and game experience. MLS is not the EPL but both are considered professional top flight leagues in their continents.

1 v 1 me bruh!

OP sounds like Gwen Jorgenson

2:41 off half-arsed training...wants to run 2:19 soon....tries to go run 2:27 and will run...2:36

calling it now...2:36

DW wrote:

I run an 11 flat 100m. Is 9.49 possible? See how dumb you sound

Except what the OP is saying is possible, based on his shorter PRs. Unlikely, but possible. What you said is not. You are the one who sounds dumb.

if you really want to do this, and do it properly, then you are working on the wrong end. pushing your mileage to 100mpw is not a magic bullet to 2:19, but your 5000m and 10,000m pr's are a reason to doubt you have the engine for this.

I doubt you will find anyone running 2:18 for the marathon who has pr's of 15:00 / 31:30. Parker Stinson, for example, ran 13:31 / 27:54; Andy Wacker ran 2:17:34 off 13:41 / 28:52; Alan Peterson ran 2:17:15 off 14:20 / 29:04, and so forth. go look up the data, do your homework, and make sure you understand what you are trying to achieve.

you need to do what Gwen Jorgensen should have done, spend a couple of years getting that 10km time down, building a proper aerobic base and then build on that.

cheers.

cotton shirt wrote:

if you really want to do this, and do it properly, then you are working on the wrong end. pushing your mileage to 100mpw is not a magic bullet to 2:19, but your 5000m and 10,000m pr's are a reason to doubt you have the engine for this.

I doubt you will find anyone running 2:18 for the marathon who has pr's of 15:00 / 31:30. Parker Stinson, for example, ran 13:31 / 27:54; Andy Wacker ran 2:17:34 off 13:41 / 28:52; Alan Peterson ran 2:17:15 off 14:20 / 29:04, and so forth. go look up the data, do your homework, and make sure you understand what you are trying to achieve.

you need to do what Gwen Jorgensen should have done, spend a couple of years getting that 10km time down, building a proper aerobic base and then build on that.

cheers.

I

Disagree.

Yes, I think you can do it.

DW wrote:

I run an 11 flat 100m. Is 9.49 possible? See how dumb you sound

Why are you such an @ss? He's not trying to run world-record time.

It's possible. You are young so I see you having 2 to 3 chances at it. Work on getting the base mileage up. You're probably going to be a guy that has to run 130mpw or more to achieve this... You likely are going to get injured a couple of times but find a good PT that will keep you in optimal shape. Race a hard half in January or Feb and a marathon late next spring. Then just focus on pounding mileage/workouts until CIM next year (make sure get a tune-up in there as well). It's a really aggressive timeline but you have a (unlikely) shot at the 2020 standard. If you can keep this up and keep improving I see 2024 as a bigger possibility for you. Good luck, keep us updated and F*** the haters (they never had any dreams).

cotton shirt wrote:

if you really want to do this, and do it properly, then you are working on the wrong end. pushing your mileage to 100mpw is not a magic bullet to 2:19, but your 5000m and 10,000m pr's are a reason to doubt you have the engine for this.

I doubt you will find anyone running 2:18 for the marathon who has pr's of 15:00 / 31:30. Parker Stinson, for example, ran 13:31 / 27:54; Andy Wacker ran 2:17:34 off 13:41 / 28:52; Alan Peterson ran 2:17:15 off 14:20 / 29:04, and so forth. go look up the data, do your homework, and make sure you understand what you are trying to achieve.

you need to do what Gwen Jorgensen should have done, spend a couple of years getting that 10km time down, building a proper aerobic base and then build on that.

cheers.

Parker runs like a dumbas* and also just ran 2:14. Wacker is an ultra guy and would be significantly faster if he focused on it... so the fact the he was able to run 2:17 means it's not THAT difficult. Peterson struggled at everything over the 10k and I think ran a sub 1:05 half just once in his career? Ran mostly 1:07s which is more comparable to a 2:17. Sure he has to get his times down but that will most likely come with volume....

Cotton sh*t said Parker runs like a dumbas* and also just ran 2:14.

which has nothing to do with the point that I made.

his 5000m and 10,000m pr's are significantly faster than the OP's, and he has run under 2:18 for the marathon. in fact, EVERY American who has run under 2:18 this year has significantly faster 5000m and 10,000m pr's than the OP.

there is a clear, historically proven, and clearly understood relationship between time over shorter distances and performance at longer distances. the faster you are at 400m the faster you will tend to be at 800m. the faster you are at 800m, the faster you will tend to be at the mile, and so on. anyone who needs to have this explained to them is either asleep or 5-years-old.

men who run under 2:18 for the marathon tend, generally, (there will be exceptions) to run 5000m and 10,000m considerably faster than the OP. of the 15 Americans who have run under 2:18 this year (I don't have a 10,000m time for Given Wilkerson) they have an AVERAGE marathon time of 2:14:58, an AVERAGE 5000m time of 13:57.95 and an AVERAGE 10,000m time of 28:51.62.

this clearly suggests that pr's of 15:00 / 31:30 are not sufficient, and that the OP is delusional if he thinks he can get under 2:18 without a considerable investment in his performance at shorter distances.

name / marathon / 5000m / 10,000m

Galen Rupp 2:06:07 12:58.90 26:44.36

Elkanah Kibet 2:13:35 13:44.59 28:22.31

Aaron Braun 2:13:16 13:20.25 27:41.54

Jonas Hampton 2:14:19 14:17.55 29:53.44

Parker Stinson 2:14:29 13:31.70 27:54.98

Ahmed Osman 2:14:40 13:58.20 28:41.04

Fernando Cabada 2:15:00 13:34.92 28:25.62

Jeffrey Eggleston 2:15:44 14:22.05 29:42.95

Given Wilkerson 2:15:52 14:11.34

Brendan Martin 2:16:26 14:06.03 29:43.27

Tyler McCandless 2:16:37 14:26.79 29:15.73

Tyler Jermann 2:16:39 14:56.38 30:36.21

Andrew Epperson 2:17:01 14:09.02 29:04.39

Alan Peterson 2:17:15 14:10.08 29:04.02

Andy Wacker 2:17:34 13:41.45 28:52.81

I don't care if you want to disagree with this, but just claiming that some dude is an ultra runner and therefore 2:18 is "easy" is completely missing the point. it's "easy" if you have the core ability to run 5000m under 14:00 and 10,000m under 29:00. do that first, and the other stuff falls into place.

cheers.

I had similar PR's to you graduating college and have been able to get under 2:19 with about 5 years of effort from a first marathon of 2:40 on about 50 mpw by upping my mileage consistently. I disagree that you need focus on 5/10k first. I recommend getting up to 100 to 120 mpw regulary without worrying too much about workouts at first. Focus on long tempos, say 10 miles at MP+10s, and quality long runs MP+30s for 20 miles or so once you are handling the mileage. NO need for much fast work at all when you are building up for a marathon; I never do repeats shorter than 1k. You're just shooting to run about 5:20 pace eventually in a steady-paced marathon; no need for a big kick or surge at the end. Specificity is key so focus on marathon pace and a bit slower in your workouts so you can actually handle the mileage and long fast runs.

Just shoot to get 3-5 minutes faster each training cycle and if you are consistent the workouts will get easier and faster over time and it will feel easy to hit big mileage. Consistency is key!

Shoot for 2:35 pace for the first 20 miles of your next marathon and train for that. If you feel great then you can rip the last few miles and hopefully run 2:32. If that works shoot for 2:27 next fall then 2:22 then 2:19 in a couple years. Who knows you might stall out in the low 2:22s but if everything goes well I think you could do it in 2 to 3 years.

Without focusing on the 5/10k you will become substantially faster at those distances because you will build an aerobic base. Drop your mileage and do some hard workouts for a month or two before starting a new marathon cycle and I bet you'll get some big pr's.

Good luck!

I have run sub 2:19 for the marathon with 5k/10k pr's slower than OP's, so it can be done. It probably will take more than one or two training cycles (more like 4-5?) above 100 mpw though.