Marathon potential

Everyone is different and you don’t provide much detail in your post. But your mileage is actually quite low. If you could increase that without getting hurt then your time would drop significantly.

I wouldn’t worry about age, if you have only been running for a few years then you can still improve past 40.

Sorry for not having more detail. Wasn’t sure what to add that wouldn’t make the post unbearably long.

I have been “running” marathons since I was 19. I have been racing at my potential for just the last four years. So far that’s left me injury free and able to improve season over season. All current PR’s were set in the last six months. I averaged 52 miles per week in cycle leading to 3:08 including all components (long runs, long runs with fast finish, tempos, and intervals) you would find in a solid marathon plan.

The sky’s the limit. Keep bumping those miles. 1 hard day per week (intervals, fartleks, tempos, hills, etc), 1 medium day per week preferably during your long run (progressives up to a little faster than MP, a couple MP tempo miles, etc), and then everything else slow and comfortable. Lots of doubles. Worked for me and continues to.

35 mpw = 3:21 in 2010

42 mpw = 3:00 in Spring 2012

50 mpw = 2:48 in Fall 2012

60 mpw = 2:44 in Spring 2013

70 mpw = 2:39 in Fall 2013

Early “retirement” 2014-2015

65 mpw = 2:41 in 2016

80 mpw = 2:30 in 2017

103 mpw = 2:25 in 2018

Wow, incredible progress. Thanks for sharing. Are those MPW for the year or for your marathon cycles?

My times and MPW (annual average) for the last four years have been:

2014 - terrible and 4:30

2015 - 32 mpw and 3:41 then 3:36

2016 - 28 mpw and 3:32 (Jan 17)

2017 - 38 mpw and 3:15 (Jan 18)

2018 - 43 mpw and 3:08 (Jan 19)

HonestlyCurious wrote:

Wow, incredible progress. Thanks for sharing. Are those MPW for the year or for your marathon cycles?

My times and MPW (annual average) for the last four years have been:

2014 - terrible and 4:30

2015 - 32 mpw and 3:41 then 3:36

2016 - 28 mpw and 3:32 (Jan 17)

2017 - 38 mpw and 3:15 (Jan 18)

2018 - 43 mpw and 3:08 (Jan 19)

Those are for my cycles. I never used to track mileage (besides cycles) before I finally bought my first Garmin in 2017.

In 2017, I was around 3750. I hit 4800 in 2018. I’ve been injury free since 2012. I did get injured in 2010 (Runner’s knee) and 2012 (ITBS that manifested itself in my hip) off of 30-40 mpw. I was running “easy” days at 6:20-6:50 back then. Now, I’m 7:20-8:00 for 75-80% of my miles.

Cool, that’s what I figured it was re: mileage.

Very impressive your discipline to truly make your easy runs easy. That’s 2+ mins per mile slower than your MP!

I would like to believe that if I can safely get from 2250 to ~3000-3500 the next few years that I could get that marathon time down well into the 2:50’s by the time I’m 40.

Would love to hear any more feedback anybody might consider giving. Thanks in advance.

More miles + no injuries = faster times

Clearly you’re limited on talent, but you can certainly become faster than you are today. Shoot for the stars and see what happens. Good luck.

Straight Shooter Mate wrote:

More miles + no injuries = faster times

Clearly you’re limited on talent, but you can certainly become faster than you are today. Shoot for the stars and see what happens. Good luck.

Always this mantra, more miles. It has not to be that way. Its more a question of how you run the miles you run . Right individual paced miles + no injuries= faster times

SUPERIOR COACH JS wrote:

Straight Shooter Mate wrote:

More miles + no injuries = faster times

Clearly you’re limited on talent, but you can certainly become faster than you are today. Shoot for the stars and see what happens. Good luck.

Always this mantra, more miles. It has not to be that way. Its more a question of how you run the miles you run . Right individual paced miles + no injuries= faster times

Don’t be dense, Wizard. This is a marathon runner in his mid-30s who averaged 43 miles per week last year. He DOES need more miles if he hopes to reach anywhere near his potential. End of story.

Now - does that mean triple digit mileage? Not necessarily. Your magic plans may be effective off of 60-80 or whatever. Certainly more than 2250 in a year though. Even you must understand this.

GBohannon wrote:

SUPERIOR COACH JS wrote:

Always this mantra, more miles. It has not to be that way. Its more a question of how you run the miles you run . Right individual paced miles + no injuries= faster times

Don’t be dense, Wizard. This is a marathon runner in his mid-30s who averaged 43 miles per week last year. He DOES need more miles if he hopes to reach anywhere near his potential. End of story.

Now - does that mean triple digit mileage? Not necessarily. Your magic plans may be effective off of 60-80 or whatever. Certainly more than 2250 in a year though. Even you must understand this.

Now read carefully! I have coached USA "hobbyjoggers" on just 3 sessions per week and about 25 mpw ! , and they really improved fast. How is that possible? Well, it`s only possible if the miles are calibrated exact at the individual runners capacity for the day, enough effort - enough recovery= supercompensation. It`s "simple " like that! You and so many believe it`s mainly a "mileage" problem. It`s not! End of the true story!

Well, sure. That could easily be true. And those same guys running your program at 25 mpw would be even faster running your program at 50 mpw.

Don’t get me wrong - I believe you have hand success with people. I also believe that some marathoners can reach their potential on “low mileage”. Not 25 though. Not 43 either. I am sure your top guys run 60+. I am sure of this because you yourself have posted it. This is very low and not my cup of tea. I’d rather jog a lot than do a lot of workouts. To each their own.