Quest for OT marathon qualifier

10km training (intervals of 1600-3000 meters) is excellent marathon training as well, but the most important training are pace runs of about 5:15-5:20/mile (10 to 16 miles) and long runs (30 to 34km) at about 5:45-5:50/mile and even longer runs (38 to 44km) at 6:00 to 6:20/mile.

I ran sub 31 before running 2:18, but I didn't run sub 15 until about 2 years after.

I wish you well.

Lowering you mile pr 4 seconds over 4 years...who are you, Alan Webb?

the reality of it wrote:

Lowering you mile pr 4 seconds over 4 years...who are you, Alan Webb?

Lol here's my excuse: I raced it once since high school. And it was all on base mileage, no workouts faster than 5:10 pace.

Thanks to everyone who's offered advice. Half-marathon/marathon training is kinda foreign to me.

15-year update:

I'm old.

PRs topped out at:

- 3:59 1500

- 14:51 5000

- 1:08 HM

- 2:27 Full

Not long after this thread, I went back to school and completed a year or two of remaining eligibility. It postponed my marathon goals but sure was a hell of a lot of fun. And I learned a lot about training properly. God, was I an idiot in 2010. Still am. But I was in 2010 too.

Afterwards, I got married and had kids. Restarted marathon training in 2015. Worked my way up to 100-115 mpw and had a solid streak of setting PRs from 12k on up. I never did get into a good track 10k, but the XC 10ks were my jam. Honestly probably my best event. Unfortunately injuries derailed me a few years ago and I haven't been able to train consistently for 5+ years.

The 1:08 was right before the injuries started. I was confident I was good for 2:24 at the time. Maybe with super shoes and another few seasons of development I'd have gotten to 2:21-2:22, but the OTQ was never going to happen. I was plateauing by the end.

I have a lot more respect for the marathon now than I did in 2010. It's not even the race itself that has to go perfectly (which it does). It's the weeks and months and years of training that have to go right to get you there. A Thanksgiving stomach bug can wreck your Dec/Jan marathon. I pulled calf muscle in Sept can set you back weeks.

Not to get too sentimental, but I'm glad as hell I gave it a shot. There's nothing like putting in the work and knowing your body is a finely tuned machine. Whether it was ripping off 400s in 1500/5000 training faster than I ever thought possible, or finishing 8 miles of threshold work at the end of a 20 miler and knowing there was more in the tank... There was nothing like being in the best shape of my life.

Maybe I'll get the injuries figured out and return to running as a master.

inspiring that you went for it

for what it's worth im in the same boat with basically the same PRs out of high school (56/2:05/4:32/9:50 that I like to think was worth faster cause excessive 80F heat) and same situation of attending a D1 uni for academics but with no way to compete for the school, but I'm a college freshman and hitting 65-75mpw and emphasizing threshold over VO2Max for the first time like ever and already seeing big gains for endurance long events. Hope to break 32:00 in the 10k within a year or so and then run around 1:10 in the half, etc classic goals, will be a good base to build as a freshman. :)

Truly no better feeling.

Congratulations on your journey and thanks for coming back to your thread to update us. I’m currently at 2:28 in the marathon (aged 31) hoping to go sub 2:25 at London in 2 months, with a long term goal of going sub 2:20. As you figured out though, looking ahead that much is naive, I’ve just got to focus on breaking 2:25 first and take it from there

Hey OP, thanks for coming back and giving the 15-year update. I sometimes come across these types of threads and always wonder what happened to the OP. Very cool to see the answer in this case.

I can relate a lot to your journey. I came out of college with PRs of 15:03/31:02 and hopes of qualifying for the Marathon Trials one day. I always knew it'd be a long shot, but never came close (my PRs are similar to yours at 67:53 and 2:26:43). Congrats on going for it. I'm sure you had fun during the process and you'll always know rather than wonder "what if." Plus, those are still respectable PRs, especially in the pre-super shoe era.

Good luck getting healthy and I hope you get back at it as a master runner. Come give us another update when/if you do.

Wow, just came across this thread for the first time and it really resonated with me. I wasn't nearly as fast as you in high school (17:40, 10:21, 4:48 PRs), but I really wanted to run in college. Had a couple offers from some small D3 schools that I was considering taking, but my dad convinced me to go to a big school and not sacrifice my education just to play a sport. I ended up taking this advice and didn't run in college, but always felt like I had unfinished business in running.

Fast forward to today, I'm 28 and about 3 years in since I started running again. Just now getting back into the shape I was in when I quit. I also share the farfetched dream of hitting an OTQ. I'm not stupid, I know it's probably impossible for me at this point, but I'm gonna keep getting after it because I'll never really know until I try. I know for sure I won't hit it by 2028, but maybe, just maybe if I can keep a good trajectory I can qualify for the 2032 trials when I'm 35 haha. If nothing else, I at least want to hit some big PRs before I'm done. Thanks for the inspiration, man!

Go for it, man! That's some good work you're putting in. I did the bulk of my marathon training in the South, so I feel ya on the heat.

It took me a long time to figure out how to coach myself. I read all the classic books (Healthy Intelligent Training, Pfitz, Daniels, even Coe's encyclopedia) and finally landed on Daniels as the best structure for my situation. My only advice is to learn as much as you can about periodization, how to structure workouts, and how to progress workouts through a season. It's a fun journey.

Breaking progress down into chunks was big for me. And it's amazing how much you can improve with consistent training over time. Good luck in London!

At 28 you still have a lot of time to progress. Biting off that progress in chunks is the best way to go. Get the first marathon out of the way and set reasonable goals from there. Best of luck to you!

It was an incredible process, and I imagine you had a similar experience. Crossing out the "what if" is honestly huge.

We'll see what happens. Maybe there will be a 30-year update.

I just stumbled upon this thread for the first time too, and I love that the OP came back 15 years later to update us.

I didn't run in college, ran my first marathon in 3:47 at age 25, and didn't start running "seriously" until a few years later. I never even considered the OTQ until I dropped a 2:53 out of the blue at age 32 (the women's OTQ was 2:45 back then). Nine months and three marathons later I hit the standard with a 2:43, then got injured six weeks later, and spent the next 7 years or so trying to come back. By the time I finally sorted out the injury issues I was over 40 and would never come close to my previous performances, although I enjoyed about 20 years as a locally competitive masters runner.

I hope you can find your way out of your injury issues and come back as a master. Running and racing in your 40s and 50s can still be really rewarding.

I agree, threads like this are why I cone to these forums.

Why stop now?

Running-specific physical therapy doctrine has changed for the better in the last few years, and with the huge base you built over a decade+ of high level training I'd bet you could run pretty fast on lower volume, highly periodized training. I vote that you give it a crack as a master!

Also, super shoes are a hell of a drug. Modern nutrition can potentially buy you minutes over a 26.2. As a 1987-born near-master who lost several peak years to injuries, I'm willing to acknowledge that whatever I can run with the latest tools and methods is probably still slower than 27 year-old me would have done. All the advances of the past 5-10 years have definitely bought me a few bonus years of fast running for which I'm incredibly grateful.

This thread is inspiring to me. Ran similar times in high school, then prioritized education and career (while keeping fit but not training to improve). About to finish my phd and I'd like to give real marathon training an honest go while I'm still not "old" and will finally have time for it. I don't think I have enough remaining "peak years" to get close to something like an OT qualifier, but something like ~2:25 might be the equivalent long-term dream to this OP. Hmm.

.....

I wish him all the luck but wonder if his goal is too ambitious. I was an 800m specialist in the early 1990's and routinely ran 10 miles in less than an hour (sub 6 min) with my training run best being 5:37 pace for 10 miles. I got a nasty hip/knee injury that added to my decision, along with other events that persuaded me to leave competitive racing. You may need a coach and/or training group...2:19 even today is a great and DIFFICULT achievement

Get your 5 and 10 km times down with your current mileage and than slowly focus on mileage increase and target 1/2 and then full marathon.