Help with marathon pace

The 3:20 pace group sounds about right....from there it's up to you and the day.....

'shoot for 3:30 and bring it home if you are feeling good at 20miles'

I would go with that. Will add that if you are struggling with what ever pace you decide to set don't push it in an attempt to stick to your plan.

This isn't going to help much since you say your race is 4weeks out, but are you seriously logging 100mi weeks to run a 3:10 qualifier? That's overkill man, you must have a ton of trash miles in there if that's really what you're doing. This isn't to flame you or make light of your efforts but at a certain point runners are just mile-stuffing rather than improving. At 27yrs old you're mile-stuffing at 100per and dropping 19:45min 5ks. If you can handle that kind of load w/o injury then you'll realize large gains in your marathon time by cutting your mileage and ramping up more workouts and tempo at speed. You can probably gain a lot by doing 6xmile to 8xmile workouts at faster than race pace (7min p/mi) in the next few weeks. Do this workout once a week followed by an easy day. Cut it to 3xmi on your taper week only to get a feel for the pace.

ct2010 wrote:

The longest training run I had done was a 30k (18.6 miles) and my mileage before that marathon was about 60-75 month. My goal in my first marathon was to finish and/or run sub 3:45.

Since then my mileage had been over 100-130 a month consistently since March. 5k time is down to mid-19s.

Thanks again.

Barrows, the OP was running 100mi per MONTH, not week.

I guess I can't read. I even quoted the poor guy and it says it right there twice. Sorry man. The numbers were so funky I even thought he might have meant kilometers. The race plans stated above are all good advice for your training and current paces, listen to them and not me and you'll be fine. Cheers.

Thanks- I am in the second corral I believe. I think I will sign up to run with the 3:30 group. Start out at 8 minute pace for at least 13 miles and see how I feel at that point. I'll try to push it late in the race if I'm feeling good. Looking forward to a great race and I will post how the race went.

Thanks again!

I think you have it right. Good luck.

My first 3.

4:06

3:42-ran to 20 miles with a 3:50 pace group.

3:22(even splits)

(over 9 months, on about 45mpw)

I was fifty at the time. Oh how I wish I was your age.

I'm sorry to burst anyone's bubble, but i think it's a bad idea for beginning runners who show some promise like you to race a marathon right now. Build your mileage up to a respectable level (60mpw), concentrate for another year or so on just getting 5k road race time down to 18mins or so. I bet if you ran 60mpw consistently you could break 19min. Then like next year with your mileage base try a half marathon and see if you can run like 1:20. Then finally, move up to the marathon and get that 3:10 boston qualifier which by then you'll probably be able to do. But all this starts with mileage, patience and a more long term approach.

Low mileage (i.e. 35-40mpw) runners who haven't spent much time racing distances from 5k through half marathon and immediately start hopping into marathons because its the cool thing the finish one are usually are the 3:30plus marathoners and they wonder why. I don't mean to be a dick here but I think you should wait to even do a half marathon.

Increase mileage, keep building and Concentrate on 5k's and 10k road races for the next year, then do a Half M., then finally a marathon. 60-70 is pretty much minimum for marathon if you want to run somewhat close to your potential without taking too much time out of busy schedule not to mention your risk of injury, etc.

What do you consider a beginner runner? I've been running over a year and a half and have only completed 1 marathon. I've run tons of 5k's, 10k's, and 2 half marathons. I don't think there is anything wrong with training for a marathon -running it to improve your time and eventually trying to qualify for Boston. I also don't think it is necessary to run 60-70 miles a week. Good luck with your running- I'll continue mine.

Just an overdue update from Columbus, OH Marathon.

I started out with the 3:30 pace group. I ran with them for 4-5 miles. I then started running 7:45-50 for 23 miles when I hit the wall hard. I continued to run, at a much slower pace, and actually crossed the line in 3:30 with the pacer. How ironic. It was my second marathon and by far the hardest race I'd ever done.

Just a few days ago I completed my third marathon. I had been training since November, a month after Columbus. I had peaked close to 50 miles/week. Got my 5k PR down to 19:07; 10 mile time to 1:05:55. 15k - 1:10:25. Finished my third marathon in 3:11 and change, less than 1 minute from a BQ. I was cruising until 24 miles, I didn't crash just slowed slightly & didn't have enough cushion. Positive split of about 75 seconds.

Thanks for all the advice. Just wanted to update yall.

peak at 60 MPW next time and you'll get the BQ. You're learning.

Go out at 3:20. Do not go out for 3:10. Sorry, but it's not going to happen no matter how hard you push. If you go for 3:20, you have a shot at getting it, but any faster will kill you.

ct2010 wrote:

Just an overdue update from Columbus, OH Marathon.

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Great race. You seem to be on the right track. Just keep gradually increasing your miles and pace like you have been and you will keep improving.

I think if I ran in a month I'd get a sub-3:10. No doubt.