What was your training when you ran 2:38

My wife used to look like a model but now she's fat. I have not exceeded 175k in any year in the real world to this point. And I'm dead serious about my training I posted earlier. I ran 1409 for 5k right after college and 2927 for 10k off of 50-60 miles.a week with a day off every week.

Uh huh, got it. What does a 50-60 mile week look like that gets one to 1409 and 2927? It wasn't worth it to run 70 mpw to make the Olympics?

Someone very wise once said that be skeptical or at least careful in looking at the training of others - it may be that the person ran well despite the training.

That being said, I ran up to 30 miles at one time on weekends - and fairly hard as well. I also would do 5 x 2 miles at 11 flat on the track. I did five miles every a.m. (sometimes as fast as 31 minutes), then the afternoon workout. Another favorite was 10 x a 600 meter fairly steep hill (run in about 2:30). Easy days were five in the a.m., five in the p.m.

Average weekly mileage was over 100 for 18 weeks in a row prior to my taper.

It should be noted, in looking at such workouts, that I had (and have) extremely minimal talent. When God gave out leg speed, I was in the restroom taking a dump.

100% agree with the sentiment about being skeptical about others training. In no way am I planning on mimicking anyones training but instead I am looking for ideas/common threads.

So far an obvious thread are fast finish long runs and then longer tempos. Also like the idea of 2 mile repeats between MP and HMP

As you're looking for ideas, I found a session recently that a Scotsman called Alastair Wood, a 2:13 guy from the 60s, used. It was 26 minutes at marathon pace, 13 minutes at half marathon pace, 6 minutes at 6 mile/10,000 meter pace, 3 minutes at 3 mile/5,000 meter pace, 1 minutes at mile pace. I never used that session, I only learned of it recently but suggested that my son do it in prep for his most recent marathon. He was very positive about it.

Also, my best marathons came 3-4 weeks after a 30k tune up race....basically an 18 mile effort at MP that you treat like your marathon as far as preparation.

Other races were all over the place because they were usually run on fatigued legs. I have run 15:43, 32:08, 1:09:40, 2:32:40.

Alan

2:38 wrote:

curious about all of these progressive runs.

1: were most of them (for the sake of this, lets use longer 13+ mile runs as the basis) planned or did they tend to happen organically.

2: when cutting down, was it progressive or did you guys go from one mile being around "7:00" (just an example) to 5:45-6:00?

3: to progress into this would something like 10 easy and 3 at MP and then build that MP section be useful or do you think its better to build the volume on the easy side (ex: 10 easy + 3 MP, then 12 easy + 3 PM .... etc) seem better?

1. Pretty much always organic. That's the perfect word. Some days the pace would hover around 6:30, some days it might drop to 5:45. Never forced.

2. Generally progressive. Except the dedicated MP sessions. Those literally went from one pace to the specific MP.

3. Yes. Start with a shorter MP segment and add a mile or two each time. However, don't go too fast when you know the segment is fairly short. 5-6 miles sustained at MP 5:55-6:00ish was WAY better than 2-3 miles at 5:30-5:40.

90-110/wk

Weekly long run of 20-22 miles

Weekly hill workout ( hard up, then 1 minute hard on the flat on the top, then jog down, repeat for an hour - I was training for Boston and worried about the hills)

Something along the lines of 4x2 miles in 11:30-11:45 with 200 m break (indoor track)

Basic runs were all at 6:30-7:00 pace

This is *what* I did before I ran 2:37 at Boston. It got me to the time zone you're asking about, but by making some changes, I ended up running much faster. Changes I made were

Slow down basic runs to ~8min/mile.

30 minute runs at 5:40 pace

lengthened long runs to 30 miles ( or so..)

Hope this helps

Didn't come from a running background. Was a football player in college. Started running several years after graduation. Goal was BM. No formal coaching but back then, RW was the "coaching."

If truth be told, never really knew what I was doing. Just started running. First was in 2:52, second in 2:46 (was shooting for sub 2:40), third in 2:43 in Boston and then hit it in MCM. Training was about 60-80 mpw singles with a long run, usually on weekends, and a track workout once a week with local guys who knew way more than I did about training. As others have stated, used races as training for the goal. Never really fast in races. Sub 17, sub 34, 57 for 10m and 1:17 in half.

Thought I could get to sub 2:35 but injuries took their toll. Probably from too much too fast=not knowing what I was doing.

All the best in achieving your goal.

15:51 5k, fast, somewhat downhill course32:50 10k 2 weeks before marathon1:12:50 HM 4 weeks before marathon2:38:24 Marathon(31 years old when above times were run)40-50 miles a week max, peak week 55 miles in 5 days, no doubles1-2 days off per week no matter what5-6 x mile @ 5:10, 90-120 second rest4-5 x 2 mile @ 5:30-35 pace, 2 min rest10 x 800m @ 2:37 with 2:30 jog rest6 mile tempo at 5:30 pace(1) 22 miler where i ran 4.5 mi warmup, 13.1 race at 6:00 pace, and 4.5 cool-down2x5 mile @ 6:00 pace with 2:00 race16-18 milers with the last 6-8 at MP trying to run the last 2 at 10k pace (5:25-30) - this is essentially McMillan trainingOne hard workout per week (Wednesday/Thursday) and always turn that workout into a 14-16 miler (try not to rest much between warm-up, intervals, and cool-down. You end up with a nice medium-long run at 6:30-45 paceYes, i realize i could be faster with more mileage/training, but if i can't get an olympic trials qualifier (i can't, i'm not talented enough) I don't see the pointFWIW - High school - 49.6 400m, 1:55 800m, 4:25 1600m, 16:19 5k - 25-30 mpw max!

2:38 wrote:

I realize everyone is going to be slightly different then this, but I am wondering what people's training looked like when they ran 2:38 for the marathon? Key workouts, tune-up races, other prs? That type of stuff.

And I realize there are similar threads, along with the "5 key marathon workouts" thread but I am trying to get specific here. Thanks in advance.

(Thread mentioned above):

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=2487659

Back in the late 80's. Ran 2:41 on 13 weeks of hilly runs in the Berkley Hills (Oxford st. up to Tilden pathways and back. Usually 12 to 20 mile runs at between 7:15 and 7:45 pace.} Very little speed done on a track. Should have run a minute or two faster but went out too fast on both occasions and 3 months apart. haven't run that distance since. F it!

curious as to whether you hit a "wall" in the marathon with the overall training volume being on the low side? awesome info nonetheless

I have run seven times between 2:32 and 2:39.

My PBs in the half is 1:13:46 (I still hope to improve this!) I don't usually run more than 80 miles per week (except for my 2:32 PB, maybe 80-90 then).

I think that the key workouts might be 20-25 k (15 to 18 miles) steady a bit slower than marathon pace, 6x2000, and 3x5000 and Canova-like fast marathon pace runs for the final weeks.

Ran 2h37, averaging 55-60 mpw.

Half 73:52

long runs were easy (didn't care about pace in most of them), except for 2 or 3 trainings around 30k that I have done @ 6:20. Longest was 36K (one of the three I have gone @ 6:20).

i have done trainings at marathon goal pace. Started with 10k and went up to half marathon. Done once a week, or once every to weeks. Hoped to reach 25K but DNF after half of the distance that day (this was about one month before the race). My pace for this trainings were always inside 2:35:2:39 Marathon pace. I remember the Half Marathon one was the best. I did progressively in 77:20 and thought that day I was going to run under 2:35 (ended up with a 2:37).

i did intervals up to 12k.

key cycle was composed of 4 weeks.

12 x 1k (1' jog)

6 x 2k (2' jog)

4 x 3k (3' jog)

3 x 4k (4' jog)

done under 3:25 for the 1k, 6:55 for the 2k, 10:20 for the 3k and 14 for the 4k.

easy runs where i didn't care about pace. I really recommend those.

hope that was helpful somehow.

i am currently training to be back to this shape and aiming to run a sub 2h30 next year. Created a thread for that.

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=6853639