Marathon Training Thread: Week Ending 1/9

Thanks. Part of me wants to overachieve and I have the LetsRun mentality of high mileage, etc., but I have to remind myself that the marathon is much different than anything I've done in the past. My main goal for this should be to make it through without getting injured.

Hey all, been checking out this thread for a while. Really motivating and positive posts week in and week out. I figured I'll join in. I've always been more of a track guy, but did xc throughout HS and college too. I'm hoping to run NYC this fall if I can stay healthy!

2011 Goals: NYC Marathon - TBD

NYC Half (3/20) - 1:15

1,500 m - sub 4:00

5k - 15:30

10k - 33:00

Mon: 1:25:22 (11.3)

Tue: 60:30 (8.3)

Wed: 45:45 (6)

Thu: 6.5 w/ 10:31 2-mile (see below)

Fri: 25:00 (3)

Sat: 50:30 really hilly (7) + skiing

Sun: off (sore)

Total: 42

This was a down week for me since I went 48, 54, 56 the past 3 weeks after having a bad case of the flu. I'd like to be running comfortably in the 60-70 mpw range by Feb/March to get in shape for the NYC Half. The 2 mile on Thursday was at the armory in NYC. NYRR puts on 4 meets in the winter which are open to anyone. It was a good meet and surprisingly well organized. I've always suffered indoors running "longer" distances and this was no exception. I blame the asthma. I know my fitness is much better than that, so I'll brush it off and try the mile next week.

I had a nice summer and fall going until plantar faciitis ended my fall racing season. I was consistent which seems to be the key. I was usually between 50 and 65 mpw which is high for me (don't laugh, I was a slacker in HS and college!). This was after a few years out of college doing very inconsistent training (avg. 20 mpw maybe). It seems we are in for another long winter in the NE, so I need this thread to keep me going!

Goal: sub-2:40 (race on 3/20)

Here was my week. Went allright, except today the inside of my left knee started to hurt after my morning run (not during)...hopefully that isn't too serious.

M: 7.5 am / 5.5 pm

T: 8.5 am / 5.5 pm

W: Off.

Th: 12 am (5 x 1 mile loop (hilly), 5:25-35) / 4 pm

F: 8.5 am (some fartlek last half) / 5.5 pm

Sa: 10 am

Su: 19 pm (moderate pace last half; happened upon some weird hippie community in in the woods in Eastshore State Park, kind of fun)

Total: 86

I'll echo everyone's congrats to Pablo, that was a great race. Hopefully mine goes half as well. And NoleRunner, you continue to amaze us. Also, MLBFan -- wish I had someone about your speed to train with, that would be perfect.

TRG,

VF runner has good advice. I did hal higdon for my first marathon. I found that the workouts made me faster (5k and the like) but didn't do much for the marathon distance. The first marathon is about holding it together, excepting some of the amazing runners on this thread. I didn't! So mileage and tempo work are the main deal. If I had it to do over again, i'd have done much like what VF said, but sub in tempo runs for all the speed work, and keep the hills week 8 onward or so. You can do the full deal on your second marathon and argue whether to do speed early or late or whatever.

Week 1-8 hill, tempo, tempo, hill, tempo, tempo, hill, tempo

(or no workouts, but get in the advanced mileage for sure)

Week 8-onward same thing, but add in his 3/1 deals on the long runs.

2 cents from someone who was aiming for 3:40-50 on the first marathon and ended in a death march.

Goal Race (time): Davis Stampede (69:29)

M- 9 easy (6:43)

T- 9.5 moderate (6:20) inc 3 mile tempo in 16:40

W- 9 easy (6:36)

T- 9 hilly (6:47)

F- 7.5 easy (6:44)

S- 3 easy (7:00)

S- 14 hard with 10 miles at 5:25 pace (definitely a race effort)

Total: 61

Didn't get the mileage where I wanted it but had a good Sunday.

txRUNNERgirl - With 10 years of running behind you, don't underestimate your knowledge...even if you haven't done a marathon. It's not much different than training for shorter stuff...just shift your focus from track workouts, intervals, etc. to focusing on long runs, long tempos, and marathon pace stuff. What I try to do while in marathon training is have at most 3 quality days per week. One day of shorter, quicker intervals (mile repeats, etc.), one day of marathon pace or tempo work (half marathon pace - MP stuff), and a quality long run (finsihing fast, progression, or just a steady long run). Everything in between is very slow, easy mileage. The more mileage you can SAFELY handle, the better.

I know I didn't answer your question about Higdon's program, but I really don't have any experience with any program. But I will say, if you choose a program (any program)...stick with it. Don't change your mind halfway through.

stamford - Theres plenty of guys that have track/speed backgrounds that excel at the marathon. Based on your goals from the 1500 to the half marathon, you lack endurance. But NYC is a while down the road and you have plenty of time to put in the mileage to get some endurance back. I'd say you should aim for 2:42ish at NYC based on stuff you're giving us right now. Obviously, that could very well change based on how the next 8 months go...but it's something to keep in mind.

Vancy - Very solid 10 mile effort! Was that run solo? If so, all the more impressive.

Disney Half - Time 1:13:30 (Goal 1:14:00) - 7th Place overall

Congrats to PABLO on his 3rd place run! Getting up at 2:55 the previous morning, I was not out in time to see him come through!

Week leading up was pretty easy, with a travel day and it being kinda hard to run on Disney property I probably got a total of 30-40 for the week, with some slight fartlek-like accelerations on my Thursday run.

- If anyone is looking to run at disney, the secret is to go over to the Wide World of sports and get on the trails that are between WWOS and the all-star resorts. There are some AWESOME fire roads back there, but they're a little hard to get onto, as you either have to run out the parking lot and then get on the fire road that you see from the main entrance road or sneak out of a gate somewhere at the back edge of the fields. -

As for the race, I went out too fast, but I knew it because I wanted to run with someone for a long as possible. It gets real spread out and it's so dark that I felt it would be better to have someone to hang onto as long as possible than run alone for the whole race.

I started feeling it about mile 7, so it was a pretty long second half for me. The weather was perfect and it's such a well-run event that it's hard not to run well there.

Hiya NoleRunner26 ;) - you must of had a hell of a team down there in the keys. Nice job!

Pablo - that's a great story about disney! I didn't realize Michael ran Disney. I will see him in 2 months at the 50k National Championships. He's a very very solid runner.

Aim: Boston, 2:44

Mon.—10mi.

Tues.—3mi. (air travel)

Wed.—9mi.

Thurs.—11mi.

Fri.—11mi.,

Sat. morn.—10mi. / eve. 5mi.

Sun.—0mi. missed the planned long run.

Week: 59 miles. This would have been a satisfactory week if I hadn’t skipped Sunday’s long in order to meet a work deadline. I have to anticipate these kinds of interruptions in advance. Still, this down week comes after a long string of 80+ weeks. Now from here I should raise it to 90+ weeks and incorporate strides, hill repeats and weekly tempos.

Better late than never to this thread...

Pablo: GREAT recap of the race. I love race reports. Sounds to me like under different circumstances 2:2x:xx would be in the bag.

txRUNNERgirl: Hal's programs got me through my first couple marathons. They are VERY good for beginners and give you the fundamentals of marathon training. You may find, though, that you'll outgrow his programs, even the Advanced ones. That's where threads like this are invaluable.

Goal Race: Boston

Goal Time: 2:48

M: OFF, with my stretch/strength routine in the PM. My first day off in about six weeks.

T: AM: 8.5 easy

W: AM: 10 mile progression run, PM: Stretch/strength

T: AM: 8 miles easy

F: AM: 4 treadmill, PM: Stretch/strength

S: AM: 6 easy, PM: 5 Mile Race, 28:49, best time on this course in 5 attempts!

S: AM: 10 easy

Total: 55 miles

The first week of a two week down-cycle before starting hard marathon training next week. This week will be very low miles including a couple days off. Saturday's race was a great benchmark, VERY happy with how it went. It was freezing cold, strong winds, a couple of tough hills. Feel great for this early in the season!

Thanks to everyone for supporting these threads! It renews my faith in Lets Run. :-)

TheGurneeBlizzard wrote:

Better late than never to this thread...

Goal Race: Boston

Goal Time: 2:48

M: OFF, with my stretch/strength routine in the PM. My first day off in about six weeks.

T: AM: 8.5 easy

W: AM: 10 mile progression run, PM: Stretch/strength

T: AM: 8 miles easy

F: AM: 4 treadmill, PM: Stretch/strength

S: AM: 6 easy, PM: 5 Mile Race, 28:49, best time on this course in 5 attempts!

S: AM: 10 easy

Total: 55 miles

Nice race. I would love to be able to run a 28:49 5 mile race at peak fitness.

I'm hoping that a lot of treadmill running is good for training. We need a mid-winter warmup in the northeast. And no more snow.

Pablo- Yeah, it was solo. Mostly flat though.