What was the main thing you did differently that improved your marathon PR?

gregmacd wrote:

Thanks for the advice all! I added a 15-mile midweek run. I'll let you know how NYC goes

See you there. Good luck.

Ackley wrote:

gregmacd wrote:

Thanks for the input. I noticed that you ran 9 mins faster in 2005 after a 10 miles per week increase, and 5 mins faster in 2006 after a 6 miles per week increase. So your marathon times dropped by 1 minute for each 1 mileage increase in weekly mileage.

I noticed the same in my training. I had run a 3:05 on 75 mpw, but in the years afterwards I only averaged 33 miles per week (42 miles less) and I ran two maratons in 3:45 and one in 3:48, so about a 3:46 average (41 minutes slower). So I got about a minute slower for each mile I didn't run.

Sounds like its a good rule-of-thumb to increase your mileage 1 mile per week for each minute that you want to run faster!

Did your weight remain the same even with the decrease in mileage?

No, my weight increased 15 lbs from the 3:05 to the 3:46 marathons. Using the RW formula, I figure that accounts for being about 13 minutes slower. So I guess reducing my weekly mileage by 42 miles accounted for the other 28 minutes of my slow down. So maybe every extra mile run per week only increases your marathon time by about 40 seconds.

Time. I was older and had trained for longer. That is all you need to know. Be patient and consistent.

Got more aerobically fit (set 5K/10K PRs), and then boosted mileage by a good 20 MPW. That led to some weight loss which didn't hurt.

Started as a 3:30 marathoner with no clue. Trained with someone who had success. Got faster. Got down to 2:30 in 8 years.