Eight weeks to BQ attempt - advice?

IndyJ wrote:

So, updating this thread. I'm signed up for the May 6 Kalamazoo Marathon and another BQ attempt. (I ran 3:17 at Indy in November.)

This weekend, I ran 22 miles on Saturday at 8:26. I followed that with six miles on Sunday at a 6:44 pace.

That's not typical - I realize it's harsh, and this morning I "ran" six miles at 9-plus to recover.

But I kind of wanted to put myself through the ringer to see where I'm at. Six more weeks and then the taper, I believe.

If you can keep the mileage at 65+ these next 6 weeks and throw in some quality sessions then I think you have a decent chance. A BQ for your age is 3:15, so you need around a 3:12 - a 5 minute PR.

HahaRiiiiiiight wrote:

IndyJ wrote:

So, updating this thread. I'm signed up for the May 6 Kalamazoo Marathon and another BQ attempt. (I ran 3:17 at Indy in November.)

This weekend, I ran 22 miles on Saturday at 8:26. I followed that with six miles on Sunday at a 6:44 pace.

That's not typical - I realize it's harsh, and this morning I "ran" six miles at 9-plus to recover.

But I kind of wanted to put myself through the ringer to see where I'm at. Six more weeks and then the taper, I believe.

If you can keep the mileage at 65+ these next 6 weeks and throw in some quality sessions then I think you have a decent chance. A BQ for your age is 3:15, so you need around a 3:12 - a 5 minute PR.

I’m going to shoot for 3:10 (7:14/mile).

So the last few days:

Thursday: 17 miles @ 7:03

Friday: 9 miles easy

Saturday: OFF

Sunday: 23 miles @ 8:27

Monday: 9 miles easy

Tuesday: 3 x 3 miles workout (6:31-6:41-7:09 paces)

Wednesday: 9 miles easy

Today: 18 miles @ 7:14

Today's marathon pace run was harder than I would have liked it to have been. I was fading, and had to gut out a 7:04 on the final mile to get back down to 7:14. Hopefully that's just accumulated fatigue.

I feel like I have a strong shot at a 3:10 marathon in a month. (PR, again, was 3:17 in November. Was on pace for 3:10 through 22 miles, then faded.)

Tapering properly will be key, I think.

That's a big week. It looks like you had tired legs today for sure. Leading up to today you did a marathon worth of MP or faster in the previous week. That strikes me as a lot. A few thoughts.

Monday's run looks strong. How did that feel overall?

Tuesday looks like quite the drop off, was that planned? Like paces at 10k/HM/MP? Or were you fading as the workout went on?

Again, that's a ton of miles. In my book, you did 3 legit long runs in 7 days. Don't leave your marathon PR in April.

Ya I have to agree with the previous poster - that many long runs (16 miles or longer) in an 8 day span is unnecessary, potentially reckless. A more common approach is you have your weekend long run, then you might throw in a mid-week 12-15 miler - typically at an easy pace. Or if you're doing a long workout during the week the total mileage with warm up and cool down can get into the 12+ mile range.

It looks like you're plenty fit to achieve your goal - just don't screw it up from here. I'd stick to the traditional plan of your last 20+ miler 3 weeks out, a 16-18 miler two weeks out, then taper from there. Good luck.

keepgoing wrote:

That's a big week. It looks like you had tired legs today for sure. Leading up to today you did a marathon worth of MP or faster in the previous week. That strikes me as a lot. A few thoughts.

Monday's run looks strong. How did that feel overall?

Tuesday looks like quite the drop off, was that planned? Like paces at 10k/HM/MP? Or were you fading as the workout went on?

Again, that's a ton of miles. In my book, you did 3 legit long runs in 7 days. Don't leave your marathon PR in April.

Thanks.

I think that for my November marathon, I had left my PR in September, so I want to avoid that fate this time around.

IndyJ -- I followed your thread last fall because our fitness and goals were very similar. Still rooting for you.

That last week is really strong, and should leave you feeling pretty confident. I doubt I could have replicated it last fall, and I ran about your goal pace on race day (7:09/mile). In fact, the last time I had a training run like yours from last Thursday, I ran 2:56 five or six weeks later.

Allen1959 wrote:

IndyJ -- I followed your thread last fall because our fitness and goals were very similar. Still rooting for you.

That last week is really strong, and should leave you feeling pretty confident. I doubt I could have replicated it last fall, and I ran about your goal pace on race day (7:09/mile). In fact, the last time I had a training run like yours from last Thursday, I ran 2:56 five or six weeks later.

Don't put any crazy ideas in my head. :)

It really is all about the taper, I think, at this point. I'm also an easy weight-gainer. I've struggled with it all my life, so I'll have to be careful there the next few weeks where that's concerned.

I'll probably go 80-85 next week, 65 the next (18-mile long run), 50 the next (13-mile long run), and then race week.

So... did you BQ in Kalamazoo?

Followed all 3 years of this thread.

Great job IndyJ, and even though you didn't break 3:10 at that time, a 3:17 is still rock-solid and near BQ.

I'm trying for my first thon in 3:30 (goal), with the hope that race-day magic will get me to 3:25. If it doesn't, 3:30 is still good. The 2nd and 3rd thons are what I'm going to shoot for re: Boston.

Boston got tougher. It went from 3:10 35-39M to 3:05. (Really, 3:02). Had it stayed at the old standard, it would be a true 3:08.

Just resurrecting this old thread, really good read. However what's up with everyone running 70,80 mile weeks for 3.10-3.15 marathons?!!!!. Is this an American thing? As here in the UK most club runners run around 40-50 peak. Are people really running this much? I'd be wanting sub 2.45 at least if I was putting that sort of time commitment in.