Which PR should I focus on - 5k or Marathon?

Definitely the 5K...much healthier in the long run.

Sub 17 is way harder than a bq...

Sub18 is likely more comparable

Hmm, interesting. It may just be that I am newer to marathons but, going under 3hr seems much more daunting. I should also clarify, when I ran under 18 min previously it was on probably 20-25 mpw. Maybe under 17:30 is more realistic..

Your mileage is way too low for marathons. Focus on 5k until you get your mileage up.

Do both! I had a generally similar history ... was a 17:57 5k / 1:59 800m guy in high school. Became a couple-time-a-week jogger in my early to mid 20s. At 27 I started a bit of training again, and ran my first Marathon at 28. Fast forward 11 years, and last year at 38 I set a 5K PR of 16:51, and a month ago at 39 I set a Marathon PR of 2:48.

The speed got a little harder after about 35 (I don’t have the top end), but my consistency and pacing have gotten much better as I’ve aged. I actually think there’s some benefit to moving back and forth ... I usually do a fall and spring marathon, and after the spring race I carve out a 5K season that lasts until around the 4th of July. I can usually get a solid speed block + 4-5 5k races during the June/July timeframe.

Oh, that is very interesting! What type of mileage did you have to get up to for those times. I'm currently at like 30-35 mpw but, it has been a slow build and I feel like my body is adjusting well to it. Hoping to continue to slowly add to it without injury.

Very encouraging to hear about a PR at 38 - I've kind of in my head been telling myself that I have just a couple more years left to really make a final go at a fast time.

Also, congrats on the Marathon PR!

Thanks, KBW! Regardless of the state of the world, this has been a fun year for running.

Looking back at my training log, the 5K PR last year came off of mileage in the 50s, after a marathon block with mileage in the mid/upper 60s. Basically took 3 weeks in the 30s after the marathon (all easy) then bumped into the 50s for the speed block. Surprises me a little; I though I was doing more miles in the marathon block than that.

The marathon PR this year came off of mileage in the 80s, which is the most volume I’ve ever run. I was supposed to run Boston this year, and I was already doing more mileage than usual. When it got cancelled, I decided to double down on volume during the lockdown and see where it lead. I had 6 weeks of 80+, and my overall average for 2020 has been 72 miles/wk.

Additionally, I first broke 3 hours off of mileage in the low-mid 60s, but it took a few tries. Once I broke through that barrier, though, it was a cake walk to repeat.

kbwrunner wrote:

400: 53 (HS)

800: 2:02 (HS)

1600: 4:46 (HS)

5k: 17:57 (23 y/o)

Marathon: 3:52:36 (30 y/o)

If you can stay healthy at 45-50 mpw and run appropriate workouts, sub-17 should be very doable, within 9 months, I'd say.

Your high school mile time is identical to my PR (4:45 at age 17), and your 400 and 800 are WAY faster (59 in high school, 2:10 at 22). But I got my 5K time down to 16:06 on 42 mpw at age 23, and I would think you could, too.

Twenty years later, sub-17 wasn't so easy. That was my goal, and I rained pretty seriously, 50 mpw, 800 repeats, 1-mile repeats, hill sprints, long runs. Only managed 17:10. So best do it now while you're still young!

Seems you're naturally more "fast-twitch," so marathons might be more challenging. But I've always trained simultaneously for 5k and marathons (my marathon PR was set a week after my 5K PR at 23, and my masters 5K best was a month or so after my masters marathon PR at age 43).

Just need long runs to be "marathon-ready," although on low mileage, my marathon results are a bit weaker than my 5K (16:06/2:40 as a youth and 17:10/2:56 masters).

Go luck, stay healthy.

Very encouraging - thank you! This may be a dumb question and may already be somewhere on LR but, how did you make the jump from going to 30ish mpw to 50 mpw? What would be a sample week?

For example, this week I will have run 5 days (1 day of lifting, one day of rest) that looks like the following:

Sunday: rest

Monday: 6

Tuesday: 6 (4x mile repeats)

Wednesday: Lift

Thursday: 6

Friday: 6

Saturday: 12

I’m looking at that week and struggling to see how to get much higher unless I really crank up the distance during the week? Are you doing a lot of doubles?

Any insight is greatly appreciated!

Thanks - that is excellent insight!

Curious to hear your thoughts on my question above regarding making the jump up in mileage as well?

Thanks in advance!

kbwrunner wrote:This may be a dumb question and may already be somewhere on LR but, how did you make the jump from going to 30ish mpw to 50 mpw? What would be a sample week?

Never doubles. Always one day off, sometimes two. Just increasing a midweek run to 12 miles, and a weekend run to 15 miles adds up to 27 miles. Other three days at 8 miles gets 52 miles for the week, two days off.

Work hours were 3 p.m. to 3 a.m., Tues thru Sat, so daylight hours available year-round, and Sunday for long run.

kbwrunner wrote:This may be a dumb question and may already be somewhere on LR but, how did you make the jump from going to 30ish mpw to 50 mpw? What would be a sample week?

Never doubles. Always one day off, sometimes two. Just increasing a midweek run to 12 miles, and a weekend run to 15 miles adds up to 27 miles. Other three days at 8 miles gets 52 miles for the week, two days off.

Work hours were 3 p.m. to 3 a.m., Tues thru Sat, so daylight hours available year-round, and Monday for long run.

BTW, not dissing doubles. My son is 31, getting back into running, working at home because of Covid -- so runs a few miles at lunch and again after work. It can be a low-stress way of adding mileage.

5k. The faster you can run 3.1, the faster you can run 26.2.

Allen1959 wrote:

kbwrunner wrote:This may be a dumb question and may already be somewhere on LR but, how did you make the jump from going to 30ish mpw to 50 mpw? What would be a sample week?

Never doubles. Always one day off, sometimes two. Just increasing a midweek run to 12 miles, and a weekend run to 15 miles adds up to 27 miles. Other three days at 8 miles gets 52 miles for the week, two days off.

Work hours were 3 p.m. to 3 a.m., Tues thru Sat, so daylight hours available year-round, and Monday for long run.

BTW, not dissing doubles. My son is 31, getting back into running, working at home because of Covid -- so runs a few miles at lunch and again after work. It can be a low-stress way of adding mileage.

Interesting - thanks for the insight! All of that seems very doable - the additional midweek long run will be the challenging one just from a time perspective with work and kids. Might just have to be a 4:30am type of run - woof!