Advice Needed for Fall Marathon

Losing 5 pounds at your height and weight is not a good idea. You are asking for injury doing that. Trying to lose weight while doing that much mileage will cause problems.

You should be able to get it easy if you train correctly, get a coach, there are lots of reputable online coaches that can give you some direction.

You may or may not naturally lose weight training over the summer. Just eat healthy . Your height and weight are fine.

Depending on your climate, I’d say 2:45 is very doable based on those times. If you live in the south and you’re running those times, you’ll probably surprise yourself with a sub 2:40.

But also, you need to slow down a little on your regular runs. Back off the pace and save the faster stuff for fast days. Everyone is different but I would highly recommend slowing the paces down during your marathon training.

Pretty much anyone I know who’s sub 2:50 does most of their bulk miles between 7-8min/mi. But usually on the slower end unless they feel cheeky.

helpful advice wrote:

You may or may not naturally lose weight training over the summer. Just eat healthy . Your height and weight are fine.

Depending on your climate, I’d say 2:45 is very doable based on those times. If you live in the south and you’re running those times, you’ll probably surprise yourself with a sub 2:40.

But also, you need to slow down a little on your regular runs. Back off the pace and save the faster stuff for fast days. Everyone is different but I would highly recommend slowing the paces down during your marathon training.

Pretty much anyone I know who’s sub 2:50 does most of their bulk miles between 7-8min/mi. But usually on the slower end unless they feel cheeky.

Plus 1-ing this.

Sub-2:45 male here—the long runs with steady effort are good (but also do some at easier paces), but there's no need to push so hard every single day—and many reasons not to. 7-8 min/mile on easy days would make a lot more sense and allow you to be fresh for workouts and long runs.

Thank you, everyone! This is all super helpful, and I appreciate it a lot.

You should check out the Strava profile of Caitlin Phillips to see how she trains. She's a mid-230s marathoner.

https://www.atlanta2020trials.com/fan-zone/athletes/Caitlin-Phillips

What are your PBs? Did I miss those?

In general, this sounds in line with an OTQ. Maybe think about finding a more favorable course. & maybe think about toning down your "easy" runs. People running 2:40-45 don't need to go out & hammer sub-7's every day. Easy pace can & should be 7:00ish all the way up to 7:30-8:00 pace if you're working out the way you should work out on hard days. Mileage matters. 80-100 would set you up well if you can handle it. But you shouldn't just try to run 6:30 pace every day.

I ran a 5k two years ago for fun, and I ran 17:45. That's the only race I've ever run, and I know I'm in much better shape than that now. The course has an elevation gain/loss of about 850 feet. I'm not sure if this is considered a lot for a marathon. Thank you for the advice! I'm very new to competitive running obviously and am trying to learn as much as I can as I go, so I appreciate all the help I can get!

Your 10k and HM times should indicate what you might be able to run.

But then again we are just coming out of Covid.

If you think you are 2:45 Marathon worthy, I would suggest you look for a coach.

Every mom and her kids have a coach these days but you actually could benefit from it.

Good luck.

I think my main question is whether 2:45 is a realistic goal. I'm not sure if it is possible, so I was just looking for advice especially since I have no race times to go off of. I was just curious since running 6:36 pace for 21 miles last week did not feel hard. I wasn't trying to run any of it at race pace. However, I do understand that running an additional 5+ miles while also taking off 20 seconds per mile is not insignificant. I appreciate the advice! Thank you!

This is super helpful! Thank you!

Your Marathon is mid October. Plan for a Half Marathon in September. That time should give you an good indication of what you are able to do.

If in doubt, I would rather pace on the conservative side for the first Marathon.

It's more fun to overtake people in the last 5 miles, than having a death march because you overpaced a tiny bit.

https://lukehumphreyrunning.com/hmmcalculator/race_equivalency_calculator.php

If you ran 21 miles at 6:36 pace you may have the fitness to run 2:45. With a summer of good training you might even set your sights closer to 2:40.

If you are training for a mid october marathon you should be working on speed and strength right now. Then you should transition slowly into marathon specific work.

I also agree with others in that you should back of on easy days. For example, I am 2;30 marathon runner and my easy runs are any where from 7-7:30 pace. Doing this allows you to recover and actually benefit from your workouts. It definitely ok to throw in a moderately paced run every week. You could mix in short pickups of 30 sec to 60 once a week to an easy run to get the legs moving without working too hard.

It would be helpful to run a half prior to the marathon to get a better idea of how your training is translating to racing. Id say try and run one at least 6-7 week out from the marathon. Not much closer so you can get important marathon workouts in.

What other type of workouts are you doing? Right now it would be beneficial to do short, fast intervals, some hill workouts and some progression runs.

I'd also say, be careful about cranking up the mileage to 100. You can run in the 2:40s on 80 miles a week. Jumping up to 100 could increase you injury risk. You may be fine, but just be careful and listen to your body.

Do you follow a certain running plan like Pfitzinger or Daniels?

Also, if your goal is to qualify for the olympic trials in the marathon, from what people have been saying, there is a strong chance the qualifying time may be something like 2:42-2:43 instead of 2:45 for '24

Last couple thoughts. Definitely do not need to lose weight or make that a priority. You may lose some naturally, but trying to cut weight while training so hard could lead to injury or poor workouts which will not help improve your fitness.

A coach would be very helpful for someone of your natural ability. I have a recommendation that is very affordable if interested. Someone of your ability would benefit from well thought out training plans, where each workout has a purpose.

To be completely honest, I have never done a real, planned workout. I have never taken running that seriously before, but I want to try and see what I can do. I have always just run by feel which sometimes turns into a tempo or a few miles on and off at faster paces. Basically all of my runs are progression runs. I'm definitely realizing now that I have never trained in the smartest way haha. I just signed up for a half 7 weeks out and will look into getting a coach to help with workouts, etc.

This was so helpful! Thank you so much for the response!

As of right now, I do not follow any training plan even though I probably should be. Also, my sister ran 2:46 a couple years ago so I am just trying to break the family record. I didn't realize that was/had been the olympic trials qualifying standard.

Wow. Never done a real, planned workout. Seems like you have untapped natural talent. Keep the boards up to date on your progress. It is always cool to hear about a runner's progress and success. What marathon do you plan on running if you don't mind sharing?