I ran the Ventura Marathon yesterday in 3:35, a new PR for me. A little bummed because my goal was a sub-3:20 BQ. I’m 45 yo. This was my 4th marathon and my last race was in 2020.
I had the BQ pace up until mile 18 then started to slow down significantly after that. My legs were just gone, had nothing left. Also had GI issues and had to make a bathroom stop at mile 16. But my conditioning and heart rate felt great.
I want to try for that BQ again in December at CIM and looking for some tips on how to improve. I feel my conditioning is there, but need help with endurance and leg strength.
My training for Ventura involved base building from June-October then a 20-week intermediate training plan from the Heartbreaker group. The first three months I ran 4 times per week then bumped it up to 5. This is when I almost got injured. I did a mix of easy runs, hills, track speedwork, and progressive long runs. I could feel myself getting better as the workout got harder. But I probably averaged 30mpw during this training period. I threw in some strength training in there once or twice a week.
Also felt I had GI issues on most long runs. As I mentioned I had to make a bathroom stop at Ventura, so the nutrition I haven’t been able to figure out. But this screwed up several on my long runs during training.
Would appreciate any tips on how to improve my time.