10m Race 1-week before Marathon too soon?

Don't do it!

Absolutely no way. You'll only regret it - there is no need whatsoever to do a 10mile race a week before a marathon.

Very bad idea. 2 weeks would be PERFECT, and would help you, but 1 week is rather silly.

1 week before the marathon you should be doing short marathon race-pace stuff, not a race over 8km.

If you did 8km or 5km, I would say that it would be perfect, but not 10mile.

Thanks, guys.

How about a Half-Marathon 3 weeks prior to a Marathon? Specifically the Philadelphia Distance Run prior to the Chicago Marathon?

I'm doing that...

I'd prefer the half 4 weeks out and the long run 3 weeks out, but I think it will work out just fine. i think a lot of folks are doing that.

JasonInReno wrote:

Very bad idea. 2 weeks would be PERFECT, and would help you, but 1 week is rather silly.

1 week before the marathon you should be doing short marathon race-pace stuff, not a race over 8km.

If you did 8km or 5km, I would say that it would be perfect, but not 10mile.

That's good to hear. I'm running Ro-Jack's 5 miler a week before my marathon. 6 days before, actually.

Like the Half idea 4 weeks out and the long run 3 weeks out. Then taper bigstyle for 2 weeks. Worked for me.

What is it with runners these days. You certainly could run a 10 mile race 1 week before a marathon. Shorter set his 10 km pr and National Record,on the track less than a week before he won at Munich. In my own experience, I won a 20 km the week before running my marathon pr at the time. But then my times were not national class. Then 3 years later ran a corporate relay on Saturday (a leg of 2.62 miles, was an event sponsored by Xerox where the winning team in a marathon relay of 10 runners, including 2 women at 12 sites were flown to the 1984 marathon trials to race against each other) then ran a 2:37 pr the next day on a Corporate Marathon team.

Good idea Average_Joe!

I'd advise doing a balls-to-the-walls 15 miles TRAINING RUN (not race) 2 weeks before, then your 5 miler.

IF you really want to run the 10 mile race a week before the marathon, I think it would be alright, as long as you don't go real hard in it. Maybe run the race as a 2.5 mile warmup, 5 at Marathon Pace, then 2.5 easy. That wouldn't be too bad in my opinion.

JasonInReno wrote:

Good idea Average_Joe!

I'd advise doing a balls-to-the-walls 15 miles TRAINING RUN (not race) 2 weeks before, then your 5 miler.

I always worry about over-doing but if you found that worked for you, I'm willing to give it a shot. Thanks Jason.

KK did philly and chicago last year. Worked for him.

Jason, your terminology confuses me. What's the difference between racing and going balls-to-the-wall? I'm not trying to be sarcastic. Rather looking for what type of effort you recommend for the 15 miler. Faster than Marathon Pace? Good luck training for the trials. Stay healthy.

What does anyone think of doing a 1/2M (all out effort) 5 wks out, 2 weeks later (3 weeks out) doing a 30K race but at goal marathon race pace. Too much? Am working off a very good aerobic base and 100 mile weeks.

I ran a 10k ,two days before Boston.This time I will run a 10k 8 days before Twin Cities.

i think 3 weeks is enough time, but it's not as ideal as you would make it seem (using the kk example). kk is probably running around 140 miles a week(?). his recovery time should be quicker than just about anybody (elites included).

I have a question for folks: Is the taper much more important for the marathon than it is for other events, such as the half? The reason I'm asking is that I ran a significant (for me) half marathon PR this summer with no taper at all. In my previous marathons, on the other hand, I have always built in either a two- or three-week taper, but have never run the type of marathon that I believe I am capable of, based on my times at shorter distances such as the half.

I don't really enjoy the "taper" phase of training, and am tempted to skip it for my next marathon, which is in 3 weeks. What do people think?

Everybody who's done 2;20 or better has (or should have) a tried-and-true system that they've developed from both successes and mistakes. I am no exception.

You should be at peak mileage about 4-6 weeks before your marathon.

A race is much different from a training run. In races, I spend a lot of emotional energy, so I don't race a lot. A training run, albeit a very hard one, expends much less mental/emotional energy than any race.

What worked for me in the lead up to Berlin last year is a very hard 40km 4-weeks prior, (in Kunming) then a very hard 25km at low-altitude (Japan) 2 weeks prior. After that I did some short faster stuff like 2x2000, a 10km tempo run at 5;10 pace, 4000m tempo, strides etc.

Focus on going to the starting line feeling fresh, light and bouncy.

Eddy, I swear, I thought of you and Boston and that 10K when I was asking this question and debating: I was like, Eddy ran a 10K two days before his 2:17 at Boston! And Greg Meyer ran a 49-minute 10-miler a week before his 2:10 win at Chicago!

And then I realized, I am not those animals! I do not recover as quickly and you guys are who you are because of things like that.

Thanks.