How do you break through the marathon wall?

Run more. Run longer long runs. Run longer harder runs. Take in more fuel during the race.

Alan

Don't wear a watch!!! Spend your time listening to how you feel and focusing on the competition...focus on a couple splits such as 5 mile, 10 and 20 miles but don't be wasting precious energy hitting mile splits and focusing on 26 different miles..when I ran my best marathon the last thing I concerned myself with was mile splits..great job on getting to 2:59 and you WILL progress down the ladder for sure..thats the best advice I can give aside from the obvious necessary training you MUST do..if you have any further questions I would be more than glad to help.

Nate Pennington

http:://www.wcaprunner.blogspot.com

How many miles a week did you average during that "decent stretch" of training?

According to Macmillan's pace chart your 1:21 half should equate to a 2:51 Marathon.

Let's face it.

Most of us knock up severely at the end of a Marathon.

More Miles,More marathon pace runs,and speedwork could get you to your goal.

If you are getting injured a lot then I suggest you go into the archives and read some "Hadd Training" threads.

It works for some people but it takes time and patience.

Try running the first half in 1:30. You should then be able to run the second half in 1:25.

Thanks guys for these responses, I really appreciate it. By "decent stretch" I mean approximately 16 total weeks where my training was geared toward this race. Of those 16, I had 12 weeks where I averaged 55 miles per. And while I had some minor injury issues along the way (e.g., sore hamstrings), during the race my body actually held up very well. Aside from the rigging of course.

Frustrated Runner wrote:

By "decent stretch" I mean approximately 16 total weeks where my training was geared toward this race. Of those 16, I had 12 weeks where I averaged 55 miles per.

Try moving up to average about 75 miles a week for a few months - at least 4. You'll find the difference between 55 and 75 is worth it in terms of race results. Out of all the jumps I have made in mileage, this one was probably the largest in terms of gains made.

Realax, you broke 3 hours, you should be happy, congratulations. So you slowed down in the last few miles, that's marathon running, you didn't hit the wall badly, you just got tired.

Marathons are supposed to do that, make you tired. I have only ever felt good at the end of one marathon, where I managed to maintain pace instead of slowing down.

I assure you, your freinds will be impressed at work on Monday, and happy for you, maybe then your achievement will sink in.

incorporate long runs with hard running. A fav workout of mine is to run to a 5k or 5 miler somewhere. I would run 12-15 miles before the race, and run as hard as I could in the race. You would be surprised how well you improve if you do this 2 or 3 times in 2 months. Leave at least 2-3 weeks before the marathon to recover.

Agree with Someone in Canada. I had the same problem as you for about 5 marathons and I was doing similar mileage with intervals and tempo runs. 55 miles is only enough to survive a marathon, not enough to do well. 70 to 75 is the minimum mileage you need to do one well. If you\'re able to do more, you\'ll do even better. You may have to swallow your pride and slow down your average pace when you make the jump in mileage.