Marathon Training and Racing (first time running the distance)

Get a copy of Advanced Marathoning by Pfitz., and read all of it....Especially chapter 2.

You could be ready for Nashville on April 26th and those

numbers seem pretty attainable based on your shorter race

times.

I was just looking at Nashville and wondering if that would be a good race.

I have had friends that have run the marathon off of just mileage. He didn't do any speed work I don't think, he just did a good bit of mileage and did a long run of about 20 - 21 I think. This is kind of what I was thinking of doing. Just building up a big base and running it off or strength.

Just a thought

You've got plenty of speed to run the times you mentioned. Base work can only help you.

Nashville is not the fastest course in the US, but it isn't terribly difficult either. The longest hill is around mile 17, but it isn't particularly steep.

The half marathon sells out, but I don't think that the marathon ever does, so you can wait pretty late to make up your mind.

The above said, the downtown hotels do sell out kind of early, because the overall race ( mostly half marathon runners ) keeps growing.

There is no problem if you are willing to stay in a motel six or more miles from downtown.

I've run 15:50s semi-consistently on the roads and ran 2:32:45.

That being said, see how your training goes. See how your long runs go. Go run 10 miles at 6:30 pace. How does that feel? Go run 13 miles at 6:30 pace. How does that feel? Go run 15 miles at 6:30 pace. How does that feel? 10 miles should feel like a walk in the park. Arond 13-15 miles you should really start to feel stressed, but very much still in control. If you feel tired and waxed at 10 miles you are going to be in trouble.

If you can run a long run of 10 miles easy followed by 10 miles at marathon pace you should be well on your way to running the entire marathon at that pace.

The problem you'll run into in your first marathon and probably a few more to come is the last 10k. I've run like 6 or 7 marathons and each time I've run well I've slowed down less and less in the last 10k. During my first marathon I was on 2:32 pace until the last 10k and barely finished. Next time I was 2:30 pace until the last 3 miles and went from 5:40s to 6:30s to 7:00 in the last 3 miles. The next time I ran well I was 2:30 pace until the last 3-4 miles when I slowed to 6:00 pace and finished running 2:32:45. The marathon is all about slowing down the least you can. You're almost guaranteed to slow down in the marathon because that's the nature of the race. Some people run neg splits, but that's not the norm.

Have fun.

Alan

YEP 20 mi. is half way in a marathon. Least it feels that way. Biggest thing for me is to break my running into

2-a-day W/O. I could never train consistently over 80 MPW without injury until I did this over the summer. I was able to sustain 90+ and peaked at 102. I run very similar times to you and my first was a 2:55 2nd was a 2:39 and last time was a 2:32 these have been spread over the lats 10 years.

thanks. This is all good information. Anmy tips on the Nashville course? So you all think I would be alright jsut running a good amount of miles and staying away from the track and things like that?