Hi. I am 39 years old. Not a serious runner. I jog occasionally, and have run a half marathon, at maybe a 11 min pace or some such. Very ordinary, some might say even pathetic :)
But I am looking to change that. Is it possible to be on a training program so that I can run a sub 3 hr marathon on Jan 1, 2016? That's 5 years from now. Serious opinions appreciated.
yes, and I'm betting you can do it in 2 if you run your guts out.
it is possible sure - there are several guys on my team who ran 4+ hour marathons for several years, then joined a team, got serious about their training, and are breaking 3 now.
two or three are 40+, so I say that if you are serious, go for it.
You can definitely make some huge improvements. What kind of mileage are you hitting right now?
Hi Quenton, I just go for leisurely jogs these days. Maybe about 20 miles a week. I looked at your site. Do you think you could be able to devise a personalized program for me?
Sure could, drop me an email at onlinerunningcoach55@gmail.com and tell me your running history. Miles per week, PR's at any distances you have raced, any other info that I might have to take into account forming a personalized plan for you.
I reckon it's perfectly possible if you're willing to put in the training. Especially if you're relatively slim.
pr100 wrote:
I reckon it's perfectly possible if you're willing to put in the training. Especially if you're relatively slim.
Wouldn't it be the other way around?
He said ran a half marathon at 11 minute pace, so that's something like 2:20 - 2:25. Before he can run sub 3:00, he has to be able to run something like sub 1:25 in a half.
So we would want to know why that HM took over 2:20 - other than only running 20 miles a week - before we predict that he could cut an hour off that time. He also didn't say why he only ran 20 miles a week - if it was due to injury problems, that could be a limiting factor.
Now if he was carrying a lot of extra weight when he ran that HM at 11 minute pace, that is one area where there is potential for significant improvement... he can lose a lot of weight in 5 years.
But if he was already reasonably slim when he ran that HM, I'd think there would be less chance of him reaching that goal.
I'm not sure current pace is really relevant since he's not training much.
If you're overweight it's really hard to get fast. Of course in 5 years anything is possible ... it's enough time to lose weight too, but it's harder to train properly if you're trying to lose lots of weight at the same time.
5 years is way too long for this goal.With proper training, within 3 years MAX you should be VERY close to your ceiling, and of course at age 39 NOW, you're racing against father time too.You can improve a ton of course, but improving from 11 min per mile pace for a HALF MARATHON to a sub 3 hour marathon is a tall order. All you can do is try.
Word27 wrote:
Hi. I am 39 years old. Not a serious runner. I jog occasionally, and have run a half marathon, at maybe a 11 min pace or some such. Very ordinary, some might say even pathetic :)
But I am looking to change that. Is it possible to be on a training program so that I can run a sub 3 hr marathon on Jan 1, 2016? That's 5 years from now. Serious opinions appreciated.
Who knows. Run a 40-80 mins a day 5-6 days a week for 4 months and check back in.
Word27 wrote:
Hi. I am 39 years old. Not a serious runner. I jog occasionally, and have run a half marathon, at maybe a 11 min pace or some such. Very ordinary, some might say even pathetic :)
But I am looking to change that. Is it possible to be on a training program so that I can run a sub 3 hr marathon on Jan 1, 2016? That's 5 years from now. Serious opinions appreciated.
I know a guy who at 48 went from coach potato to sub 3 marathon by age 50. He followed Daniels running formula religiously and always did workouts and long runs with a group of good runners. Add to that staying injury free and you have a good prescription for having a shot at running sub-3: Have a good training plan, train with rabbits (i.e. runners who are faster than you) and stay healthy.