As a 1:10:20 half marathoner, will it be a stretch for me to go sub 2:30?

mint oreos rule wrote:

Is the marathon really that big of a wildcard distance for a lot of otherwise decent runners?

corrected. Although still a badly constructed sentence. Hopefully you know what I'm asking.

the marathon is not a wildcard at all. You should easily be under 2:30 if you are doing appropriate long runs. Appropriate long runs for a marathon are at least 24 miles.

2:30 is a reasonable goal for you. It's in the ballpark. What you actually run will depend on your training and the day you have. The marathon does have a lot more variables and therefore more chances that you won't run to your absolute potential. But yeah, train for 2:30.

Absolutely. I have PR's of 1:10/2:25

mh wrote:

Absolutely. I have PR's of 1:10/2:25

I'm about the same at 1:09:49 and 2:24:11.

Your friends are right in thinking to aim conservatively for your first marathon, but I think 2:30 is a reasonably conservative goal if you train for it well.

Train well, and don't go out faster than 1:14:30 at the half, and things should go well.

I ran just under 2:20 at the height of my running career, but recently ran a 2:31 after running a 1:16 half a month prior.

You can go sub 2:30 if you train correctly. The variables will decrease tremendously if you put in the appropriate time on your feet (i.e. long runs of 22-26).

ClamBaked wrote:

but recently ran a 2:31 after running a 1:16 half a month prior.

Huh? You only managed a 1:16 half...but were able to string together back-to-back SUB-1:16s in the marathon? Tell us your secret please!

To the OP: I'll be a different voice in this thread. A 1:10:low half marathon certainly tells me you have the potential to run sub-2:30...but whether or not you will is a different story. The marathon has so many other variables that are really "non-factors" in shorter races. Things such as: fueling, pacing, weather, training leading into the race, how you feel on race day, etc. are all significantly magnified in the marathon as opposed to shorter races. Not to mention, it's your first marathon...and very few execute everything correctly on their first.

Pretty sure it was a buildup half on the way to a goal race pablo...not terribly shocking. Ryan Hall ran some 1:03/1:04 races and then ran 2:05 at Boston (wind aided...but probably a 2:07 w/o)...so that would mean he didn't run a half before Boston that was as fast as what he did in his goal marathon.

Still it was misleading.

MikeM wrote:

Pretty sure it was a buildup half on the way to a goal race pablo...not terribly shocking. Ryan Hall ran some 1:03/1:04 races and then ran 2:05 at Boston (wind aided...but probably a 2:07 w/o)...so that would mean he didn't run a half before Boston that was as fast as what he did in his goal marathon.

MikeM wrote:

Pretty sure it was a buildup half on the way to a goal race pablo...not terribly shocking. Ryan Hall ran some 1:03/1:04 races and then ran 2:05 at Boston (wind aided...but probably a 2:07 w/o)...so that would mean he didn't run a half before Boston that was as fast as what he did in his goal marathon.

That's a good point, but nonetheless, it's still unusual.

Even the true endurance hogs should still be a minute or two faster in the half than what they would typically split in a full.

fefdfd wrote:

the marathon is not a wildcard at all. You should easily be under 2:30 if you are doing appropriate long runs. Appropriate long runs for a marathon are at least 24 miles.

surprised no one jumped on this. Anyway, appropriate long runs are appropriate for A.)The marathon distance and B.)the athletes weekly mileage.

By most rules of thumb, 24 miles wouldn't be appropriate unless he's running 96-120 mpw.

There's a pretty good article out there talking alot about getting over the mentality of the arbitrary "you need X number of 20 milers", etc guidelines that delves into the Hansons' plans

When I ran my first marathon my HM PR was low 1:10s. I did a 2:29:13 but died late. With the proper marathon-specific training, you should be able to get well below that, as some of the others on the board have. Good luck.

Add 5%, multiply by 2.

For the best in the world, that's 3 minutes (i.e., (1:00 + 3:00) x 2 = 2:06). For you, it's slightly more (1:10:20 + 3:32) x 2 = 2:27:44.

That being said, the marathon has a LOT more wild cards than a half marathon. I think a good strategy would be to plan on going out in 1:15/1:15:30, depending on the weather.

Other pieces of advice:

(1) Learn how to take some carbs during the race.

(2) Try at least a couple 24-28 mile long runs at 6:30 pace

(3) Try at least one 18-22 mile run at 5:50 pace

(4) Try at least a couple 12-16 mile runs at 5:35 pace (race pace)

Hall has a pr of 59 minutes for a half marathon. To talk about his worst half marathons and how that relates to his best marathon is silly.

Davila has a pr of 1:10 for a half and just ran 2:22 for a full. However, she would never waste her time running a 24 mile training run. The Hansons plan only has her doing 20 mile long run during a 125 mile week.

to run a good marathon you need:

1. Chocolate milk after each workout

2. Ice Baths after hard workouts

3. Yoga and Pilates

4. Weights

5. Alter G if possible

6. Cross train

7. Don't forget the blueberries, Omega3s, Calcium, and Muscle Milk

8. $175 running shoes

9. Ipod, Sunglasses, and of course, Sun Block

10. Vitamin D supplements

11. Compression socks

13. Road ID

14. The Stick

15. Massage, Physio, Chiro, Rolfing, AR

16. Plyos, Static and Dynamic stretching

17. Gatorade, Gels, GU...

18. Eccentric Calf raises

Good Luck