Marathon Training Thread - Week Ending 3/25

Your plan amounts to 28 weeks. I think you have only 26 left until Berlin.

Hey Guys, some solid weeks posted on here

Goal Race: Fall marathon sub 2:25

Mon: am-50min pm-18w/u 7x1km with 2min rest (3:04,3:00,3:00, 2:59,2:59,2:58,3:00)

Tues: am-65min pm-65min

Wed: am-65min pm-65min

Thurs: am-50min pm 16w/u 5x1200 with 2min rest (3:38,38,35,37,38) 2min rest then 4x200 with 1min rest (33,33,32,32)

Fri: am 70min

Sat: am-15w/u 10xhill approx 1:10 22c/d pm-7miles in 45:50

3 decent workouts. No long run was planned for this week. Im looking to race for the first time in 2012 on good friday. It is a 10miler. I would be pretty happy to average 520/mile

Trying to plan out weekly mileage for the 3 weeks prior to raceday. I've averaged 87 mpw over the past 5 weeks, and 82 mpw over the past 9 weeks. I am going to keep the quality there but reduce volume. I am thinking something like this but welcome input. The taper is the one part of the marathon puzzle that always eludes me.

2 weeks to go 75-85

1 week to go 50-75?

race week 20 + marathon

Its one I am struggling with also... I have pencilled in

3 weeks to go - 95

2 weeks to go - 80

Final week - 60 (32 + 28 race Day)

I don't want to ease down too much you here so many stories about people easing down massively and feeling bad for it. Also might try and be careful about what I eat that last week unlike normal its easy to pile on too much weight when easing down and don't want to be carrying on extr 4-5 lbs.

Brum Runner... like the big week in singles. I was training in singles last year and it felt like it did me a lot of good but I eventually got injured and figured that running 12 miles or more in one go 6 days per week was a factor. I still try and run over 12 atleast twice if not 3 times per week. Great for strength.

Last year I went into Boston with weeks of:

67.7, 69.4, 77.0, 63.1, 82.4, 75.1, 94.1, 100.0, 85.4, 103.0, 104.0, 83.5, 100.0, 51.0, 58.4, 19.1 -> Boston.

The 3rd week is lower than the 2nd week because I ran a 10k on the Sunday and moved my LR to Monday of the next week so you could say it was about low 60s 3rd week, low 50s 2nd week. I'm all about getting those legs fresh those last 3 week. Usually I run less, but the pace picks up. Especially within 10 days. My legs felt great last year...

This year I'm at:

67.4 (includes NYC Marathon), 45.0, 100.1, 72.2, 65.5, 84.0, 83.3, 77.0, 70.4, 48.3, 44.0 (includes Houston Marathon), 3.0, 67.8, 80.0, 90.0, 77.4, 14.8 (injured/vacation), 63.7, 85.0, 78.6, 81.4.

This week will be about 48-50 (due to 10k on Sunday, long run next Monday). Next week will probably be 45-50 and then week before Boston will be low 20s. I'm cutting wayback to try and get some pep back into my legs so Boston isn't a total shit show.

But then you always hear about people having to cut waaaay back, or even shut it down near the end of training due to injury or illness yet they go on to have a great race.

Personally I think it's a bit of a crap shoot and your mental state come race day is what is most important. If you go in thinking "Man these taper weeks were perfect, but felt tough, there is no way I'm going to have a good race." then you won't. Conversely, if it ends up "It sucks that I missed a week and a half of training during my taper with a cold, but I did all the real training so I know I'm ready." you can still excel.

Don't stress on race day, know you are ready.

As I forgot earlier, good luck for this weekend Drey! Cheers for the good wishes as well.

80-90miles - I think putting a time on it this early would become self-limiting. If I put together the most consistent block of training I've ever done (shouldn't be too hard if I'm sensible and keep the lid on the miles a bit - I've often done more in the past just to chase numbers and ended up paying for it) then my view is that pretty much anything is possible. I know what works for me, so just need to train to (and maximise) my strengths.

Nice week of training Stormin. Interested to see that your tempo target was a little slower than target MP. Is this the norm for you and if so, do you mind me asking why? I usually do 10m @ MP or a little slower, but it's mainly because my conversions are so tight.

VF Runner - I totally agree on the mental state being all important. I really began to appreciate last year how much the mind can influence the body.

Stormin - thanks. Training in singles is for two reasons really. First, my wife doesn't like me doing doubles, and second, the time of day I would have to run to still get to work in time means that I am absolutely knackered at work and can't really function much beyond midday. I have a 2 hour window in the evening when I have to do all my training. It does limit my mileage but I just try and do my best with the time I've got.

Are you doing the 12 stage this weekend? You've been training really well recently. I'm on first long leg at the Midland.

Tromala wrote:

Your plan amounts to 28 weeks. I think you have only 26 left until Berlin.

Tromala - sorry, forget to reply to this earlier. Berlin is the 30th of September, and this [week ending 3/25] was the first week, which is 28 weeks. It's 26 weeks from this coming Sunday.

KR... my target for tempo was sub 5:20's.. when i say this I would expect to run around 5:15-5:18 which is approx marathon pace. On a normal week I might target sub 5:15 but I had set the target slightly lower because I had run a half marathon 3 days earlier.

Brumrunner... yes I am sort of running the 12 Stage. I'm a club man so I have agreed to do the last leg (short leg) at whatever it takes to hold position or gain if close to medal. I would prefer not to run and hope to only have to run 5:30's since I have a 4 hour drive to Reading immediately after to race the Reading Half Marathon the next morning. This week is an easy week (70 miles or so) because I want to run quickly at Reading.

Well good luck with both the 12 stage and the half marathon. Looking forward to the results!