Im 16 years old and would like to run a marathon, during this upcomming year(my sophmore year) in high school. Is it possible to have a good xc season(hopefully in the 16:45-16:30 or faster) and run a decent marathon? (3:15 or so)
If anyone knows anyone who has done this please give me some tips. Thanks!
In high school my buddy on the team trained for a marathon while running XC. Our coach wasn't happy about it. The kid had a really stale year. He was too fatigued to run well during practice and on the weekends he just did a lot of long, slow running. It made it so he was able to finish the marathon and accomplish his goal, but it stalled his improvement in XC and later in life he just ran a faster marathon anyway when he focused on it.
I think you should talk to your coach. If your coach is willing to work with you and adjust your schedule, it may be an okay idea. If your coach doesn't think you can adapt and recover well while balancing both, then you should probably listen to your coach. Your coach is in charge of the XC workouts and will know best whether or not there's much room outside of practice workouts to do more running without burning out.
marathoning is for a more physically mature athlete. don't get into it quite yet.
When do you want to run your marathon? You could easily run XC, then take a few down weeks, then train for a Spring marathon. In fact, I'd expect that you could run a whole lot faster than 3:15 if you're a 16:30ish XC runner.
Dont run a marathon. You should be running XC and putting all your running effort into that. If you aren't you are not being fair to yourself or your team.
Sounds like you have the talent to do well at both although it would be difficult to be at your peak at both at the same time. My suggestion is to focus / train for cross country / track but to run a marathon to finish (assuming your body can handle the mileage.) Assuming that you also do track and indoor track, do your marathon in the summer. Basically don't kill yourself with mileage but sprinkle in a few long gentle runs (maybe 2 15 mile runs and a 20 mile run) and run but don't fully race a June / July Marathon. According to www.runworks.com, 16:30 for a 5K correlates to a 2:38 marathon and I think you should be able to run right around 3 hours for your first marathon without killing yourself, or really training specifically for it. Listen to your body though, as the key is that you don't want to get injured. A better idea might be doing a half marathon or 30K race.
During my summer training, I would ride to the high school as much as possible. I ran about 60-70 miles per week that summer, but the ride was only two miles one way. Once school started, I drove because I could not carry all my gear and books on a bike, and 6 a.m. was way too early for biking. I was a 16:15-16:30 runner that year. I'm not sure if that was my training or my racing style, both of which I did poorly.
I ran a good number of 10-13 mile long runs that year, but I won't say I was in marathon shape. Seriously, I would take it easy on the marathon ambitions. You have no reason to train for such a long event at your age, especially with the risk of injury. High school running is much better if you are healthy. Setting our sights on a half marathon would be a wiser decision.
1975, My junior year of high school, this was my typical day week. 16 years old.
6 A.M.- 4 Mile run (5 days per week)
7:30 A.M.-3.5 Mile Bike to School. 5 P.M.-3.5 Mile Bike Home.
3 P.M. Team XC Intervals (3 times/week). 8 road miles (Thursday)
4 P.M. Fridays- Race day-Fastest time of season-16:05 5k.
Saturday-10 Mile run
Sunday-15 mile run
Thanksgiving- Portland Marathon-2:50:45.
You can do it, but don't expect much from the marathon.
Why not bike to school, run 4 miles in the morning, do your workout, and bike home and at your age focus on your 5000/10,000/ half-marathon?
I would never run a marathon until you had at least 6 years of consistent 80 miles plus a week at your age. It could tear you up.
Its a race like no other. You feel so easy at the slower pace then shit hits you in the last 10 miles you never knew.
You have to be feeling easy for the first 20 miles. If you are pushing hard before that its ugly. If you think you can run the same pace for 15 miles in workouts and try to calculate that as a marathon pace at you age you will find out. Its a long haul at your age. If I was in your shoes, run the first marathon easy and get it under your belt. 3:20 what ever.
I like the way you aim high. You won't do it but its probably fun to say it to get a reaction from the adults around you.
I'm guessing that you like the idea of people thinking that you are a gifted athlete (actually I like that attitude) so you won't want to run slower xcountry times just so you can marathon. (Unless there is some young blood that runs faster than you and this is a face saving way out)
I like a kid who aims high though.
(ps if you are a troll - bravo!!)
I ran 26 in training out of curiosity during the summer before my senior year, around 3:10 as a moderate (but very long) effort. I ran 120 miles that week. I was trying to run 140 just to see what it felt like.
I was definitely struggling with flatness afterward for a surprisingly long time (weeks). I ran pretty well in XC (12:15 for 2.5 miles; back in the 1980s when we ran 2.5 in Ohio) but I am certain I'd have been better off if I did not have to fight through the tiredness of the overtraining from that month. 70-90 miles and no marathon would've been better.
My advice - save the marathon for a time when you can train for it. High school XC demands a very different training regime, and marathons leave you flat for a long time.
Leave the marathon alone in high school. The only runner I knew that progressed was Brad Hudson who ran 100-120 miles a week since he was 16. He ran 2:17 in Chicago the fall after he graduated and had a decent college career but afterwards ran 2:13 and won some races.
Youngsters need 10 years of base building in my opinion to tackle that race and hit their best potential.
Running a marathon at 16 years old will not help you in the long run, but building mileage up gradually and focusing on your mile and 5k while at the same time running volume is what is the ticket.
In a year you will find out. Running a hard marathon without years of preparation will knock 2-3 months of progress in your training at your age
Sure. Number one and I'm serious. Since your biking in the morning take the time to look at
this one of the premiere websites that teaches defensive cycling. Got a helmet? Get a mirror for it. When I was 16 my bike workouts were contained on Sat and Sunday morning-early afternoon.
I'm not saying you should do this, but I did. I biked to school(and home to), ran close to 16 flat for 3 miles in xc on the flat courses and 16:40ish on the hillier courses. I believe 17 low was my best 5k in xc. I ran 2:54 in February that year (sophomore year - 16yo). I had a great career including DI scholarship, paid trave and picked up a couple bucks after college, still ran pretty fast after 40.
As far as tips, number one, don't feel like you have t do it. Be free to say forget it at any time. Normal high school mileage plus 16-18 mile long runs is all the training you need. Nothing else you really need to do. Plan on it hurting and plan on some down time after the marathon. Good luck!
I'd concentrate on being the best CC runner I could be. The time spent marathon training would be better spent on chasing girls at your age. At least that's what I'd be doing.
just a warning; your first marathon, especially at an early age, is pretty much garunteed to suck.
both in terms of time and the actual experience of running it.
If you can run a 16:45 then I bet you can get close to a 2:30 marathon which in a lot of races could mean prize money, IF you can get through all that training un-injured (which most people don't but then again most marathoners are way older than you).
I actually did a marathon when I was 16. I ran about 3:15 or so, then ran 3:00 the next year. while it was really fun, I had to compromise between training for track or training for the marathon. The first year I pretty much just did normal track training, then did a few 16-19mi long runs after the track season was over, then ran the marathon. The second time, I did some long runs during the track season, but it destroyed a lot of opportunities for me to race well. I was probably in about 10:00 2mi shape but I would go out in 5:00 then blow up and run 10:30. It is also hard to get a good summer (or winter in your case) of training after running a marathon, since you need a week or two before you'll really be able to get out and train again. I could hardly get down the stairs the first few days my sophomore year.
Anyhow in short I don't recommend trying to do both. Leave the marathon until after college. If you are a sophomore able to run 16:30, college running is definitely a good idea.
As for biking to school, it all depends how far. I biked 2mi to school and back every day and I was fine. It's probably better for you than sitting on your butt in a car. Just don't try to time-trial it...take it easy.
Hey "aloha warrior" whats your name??? I went to Aloha and ran Cross Country and Track until 2011. Email me at jgchampionrunner@gmail.com
dont do it