speedwork Goal pace for first time marathoner

The amount of speedwork she should be doing for that goal time is: ZERO.

Have her gradually increase miles. Very gradually and carefully.

If she only wants to finish the thing, speedwork will not help, and would only serve to increase her risk of injury.

Seriously, 33 mpw and you are worried about speed work?

Distance first. Speed later.

Get back to us when she is over 50 mpw. She'll be lucky to reach that and not get injured.

What times did she run for the 1/2 marathons?

How many weeks has she been running?

How many of those weeks were over 20 miles?

I agree generally, but most training plans, even "beginner training plans," include some form of speedwork.

Why do you think 50 mpw is necessary to begin speedwork? I have run 10 marathons, and while my times werent anything special, they were still BQ nonetheless.

ie-aVM-893 wrote:

What times did she run for the 1/2 marathons?

How many weeks has she been running?

How many of those weeks were over 20 miles?

1/2 marathons were slow; talking 12 minute miles untrained (despite my nagging).

she has now been running off and on for the last few months. She has been hitting 25-30 mpw consistently the last 5-6 weeks. (and yes, she is increasing mileage very gradually).

Newbie speedwork wrote:

I agree generally, but most training plans, even "beginner training plans," include some form of speedwork.

Why do you think 50 mpw is necessary to begin speedwork? I have run 10 marathons, and while my times werent anything special, they were still BQ nonetheless with 40 mpw on average***.

Sorry; editied***

She's running 12-13 minute miles you say. So a drop to, say 10 minute miles would be a huge improvement. But those paces are so slow that it isn't speed that's holding ehr back it's lack of aerobic fitness. She needs to run a lot more and get to where she can hold a decent pace. She's not really fit enough for speed work to do her much good.

HRE, if she is not doing basic speed work, i.e. sprinting, she is not going to have basic biomechanical efficiency is she?

I know you are anti speed work. But why do you constantly try to force that on other people?

Yes. I take a gun to people's houses and force them to stop doing speedwork if I catch them. It's a hobby and now that I'm pretty much retired I'm going to do a lot more of it.

At the paces you're talking about there is no speed. People can walk at 12-13 minutes a mile. Lack of biomechanical efficiency is not her problem. If you got her to run an all out 400 she'd probably be able to manage at least 90 seconds but even if it takes her two minutes she still has all the speed she needs for running at a much faster pace than you're describing.

Lack of speed is not her problem. She doesn't have the cardiovascular system to sustain that sort of pace for any length of time which is why she's running 12-13 minute pace. She needs to run more and get fitter. That will bring her pace down naturally and as her muscles get used to running more she'll get more efficient. If you want to have her do some strides or something that's fine but it's really not going to do much for her marathon. If you want to address the speed issue at all, get her to run some short races and do it hard with an eye toward getting faster at each distance.

OP,

Based upon my pesonal experience in training my wife, who sounds very much like your girlfriend, I would recommend adding some speedwork.

I simply started her out with 200s once a week. It really wasn't about the 'speedwork' in the sense most comeptitive runners would think but more about learning to pace and also how to push herself in workouts. Cleaning up her form a bit is an added benefit. After a few attempts and getting better at hitting her target pace, she enjoyed these sessions. Even a 12 minute runner can appreciate the hardwork and sense of accomplishment from running a 6 x 200 session.

This was really the only way she was going to get any kind of intensity in her running at all. From what I saw in my wife, it gave her a larger RANGE of paces to choose from. Before speedwork she had never run at mile pace or 800 pace. She didn't know how they felt. After a couple of months I would have her finish some of her 4 or 5 mile runs with a hard push for the last half mile then progressing to a mile. The speed work definitely helped her accomplish this.

I agree with most posters that she still needs to get her MPW up as a priority but I think there is some room for 'speed work'.