Training for Boston Marathon 2017 - Realistic Goal?

Training Advice/Discussion Marathon

7 years ago 07/20/2016 12:25pm EDT

Hi Everyone,

I am training for the Boston Marathon next year, and wanted to set a difficult, but realistic, goal for myself. I ran throughout high school and college, with my PRs all coming around Junior year of college, before I had to sit out my Senior year with plantar fasciitis.

My PR's were:

800m - 1:59

1500m - 4:00

5K - 15:45

10K - 32:59

After college I got a desk job and sat on my butt for about four years, before deciding to get back into running. After about five months of marathon training (~50 miles / week), I ran a 2:55:51 this past weekend.

I am hoping that will be fast enough to get me into Boston Marathon next year (I am a 25-year-old male), and I would like to set a goal for myself that is ambitious, but not impossible.

For reference, I am hoping to build up to about 70-75 miles per week during marathon training around February and keep that up until race day. And I am thinking of using the next five months (August - December) to build up my speed for some local 5K/10K races.

Thanks!

7 years ago 07/20/2016 2:29pm EDT

re: Trailblazer_907

Hard to tell really. Considering you are still getting back into it, you will probably see some quick improvements. 2:55 given your circumstances is a great effort. However you can definitely go much quicker... If your looking for an ambitious goal, I would say maybe sub 2:45. However the fact that it is Boston makes it that much more unpredictable. It greatly depends how your body is able to handle the toll of the course. It will also depend on how training goes. I could very easily be wrong. Maybe training goes great, and you should shoot for sub 2:40. It's hard to tell. I would start by doing what you said and building up your speed through the fall, then make sure to get in that marathon training. In a couple months you should post again, describe your training, how you've felt, etc... then a much more accurate prediction can come from that.

Best of luck to you though in your training and racing!

7 years ago 07/20/2016 2:36pm EDT

re: Salami

I suspect that this has been discussed ad nauseum somewhere on this board, but how would you compare the three world major courses in the US?

I have run NYC (2:35 in my marathon debut in 2014 when there were sustained winds in the mid 20 mph range) and Chicago (2:30 in 2015 on a generally nice day that was a little warm (probably the cause of the cramps that took me from being on 2:28 pace through 30k to 2:30 high),

I am pretty sure I am going to run Boston in 2017. I really have no idea how to assess what my goal time for Boston should be.

I think I can be competitive in my age group, so I will check what the top times in that age group are and assess from there; but any idea of how Boston compares to Chicago assuming that you have good weather at both?

7 years ago 07/20/2016 3:58pm EDT

re: Salami

Salami wrote:
Hard to tell really. Considering you are still getting back into it, you will probably see some quick improvements. 2:55 given your circumstances is a great effort. However you can definitely go much quicker... If your looking for an ambitious goal, I would say maybe sub 2:45. However the fact that it is Boston makes it that much more unpredictable. It greatly depends how your body is able to handle the toll of the course. It will also depend on how training goes. I could very easily be wrong. Maybe training goes great, and you should shoot for sub 2:40. It's hard to tell. I would start by doing what you said and building up your speed through the fall, then make sure to get in that marathon training. In a couple months you should post again, describe your training, how you've felt, etc... then a much more accurate prediction can come from that.
Best of luck to you though in your training and racing!

2:40 should be your c goal. b goal maybe sub-6 pace and A 2:30ish.

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