Hey everybody! Looking for some serious non-trolling advice here. I want to know what it’s going to take to truly be a contender at the next trials, and make a push for the coveted sub 2:10 barrier that us Americans can’t seem to crack. Some context below:
I have the A standard in the marathon. I train primarily alone, especially for workouts, because there is nobody in my area at the same ability level. My half marathon PR aligns right with my marathon PR on all the equivalent performance charts, but I haven’t performed to the same level at 5k-10k. This is mainly because I haven’t trained for or entered competitive races at those distances or been back to track since college a few years ago. My coach is on the other side of the country. I run 80-100 miles per week with two workouts and a long run. I work full time in the 40-50 hour/week range in a demanding corporate environment. I would love to pursue running more as a full time professional, but after scoping out available sponsorships there isn’t anything more than fear and spot bonus for performance available in the market right now. I’m fairly active on social media and have a generally higher follower/engagement level compared to guys at my similar level. I say that because it seems pretty important for gaining sponsorship AKA being able to devote myself full time to running.
Given those details, what would you recommend I do to shut down the haters, bring pride back to the letrun message boards for American male marathoners, and achieve the still far out dream of making the Olympic dream?