Sub 3HR Fall Marathon Thread - The quest for less amateur glory begins?

How is everyone's week going? Back in the swing of things here

M: 5.2 to work @ 8, 5.2 from work @8

T: 5.2 to work with 4x800 efforts at ~6, 2min jog in between, 5.2 from work with 1x800

W: 5.2 to work @ 8, 5.2 from work @8

Th: 3.5@ RP 6:33, 6.5 remainder to work @755

Tomorrow is an 18-miler, will just try to focus on a steady effort around 7:45 or so, Saturday maybe off, Sunday thinking of a tempo run (have friends coming into town, hence the long run tomorrow)

runnerchef wrote:

How is everyone's week going? Back in the swing of things here

Your work commute sure is a great way to get some mileage. Paces look good, too. Good luck with the long run. Hope the weather cooperates for you.

After last Saturday's 8K race, I'm on a roll. A decent 7miles on Sunday at 7:39 pace, a 20-mile long run Tuesday, and 10 miles today, closing with 7:14, 6:58, 6:23.

To be honest, the long run was a struggle. I started at sub-8 pace, but crashed at 16 miles. Averaged 9:48 pace for the next three miles, then rallied somewhat with an 8:24 final mile.

I've got a 5K race this Sunday, so just some light mileage planned for tomorrow and Saturday.

runnerchef wrote:

How is everyone's week going? Back in the swing of things here

M: 5.2 to work @ 8, 5.2 from work @8

T: 5.2 to work with 4x800 efforts at ~6, 2min jog in between, 5.2 from work with 1x800

W: 5.2 to work @ 8, 5.2 from work @8

Th: 3.5@ RP 6:33, 6.5 remainder to work @755

Tomorrow is an 18-miler, will just try to focus on a steady effort around 7:45 or so, Saturday maybe off, Sunday thinking of a tempo run (have friends coming into town, hence the long run tomorrow)

Fighting lots of aches and pains (mainly a stiff shoulder, lower back, and foot arch/heel), but got in a nice easy steady 19 k last night around 4:40k moving pace.

Woke up this morning and my shoulder is still sore, but running didn’t seem to aggravate it, but now my knee is also sore. So just fingers crossed all this pain recedes soon enough.

last chance runner wrote:

runnerchef wrote:

How is everyone's week going? Back in the swing of things here

Your work commute sure is a great way to get some mileage. Paces look good, too. Good luck with the long run. Hope the weather cooperates for you.

After last Saturday's 8K race, I'm on a roll. A decent 7miles on Sunday at 7:39 pace, a 20-mile long run Tuesday, and 10 miles today, closing with 7:14, 6:58, 6:23.

To be honest, the long run was a struggle. I started at sub-8 pace, but crashed at 16 miles. Averaged 9:48 pace for the next three miles, then rallied somewhat with an 8:24 final mile.

I've got a 5K race this Sunday, so just some light mileage planned for tomorrow and Saturday.

Strong bounce-back on the 10 miler.

How was your nutrition on the long run? I've been doing a little gu chew every two miles and it seems to work (what I did in my half ironman days usually)

Free_the_thigh wrote:

Fighting lots of aches and pains (mainly a stiff shoulder, lower back, and foot arch/heel), but got in a nice easy steady 19 k last night around 4:40k moving pace.

Woke up this morning and my shoulder is still sore, but running didn’t seem to aggravate it, but now my knee is also sore. So just fingers crossed all this pain recedes soon enough.

I hear you on that - these little aches are annoying...hopefully does not get worse so you can push through!

runnerchef wrote:

How was your nutrition on the long run? I've been doing a little gu chew every two miles and it seems to work (what I did in my half ironman days usually)

I never consume any calories during long runs. The theory is that I'm training my body to metabolize fat. I'm not sure if that's valid or not. During marathons, I'll drink the Gatorade, and eat a couple gels. I have an iron stomach, so no need to practice taking the gels. No worries about any issues on marathon day.

runnerchef wrote:

How is everyone's week going? Back in the swing of things here

M: 5.2 to work @ 8, 5.2 from work @8

T: 5.2 to work with 4x800 efforts at ~6, 2min jog in between, 5.2 from work with 1x800

W: 5.2 to work @ 8, 5.2 from work @8

Th: 3.5@ RP 6:33, 6.5 remainder to work @755

Tomorrow is an 18-miler, will just try to focus on a steady effort around 7:45 or so, Saturday maybe off, Sunday thinking of a tempo run (have friends coming into town, hence the long run tomorrow)

Still jealous that you run to and from work!

My week has been ok. Long tempo run was not great on Tuesday because it was so hot an humid that morning... on top of the fact that I ran 9 the night before and was still dehydrated.

I wanted to see if anyone had thoughts on a workout I should do for tomorrow (Friday) with my marathon on Sepetember 2 (10 days out). Do I hit some intervals around 5k-10k pace? Or should I just do a run with some MP work in it? Example, 10 mile run with 2x3miles at MP w/ 1 mile easy between? I did 12x1 min on/off last week, probably around 5k/10k pace. Yasso 800s the week before that. Both weeks also had a tempo run.

Great thread. I'll join in. Sure, I've gone sub3 (PR 2.50 in 2014) before, but after a long lay off I decided to get back into it and I am targeting 3hrs in 8wks time in Belgium.

Me: 47yrs male. I normally average 40mi/wk, trying to up that to 50 in the 10-12wks before the race. I've been hobby jogging for 10yrs with an average of 35mi/wk. Last year when I started running again, I started doing bigger workouts and then rest more between. I'm getting a bit older and realized that this set-up workes better for me.

So basically my week consists of 3 main runs: 800s at 10k speed, Marathon pace and long run (with 5k M-pace in the end every other week or so).

Last week I started up after a bout of sinusitis so I skipped the 800s...

Mon: Easy 6.3mi (8/mi)

Tue: M-pace 6.9mi (6'49/mi), total 10mi

Wed: Easy 6.3mi (8'10/mi)

Thu: Rest

Fri: Rest

Sat: Long+M 18.5mi (8/mi) + 3.2mi (6'44/mi). Total 21.7mi

Sun: Rest

Volume: 43.8mi

Happy with the comeback after my cold. This week has started really well so far...

Mon: Easy 6.3mi (9/mi)

Tue: M-pace 8.2mi (6'48/mi), total 11.6mi

Wed: Rest

Thu: 7x800 2'56-2'59 with 2'40 jog rest, total 9.1mi

Fri:

Sat:

Sun:

Looking to get a long run in tomorrow (20mi), maybe 3mi M-pace in the end if the legs are there. Will be sniffing on 50mi total this week.

Bring it on! 8wks to marathon... Will be racing cph half in 4wks. Looking to do 1'24 with some left in the tank. Then I know I'm getting there.

Good luck everyone on your races!

Great to see everyone still trucking...

Closed out a solid week

Fr: 18 mile long run @ 7:45 with last ~2 miles around RP - 90% humidity, lost like 5 pounds during the run hah.

Sat : 5 mi @8

Sun: 5 mi @7:45

Closed the week out at 70 miles - going to try to replicate 70+ for the foreseeable future.

This is probably a better, more active place to talk about this than my own standalone thread.

I started off aiming for sub-3 next Sunday, but I've adjusted and I'd be happy anywhere from 3:04-06. (Really, anything that gets me comfortably under my BQ time.

I'm really going to rest up this week and get healed and strong. This was my final medium long run from the weekend:

Final 14-mile tune-up yesterday before next Sunday's race.

1 - 7:41

2 - 7:43

3 - 7:42

4 - 7:43

5 - 7:41

6 - 7:42

7 - 7:42

8 - 7:41

9 - 7:42

10 - 7:42

11 - 7:00

12 - 6:58

13 - 7:00

14 - 6:12

Probably a little hard, but I'm taking it very, very easy this week. I needed the confidence shot.

Looks good IndyJ. Go out conservatively and I like your chances.

Here's my week:

M: 6.4 @ 7:18 Bridle

T: 1.8 mile w/u, workout was 1.5 mile @ 15K pace, mile @ 10K, 800 @ 5K all with 400m jog rest:

result: 1.5 mile at 9:03 (too fast), 1 mile at 6:04, 800 at 2:59

So I screwed up the pacing but I'm good with it; Total 7.1 miles

W: 6 mile at 7:50 easy I think treadmill

TH: OFF

FR: 6.1 mile at 7:30 easy

SA: 6.4 miles at 7:36

SU: 2 hour long run, I did some very serpentine trails so it had me running at 9:20 pace for a lot of it. I'll give this 15 miles effort-wise as I ran sub-8s when off the crazy trails and effort-wise it felt that way

TOTAL: 47 miles solid week I think. My pace has gone down with more workouts, the heat, and increased mileage. I'm cool with that as the workout shows I can still run some fast paces.

Great Running everyone! Exciting to watch the progress. New book coming out October 1- might give you motivation. I tried to make the workout and racing sections true to life.

https://www.amazon.com/Racing-Shadows-James-K-Dill/dp/1627202420/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=racing+Shadows+Dill&qid=1566831311&s=books&sr=1-1

Still dealing with aches here and there, sore lower back, knee, and heel/plantar fasciitis, but had a good recovery week.

M rest

T rest

W 19.2 k at 4:40 pace

T rest

F 14k with 6k at pace (got excited at started too quickly ran the first 3 around 3:50 to 3:55 pace, then settled in closer to 4:00 -4:10 pace)

S: easy 8k at 6:30 pace

S: 26k at 5:10k pace (but was hilly and through the woods, so I’m not as worried as my pace always drops in there and I was running closer to 4:30/4:40 pace on the flat road parts)

67.2 k total

43-year-old male. Marathon in 9 weeks. Most recent marathon was 4:29:34 two years ago, but I ran 3:12:46 less than two years before that. Lack of consistent training. Doing better this year.

I've been averaging just under 40 miles per week, so happy to see 48 this past week. Not bad considering three days I ran only 2 miles.

9 Weeks to Go - 48 miles

Sunday- 7 miles at 7:39 pace

Monday- 2 miles at 8:02 pace with 5 sprints

Tuesday- 20 miles 2:46:20 sub-8s early, 16-19 9:48 pace, closed with 8:24

Wednesday- 2 miles 9:58, 6:56

Thursday- 10 miles 1:12:15 closing 7:14, 6:58, 6:23

Friday- 2 miles easy with 2 x 400 at 5K pace

Saturday- 5 miles easy with 400 at 5K pace

The 5K pace efforts on Friday and Saturday were prep for a race yesterday. I ran 18:12, which is 5:51 pace. That's pretty much on target for sub-3 marathon, just need to push up the volume for a few weeks.

Indy - I've been following your thread. I think sub-3 is possible with good weather, just start conservatively.

THOUGHTSLEADER - We seem to be running similar mileage and similar fitness. When is your marathon?

October 20. Will probably max out at 50-55 mile per week (with 20-22 mile LR) as my long runs peak the next 3-5 weeks.

Oh yeah I keep forgetting gels on my travels for these long runs. I think that will be a boost this week for an 18-miler I hope!

THOUGHTSLEADER wrote:

October 20. Will probably max out at 50-55 mile per week (with 20-22 mile LR) as my long runs peak the next 3-5 weeks.

We seem to have the same plan. My marathon is that same weekend, too. So far I have three long runs in the bank 18, 18 and 20. Bonked on the last two. Not worried still two months to go.

Feel strong right now but know I can go even faster due to finally good weather.

On Saturday, I ran my first 20 in 2:40:38, then have run 2 6-mile recoveries and am in good shape.

Ran the last 8 at 3:23 pace, or around 62 mins.

Hoping to run 3:20-3:25 or even better, depending on how Cbus goes this fall and how the weather turns out.

Ran 1:42 at Cap City this past spring but was pissed at myself because I went out too fast (50/52:19). Should have gone out at 51/48 and come home in 1:39. So I put on the miles and went up from 35 to 55 over the past few months slowly.

So I finished of the week and got the long run in as well. So the week ended up like this:

Mon: Easy 6.3mi (9/mi)

Tue: M-pace 8.2mi (6'48/mi), total 11.6mi

Wed: Rest

Thu: 7x800 2'56-2'59 with 2'40 jog rest, total 9.1mi

Fri: Rest

Sat: Long run 20mi (8/mi) last 5k@M-pace (6'45/mi)

Sun: Rest

Total of 47 miles.

Struggled a little bit this week after my cold. But feeling good, should bounce back nicely next week.