Sub 2h30 Spring Marathon - The Quest For Amateur Glory Rides Again!

Some very good workouts posted by Tyler and by marathonNoon so far this week. Keep up the nice work, guys!

I'm still in my pre-marathon training phase of building fitness with different energy systems and gradually moving toward quality, marathon specific long runs. I had a solid week in that respect.

Monday: 10.6 easy (6:58) with 10 x 100m strides

Tuesday: 11.2 easy (6:50)

Wednesday: 8 x 1000m at 3:09 average with 400m jog recovery. 12 miles total.

Thursday: AM 5 recovery (7:25), PM 7 recovery (7:10)

Friday: easy day, 6.3 miles (6:59). Wanted more mileage but needed a mental and physical recovery day.

Saturday: 20 miles, 6:35 average pace. No real quality but cruised in the 6:0X range for the last 8 miles. Very enjoyable run that was surprisingly easy; never felt depleted at all.

Sunday: 11 easy (7:15)

= 83 miles

I'm happy with where I am 14 weeks out from my marathon. 2 more weeks of general fitness work like this, then the specific marathon work will start. I'm racing a HM on March 15, and that will give me a good indication of where my fitness is and whether or not 2:30 is a reasonable goal.

@marathonNoob - I really don’t know, to be honest with you. My main goal is to get through the race without walking again. After that, a course PR would be fantastic. And if I can get under that by a lot, who knows what the day will give me.

Good stuff Antonio. Those 1000s look nearly exactly like a workout I did a few weeks back.

Tyler, I was relieved to see your half result because seeing some of your workouts the last few weeks had me intimidated. I was thinking, if this guy is only in 2:30 shape I'm toast. But I think your half, without much of a taper, suggests you've got a good shot at mid 2:20s.

Wow, some great work this past week. I took a down week with just a bunch of easy 10s - three days on the treadmill again, and a day off. Yesterday, I did a nondescript 13 and felt amazing. Apparently rest is a good thing, who knew?

I'm waffling a lot on how to approach the next phase. I have eight solid weeks locked in the bank and I think the extra PT is helping my hips. Part of me wants to try cranking out a few 110+ weeks, but speed is obviously my limiting factor, not endurance. So, I might also go down to 90 and really focus on the workouts and recovery. I have a half coming up in four weeks, so perhaps it would be good to spend more time faster than 5:30 pace and take an honest recovery day afterwards. After the half I'll have another month to do tempos before Boston, so that might work out ok.

@marathonNoob - That may be true, but that is based on a flat course, which Boston is not. We don't have hills down here to contend with, so I am trying my best to build strength for when April 20 comes so that I can attack that course.

@BigRoundNumbers - It never hurts to build some speed. Recovery days are so key. I love them. I am hardly going at anything less than 8:00/mile on my recovery days & I am loving it.

First time posting on this thread. Ran 2:31 high off 60 mpw last fall. Just ran 5th consecutive week of 80 with no plans on increasing. Here is what I did last week. Good luck everyone!

Mileage: 80

Workout 1– 18x800 on track @ 2:27 with 2:30 active rest.

Workout 2–During long run. 5m wu, 13m @545, 4 m cd.

Normal runs for rest of mileage around 7 min pace. 70 off singles plus 10 from doubles.

@Givetallugot - Welcome to the thread! 18x800!? That's a MONSTER workout.

Givetallugot wrote:

Workout 1– 18x800 on track @ 2:27 with 2:30 active rest.

Wait. What? Why?

Freddy Spaghetti wrote:

Givetallugot wrote:

Workout 1– 18x800 on track @ 2:27 with 2:30 active rest.

Wait. What? Why?

I train with a 2:20 marathoner and that’s what he was doing, so I joined in. I did 32x300 @ 71 with 75 rest with him the week before. We’re done with the speed portion of our training. 10 weeks until the race. We will be more marathon specific in weeks to come. The idea is to do a bunch of speed to improve economy so marathon effort feels easy.

Givetallugot wrote:

Freddy Spaghetti wrote:

Wait. What? Why?

I train with a 2:20 marathoner and that’s what he was doing, so I joined in. I did 32x300 @ 71 with 75 rest with him the week before. We’re done with the speed portion of our training. 10 weeks until the race. We will be more marathon specific in weeks to come. The idea is to do a bunch of speed to improve economy so marathon effort feels easy.

What race are you running?

In other news, I got my ADP acceptance email for Chicago. Looks like we'll have 3 on the line from this thread in October!

What race are you running?

In other news, I got my ADP acceptance email for Chicago. Looks like we'll have 3 on the line from this thread in October!

Toledo Glass City which is a week after Boston

Givetallugot wrote:

What race are you running?

In other news, I got my ADP acceptance email for Chicago. Looks like we'll have 3 on the line from this thread in October!

Toledo Glass City which is a week after Boston

Thought those workouts looked familiar! You DDP guys have been rocking it this winter! Good to see someone else I know on this thread!

Givetallugot wrote:

What race are you running?

In other news, I got my ADP acceptance email for Chicago. Looks like we'll have 3 on the line from this thread in October!

Toledo Glass City which is a week after Boston

I've heard great things about Toledo Glass City. What sold you on it?

I live in Ohio, so proximity was a big factor. Toledo has the flattest course in Ohio and the highest BQ % among Ohio marathons.

beersandmiles wrote:

Givetallugot wrote:

Toledo Glass City which is a week after Boston

Thought those workouts looked familiar! You DDP guys have been rocking it this winter! Good to see someone else I know on this thread!

Okay sweet! Send me a message on Strava so I know who you are.

Givetallugot wrote:

I live in Ohio, so proximity was a big factor. Toledo has the flattest course in Ohio and the highest BQ % among Ohio marathons.

That is totally valid. I looked at the course and it looks wild with a lot of turns. Maybe they just look blown out of proportion on a small scale.

Givetallugot wrote:

Toledo has the flattest course in Ohio

You misspelled "Athens".

Little concerned because I have put on some extra weight in the middle of training. Walking around at 152-157 lbs. Usually I am around 145-150 lbs. I think it may be diet related, so I will need to clean up the diet a little bit. Less meat, sugar and alcohol. Hopefully that helps.

Otherwise training is going well. Had a nice 16 mi LFR (6:04 avg). Did a 10x1k on/1k float that started at half pace for the on portion, progressing to a several seconds faster. Floats were around 6:15ish pace. The last 2 reps were tough and I fell of the pace progression, but the subzero windchill, forgetting my gel and the extra weight were contributing factors to a less than smooth WO, I think.

Will be racing an 8k in 3 weeks. Not as confident at the short stuff, but will give it a good effort. Should be starting transition into marathon specific work soon for Grandma's. Anyone here running Grandma's?