Discussion: Marathon ...
in: AliC; AliC > 2015-08-29
Aug 31, 2015 3:10 AM
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bmay:
Ahh... to be young and silly and run a marathon on a whim, I remember those days :-).
The good ... you already have the fitness to run a marathon. No question you could up and run one tomorrow if you felt like it. You're already miles ahead of 99% of those training for Portland.
But, to race one, that's another thing altogether ...
1) Putting in the miles on the road is key to getting your legs used to the pounding. The most important aspect is it will help with the recovery after the race. Race a marathon on poorly trained legs and you won't walk for a week (yes, I've been there). So, you need the long runs, at least some of them on the road. But, don't overdo it of course.
2) Tempo runs ... key work-out for preparing your legs for the goal marathon pace. Work up to ~10 miles if you can.
3) No doubt you are well aware of the challenges of pacing a marathon. Over-cook it early and the last half (i.e., from 20 miles to the finish) can be absolute torture. It's remarkable to go from easy 6-minute-mile pace to absolutely killer 10-min-mile pace over the span of an hour or two. But, absolutely great fun when you nail it on a pace that you can handle all the way to the end.
Good luck!
The good ... you already have the fitness to run a marathon. No question you could up and run one tomorrow if you felt like it. You're already miles ahead of 99% of those training for Portland.
But, to race one, that's another thing altogether ...
1) Putting in the miles on the road is key to getting your legs used to the pounding. The most important aspect is it will help with the recovery after the race. Race a marathon on poorly trained legs and you won't walk for a week (yes, I've been there). So, you need the long runs, at least some of them on the road. But, don't overdo it of course.
2) Tempo runs ... key work-out for preparing your legs for the goal marathon pace. Work up to ~10 miles if you can.
3) No doubt you are well aware of the challenges of pacing a marathon. Over-cook it early and the last half (i.e., from 20 miles to the finish) can be absolute torture. It's remarkable to go from easy 6-minute-mile pace to absolutely killer 10-min-mile pace over the span of an hour or two. But, absolutely great fun when you nail it on a pace that you can handle all the way to the end.
Good luck!
Aug 31, 2015 11:11 AM
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bmay, you are saying everything that is in my head this week! What's going on! Number 1 is particularly important from my single six month marathon experience - you're training to prevent muscle damage, rather than to necessarily increase your speed and endurance.
But numbers 1-3 essentially perfectly summarise my marathon experience, which led to a time I was incredibly happy with.
But numbers 1-3 essentially perfectly summarise my marathon experience, which led to a time I was incredibly happy with.
Sep 2, 2015 3:50 AM
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AliC:
=) Yeah, it's always been in the back of my head to do it, so here goes!
Thanks for the advice, both. I know I'm totally late to the game, but working in those directions as much as I can. I'm working on distance runs at 7:40 pace of 16, 18, 20, 22 miles and hoping for tempos at 6:40 of 6, 8, 10, 10, before the taper. For starting 6 weeks out, it's kinda the most I can do, I figure!
And then race day will try to really just be good and run no faster than 6:40 and hope I've done just barely enough prep to keep that and run sub-3. We'll see!
Thanks for the advice, both. I know I'm totally late to the game, but working in those directions as much as I can. I'm working on distance runs at 7:40 pace of 16, 18, 20, 22 miles and hoping for tempos at 6:40 of 6, 8, 10, 10, before the taper. For starting 6 weeks out, it's kinda the most I can do, I figure!
And then race day will try to really just be good and run no faster than 6:40 and hope I've done just barely enough prep to keep that and run sub-3. We'll see!
This discussion thread is closed.