To Marathon or not to Marathon?

#101
Zetti said:
Yes Please :D
Updates are always welcome to educate us noobs
Click to expand...
Hey, just discovered this, a performance calculator. Pretty neat. Don't know how accurate it is, but I like the way that it jibes with my calculations. I was figuring I needed to be able to get down to a 8mm pace on my threshold or tempo run for about 10 miles or so in order to run a sub-4-hour marathon, and that's the pace calculated by this guy's formula for a 3 mile run, so I'm not too far off. Just a little bit more conservative about what I think it will take to be able to run the kind of marathon I would like to run. For a 10-mile run, he thinks the pace should be more like 8:33 mm, which is good news for me, if it's true.

Anyway, it's interesting, check it out:

http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/index.php/calcUsage/calculate

Or just Google "Running Performance Calculator"
 
#102
Bare Lee said:
Hey BG, having gotten caught up in the marathon bug of this post myself, if you don't mind, I'd be interested in hearing what your approach will be over the next eight weeks.
Click to expand...

Absolutely! This will be my third marathon. After running a few half's I decided to run a full in which my first one was two years ago. After that experience I decided to run a marathon a year at a different location. Well this year I ran a 50K in May and now decided to run a marathon in October, I'm a bit ahead of schedule this year:) That is just a little back ground of where I stand on distances.

For both marathons I ran 4 days a week, which is usually the running schedule I like to keep, training or not training for something. (When I am not training for something, I will rarely run long on the weekends). Even for the 50k I ran 4 days a week, if I have time I would sneak another day in there. Between family life, kids, and work, 4 days works great for me. I am not a big weekly mileage person, and I work well on rest. I usually max out between 35 and 40 during peak training, very low by standards. I don't do any speed workouts, track workouts, but I have a great course that consist of some great hills, which I run allot.

So now that I dropped the garmin, my approach to this marathon will be training by time. For my weekly runs (3 days) I will keep my runs anywhere between 50-60 minutes, then I will do my long run on the weekend. For my long run this weekend I am looking to run 2 hour and 20 minutes.

Here is my schedule that I came up with for my long runs on the weekend. I did say 8 weeks but I realized I was wrong, it's a bit more but I will be doing a two week taper, which I don't count for training. So it's 9 weeks of training. This whole non-training with a garmin is completely new for me so it will be interesting.
2:20
2:20
1:50
2:30
3:00
1:30
3:00
1:30
3:00
1:15
Marathon!

Sorry to ramble. Before my first marathon I did a lot of research on schedules and what not just to get an idea, and I did buy a great book called "Advanced Marathoning" by Pete Pfitzinger. Don't get fooled by the word "advanced", it's a great book that covers everything about a marathon and training.


My first marathon I ran and trained in KSO Vibrams, and my last 20 miler I came down with a bad case of ITBS. I barely ran the whole month before the marathon, but I ran it. At mile 15 the ITBS hit me hard! It was a combination of walking and running to the finish. My time was 4:16:00. I had a great time though. I realized I was running my long runs to fast, run them slow.

My marathon last year was barefoot, I came in at 3:55:12

This year running without a garmin, life is busier, and mileage will be lower.... Who knows and who cares. I just like the atmosphere of the marathon and will do my best, of course this will be barefoot as well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bare Lee
#105
Barefoot Gentile said:
I am sure it will.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the encouragement. It really depends on how well my feet and legs can take the extra pounding. My will and general fitness are good.
One more question: how do your other three runs fit into your weekly schedule, and do you take a day off before or after the long run? Ok that's two questions. I'm running every other day, so that's four days one week, and three the next, or seven days in two weeks, with a projected two long runs each weekend. I'm sure Advanced Marathoning (just ordered for 5 bucks) will have some suggestions, but I'm wondering if I should impose some kind of rhyme or reason on my runs' sequencing. Right now it's pretty haphazard, but I'm still in a phase of discovering what sort of training protocols work best. You said you don't do speedwork, but my idea was to work on pace during the week, and distance on the weekend.
 
#106
migangelo said:
god help us all if you find someone like me.

dama, you got it. i'm a big wuss who doesn't want to get hurt and laughed at by getting past by a "jolly" woman. fit woman, they can pass me anytime. ;)

nick has seen me drunk so i guess he has seen about every side of me. the driving, he's just a wuss.
Click to expand...

No, dude, your driving IS scary. When I end up on top of you every time you take a right turn -when it was actually not my plan- THAT is a scary driver. ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bare Lee and NickW
#109
those two are just country kids complaining about someone who knows how to drive well and aggressive. i'm not nearly as an aggressive driver as i was years ago so they should count their blessings. i learned how to drive in socal freeways and really honed my skills living in mexico. with no rules of the road you have to pay attention to everything.
 
#111
Maybe Mike is smarter then we think he is. It sounds like he has some well thought out plans on how to get a lady on his lap.
NickW said:
Hahahaha!
Click to expand...

You are laughing, Nick, except you too must end up in his lap when he takes that turn...BWAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: NickW
#112
Bare Lee said:
Thanks for the encouragement. It really depends on how well my feet and legs can take the extra pounding. My will and general fitness are good.
One more question: how do your other three runs fit into your weekly schedule, and do you take a day off before or after the long run? Ok that's two questions. I'm running every other day, so that's four days one week, and three the next, or seven days in two weeks, with a projected two long runs each weekend. I'm sure Advanced Marathoning (just ordered for 5 bucks) will have some suggestions, but I'm wondering if I should impose some kind of rhyme or reason on my runs' sequencing. Right now it's pretty haphazard, but I'm still in a phase of discovering what sort of training protocols work best. You said you don't do speedwork, but my idea was to work on pace during the week, and distance on the weekend.
Click to expand...

I run my 3 weekly runs early in the morning, if I don't run then it will never happen in the evening. Yes I take a day off between runs which I prefer, but there will be times when I will run back to back days if I miss a day and have to get a run in. I really don't have a set schedule on what days I will run, for example I ran yesterday, I might run today, if I do I will take monday off. If I don't run today then monday morning I will run. As far as long runs I go, I don't like to run the day before a long run, for some reason my body responds well to rest, but again that always changes. But I do believe that running a day before a long run has some benefits, as the saying goes "running on tired legs" I think this method does increase conditioning. The day after a long run I like to do some sort of activity, whether is taking a walk, taking a bike ride, or a small slow run, it's good to break up the lactic acid build up and keep the blood flowing.

I got that book for $5 as well, good deal! At the end of the book he has some training plans, the lowest plan has you maxing out at 55 miles per week. I never followed it, but it's a good blue print go by and get an idea how a training plan works and is laid out. He goes into detail about different workouts as well, basically touches upon everything.

For my second marathon, I did a tempo run run once a week, the book goes into this type of workout, I found them to be helpful. I completely understand what you are talking about finding what works best for you. Everyone is different and eventually you will find out what will work for you.
 
#113
Thanks for the feedback BG. Perhaps when I'm closer to an actual marathon, I may try your conditioning tip of running on tired legs sometimes. I read somewhere that one famous trainer prefers that approach. In the meantime, I'll stick to my regimen and see if I naturally build up distances on the long weekend run, and continue to work on pace during the week. I don't want to push the rate of my development as a runner for some specific performance goal, but if it happens that I graduate to 16-20 mile runs as part of my overall fitness progress, then the challenge of completing a marathon would be a lot of fun. I just don't want the marathon to feel like something I'm making a great sacrifice for. I'm also not sure I would enjoy the added logistical planning for food and water, hopefully I'll be able to make do without, for the most part. I really like running without having to carrying anything, but perhaps if I develop a greater appetite for distance I'll be more willing to deal with extra accessorial hassles.
 
#114
Gentile's plan sounds good and almost identical to what I am doing now. I really like using time vs. mileage because of the rough condition variable. For example, last weekend I did a 4 hour run, the mileage was 17. Slow pace, right? But I feel the run was a success because 12 miles were on rough asphalt, I was at 10,000 elevation, and the road had many hills, some 13 percent grade. I was no more sore after that run then a faster 10k earlier in the week (8 min. per mile. About the fastest I can run without tearing up my feet). Over the next month I plan to do 20 - 24 mile long runs in similar conditions, no matter how long it takes because at this point, foot conditioning is my biggest concern for my Marathon in October.

The marathon bug is biting. I just registered for another one in January (an excuse to get out of the cold and head to California).
 
#115
rickwhitelaw said:
Gentile's plan sounds good and almost identical to what I am doing now. I really like using time vs. mileage because of the rough condition variable. For example, last weekend I did a 4 hour run, the mileage was 17. Slow pace, right? But I feel the run was a success because 12 miles were on rough asphalt, I was at 10,000 elevation, and the road had many hills, some 13 percent grade. I was no more sore after that run then a faster 10k earlier in the week (8 min. per mile. About the fastest I can run without tearing up my feet). Over the next month I plan to do 20 - 24 mile long runs in similar conditions, no matter how long it takes because at this point, foot conditioning is my biggest concern for my Marathon in October.

The marathon bug is biting. I just registered for another one in January (an excuse to get out of the cold and head to California).
Click to expand...
Yah, conditions are an even greater factor with barefooting, right? The marathon I'm thinking of entering--the Twin Cities Marathon--is very tame and urban, so surface conditions and hills won't be much of a factor, which is probably best for my maiden voyage. I like your training tip to come close to matching the distance of the marathon so that one can properly condition the feet. Foot condition is my biggest concern too, because each time I increase my distance, my left foot in particular tends to feel a bit achy the next day or two. Anyway, I'm interested to see how you and BG's marathons turn out.
 
#116
As far as food and water goes, I do carry a handheld for long training runs. I used to rely on GU's, gels, etc. but this time around I am not going to rely on them for the long runs, I think it's a mental crutch actually. For the actually marathon I will bring some GU's. I never eat before I run in general, so why not try this out with 2+ hour runs.
 
#117
Barefoot Gentile said:
As far as food and water goes, I do carry a handheld for long training runs. I used to rely on GU's, gels, etc. but this time around I am not going to rely on them for the long runs, I think it's a mental crutch actually. For the actually marathon I will bring some GU's. I never eat before I run in general, so why not try this out with 2+ hour runs.
Click to expand...
Yah, I used to cycle every day for eight hours or more (with a sh*t load of gear & water). Food wasn't usually a problem, just water. There's always a point when your body dips into its fat reserves, it's just a matter of what kind of pace you can maintain between feeling hungry and getting that second metabolic wind. Nonetheless, I'll start investigating things like GUs if and when I get closer to running a marathon. In the meantime, I'll try your training tip and run fasting or with whatever I already have in my gut. That's what I do already, but I haven't been out for more than 90 minutes yet. I haven't had to take along water either, but I would imagine that would change with 2+hour runs. Thanks again for the feedback.
 
#118
Good stuff...all things I wondered about!
I think I need to slow my long runs donw as I was ocilating between 7:45 and 8mm even on my longer runs (12mi was the longest I got before ITBS set in)....I bet if I tone down the pace for thoes longer runs I should be able to avoid inflimation again. I just get so pumped during longer runs because I love running so much...then I end up pushing a tad to hard.

BG....I would be concerned using gels in a race if I never used them during training. For the most part in my athletics I tried to keep as much the same as possible between training and competing. Do you know of anyone who has reacted negatively to gels? I would hate for a surprise ¾ of the way through my first marathon…
 
#119
Zetti - Slow your pace way down on your long runs. You will be surprised at what you will be able to do. I have noticed the most in recovery time. The slower I go, the shorter the recovery.

I have reacted negatively to gels. I almost gagged the first one I tried, but no stomach discomfort or anything like that. The key is to slowly eat/drink one and have water to help wash them down. I swore I would never use them again. Too messy, not real food, etc., but I have been trying them again. They are pretty convenient to pack along on the long runs.
 
#120
Most big or even little marathons have lots to eat, fruit and such, and GU'y stuff , too, set out for runners. You'll probably not need to carry anything on the actual race, just on your longer training runs.
...but you knew that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Support Your Club

Xero Shoes Huaraches

Forum statistics

Threads
19,152
Messages
183,616
Members
8,701
Latest member
Barefoot RPS

Latest posts

Share this page

Share this page
Top Bottom
Back
Menu