Shaving an hour off my marathon - Training

lucrece

27/04/2005 at 11:41

So I did FLM as my first marathon and have now gotten over the never-again phase. I would like to do NYC next year as it's my home town. I also want to get faster--much faster--as I don't want to spend five hours on my feet again. I'd like to shave a whole hour off my 5:05. I don't ever expect to be super fast, I just want to have a more comfortable, faster marathon and not get injured (which I did six weeks before FLM).

My plan is to work on getting faster at shorter races and then try some half marathons. Does anyone have any advice? Is my goal realistic?

Johnny J

27/04/2005 at 11:47

It's a totally realistic goal provided that you are prepared to work hard and consistently. Get your times down to sub-50 for 10k and sub-1:50 for 1/2m and then pick up one of the sub-4 hour schedules that are published and use it as a guide. For an example click the grey 'Training' tab at the top of the page and look at the RW schedules.

You may find it easier to spend a one-off 5 hours on your feet.
:-))
JJ

Gumps

27/04/2005 at 11:47

focus on your aerobic base. Long and slow for 6 months at aerobic HR.

by all means do the summer race season and see improvements but don't train specifically for them.

Pantman

27/04/2005 at 11:59

Ditto to gumps - build the miles slowly for long term gain...

Broadsword Calling Danny Boy

27/04/2005 at 12:01

Start about 6 or 7 miles in ...

lucrece

27/04/2005 at 12:11

Thanks for all the speedy replies!

I'm convinced that what really helped me get through the marathon despite the injury setback was all the months of base training I did last year (thanks, Pantman!) So I am totally sold there.

I guess I'll keep the base sessions in and start adding sprinklings of speedwork? What about hills?

The only thing I'm worried about is getting bad shins again (my right one is still not fully recovered). Oh and as an aside I did change my running style per the POSE clinic in October.

Tiredbuthappy

27/04/2005 at 17:16

Hi Lucrece-I'm came in at 4.58 so we almost met up again. Well done on that time with injuries and all.
I was wondering about NYC next year as my birthday's in November.
Another Trailplus weekend coming up maybe??? We could get the nice lady to make us do kenyan hills all day!

Freemers

27/04/2005 at 17:18

Jaq - can't believe you're thinking about another marathon! What happened to sticking to halves?!!!

Mind you, I have decided to do FLM next year so I can't talk either...

Tiredbuthappy

27/04/2005 at 17:20

Got in to a conversation about the whole London, Paris, New York trilogy thing and one glass of wine led to another marathon!

mountaingirl

27/04/2005 at 18:09

You may joke about going on another Trailplus weekend ... but I think it was a big factor in me taking 45mins off my marathon time! Went on a w/e before my first marathon, thought I'd taken it all on board. But you only really know what a marathon is all about when you've done one, so I went on a second weekend this year and it all made so much more sense! And no, I don't work for them!

ed_m (a.k.a. ultra bunny)

27/04/2005 at 19:44

ermm shave?
sounds like hacking to me ;-)

lucrece

28/04/2005 at 10:30

hi, jaq! my birthday is in novemeber, too. congratulations on your time!

however, i went for my first run last night since the marathon and was so discouraged. 4.5 miles. it was very hard and painful. guess i'm not ready to come back yet. :(

Tiredbuthappy

29/04/2005 at 09:43

I was out again by last Thursday and I've two brilliant club runs this week. Too good to be true! I think I will go to Trailplus next year anyway. It was a fab weekend and I learnt a lot.

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