Sub 3:15 marathon

I really really want to do a sub 3:15 marathon within the next year as age is against me.

I followed the sub 3:30 RW schedule and ran FLM in 3:29:58.I feel that I sold myself short as I had a cold and although the physiological effects may not have been bad, the psychological ones were. In the build up training I ran a 42:56 10k and a 1:33:30 half marathon.My previous bests were 46:10 and 1:40:30. I appreciate that I need to get quicker overall but how do I do this? Is the sub 3:15 schedule the way to go or is it too soft?

Well you know what happened to me - I ran 39:08 and 1:24 in prep for FLM 06 and then had a mare! I reckon that you can clearly do the stamina bit (overdoing which was what messed me up) so just make sure you mix your training up - I was running one hard[-b] track session a week (c6 min mile pace) and that'd what gave me then basic speed.

I'd be nervous about the sub 3;15 schedule and lots of faster miles - overdoing the mileage gave me my injury - when I had a minute a mile spare to do my target time.

Hello Caterpillar girl!

Your 10K and HM times sound practically the same as mine - so I'm certain you can improve on your marathon time!

My HM PB is from last October (1:33:08). I ran FLM this year and followed the sub 3:30 schedule. Finished in 3:15:49 (I was a bit surprised I have to admit). I did modify the schedule though due to a knee injury in January as I just couldn't do all the runs....generally I was swimming Monday and Friday, and running the rest. My intervals and tempo runs were never as fast as the schedule suggested - particularly as the long runs got longer, my speed drops off. i also did more long runs than suggested....I basically built up to 20 as soon as I could and stuck there. I managed 7 x 20-22 runs over the last ten weeks which i think really helped.

Anyway - don't know if this helps at all. I like the RW schedules as they give a bit of variety, and the weekday runs generally aren't too long (compared to P&D) for example so i can fit it around my work.

How old are you by the way? I'm 35 and worrying that age may be starting to count against me soon!

What are your plans for your next marathon? London on GFA next year??

Oh - just spotted the date on your post!