Sub 3Hr Marathon

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Westley Mar 2015 1:54pm, 19 Mar 2015 1,530 posts	0 Westley Well done tizer, Lou, baz, & Joe. Great performance. Go again Stoosh. Better weather should help. More snow here forecast for tomorrow.
idlewild Mar 2015 2:10pm, 20 Mar 2015 268 posts	0 idlewild Some good performances last weekend, well done everyone! Sneaked in my long run before the weekend today. 30km with 21.1 @ 4:15/km (PMP). Definitely feels harder keeping marathon pace in training compared to racing, I really find these long runs with MP sections tough. Really good training runs though, and I think they do give you the confidence to believe you can drop into MP and just churn out the miles...
jdarun Mar 2015 10:43am, 21 Mar 2015 272 posts	0 jdarun 25k at MP today, going very comfortably till the wind got up and made the last couple of upwind legs a bit of a struggle. Still hit sub-3 pace overall, which I'm pleased with - fastest I've ever managed for one of these long MP runs. Pulse was well under control too, so there should be a few more seconds in the tank with fresh legs and a crowd etc on race day (weather conditions permitting - I'm now starting to check the forecast for high temps...).
gopace Mar 2015 5:36pm, 21 Mar 2015 71 posts	0 gopace Just did my first run since December after lots of injuries (some from climbing and skiing in the Alps, so not all running). My marathon in the end of May is out, and I probably won't try for one this year now. Running coach for this group, with everything from beginners to advanced runners, that I try to run with once a week said I should not do any races this year and build up properly since he says I have started running too fast and too far way too soon for my body to have a chance to get ready. I guess he may have a point (some of you gave similar pointers here), but I still have not made up my mind if I should listen to him. Sounds like it may be too boring so perhaps better to give it another go to at least try to do a fast 10k this year. If it fails at least I tried, risk if I can only run slow is that I stop altogether. Anyway, tallied my miles since I started running in late Dec 2013, and I have only amassed a total of 1100 km or 685 miles (every run moved to the log here now) so, yea, it's not much. But felt so damned good before I pulled that hamstring this Dec. Had finally stared getting some payoff on doing regular long runs, and I felt I was so much faster than my two rather easy sub 39 10k:s. Would suck to think I could not run fast this whole year just to be able to get ready for racing next summer, don't know if I could do that. Looks like my first attempt at a sub 3h marathon is at least a year and a half away anyway - if it ever comes. Great to see some of you others making great efforts though! I have not wanted to check in here since I hurt myself, since I have felt it might be too depressing when I have not been able to run. Good going everyone! Hope to get back to finding inspiration here again now that I can at least jog - good luck to all of you in your future attempts!
jdarun Mar 2015 8:04am, 22 Mar 2015 273 posts	0 jdarun Hm...I'd think that 6 months of steady training should see you quite capable of an autumn marathon, especially if you treat it as a trial run rather than flat-out for sub-3. I bet a lot of couch potatoes get round VLM on less than that. But obviously the important thing is to start gently and not push yourself too hard too soon.
Westley Mar 2015 12:13pm, 22 Mar 2015 1,531 posts	0 Westley Gopace, it does seem extreme that you not run any races but it is important that you certainly build in plenty of recovery time/runs in your training and let your body's muscular-skeletal system catch up to cardiovascular gains.
LouLou Mar 2015 12:25pm, 22 Mar 2015 6,678 posts	0 LouLou Go pace - I can see his point about training for a marathon in terms of build through distances first but not sure not racing is the answer - maybe target some specific races e.g a 10k and a half and see where it gets you to?
gopace Mar 2015 12:46pm, 22 Mar 2015 72 posts	0 gopace Thanks for the input all of you! And well, his point was not to get back to racing fast this year since my body has not had the time to get ready for the speed I have been going with only a year of training since picking up running (with lots of injury interruptions too). Slower races would be fine of course, but that's not really racing to me. My plan after I realized my spring marathon was gone (after almost 4 months without real running) was to perhaps to try to go sub 38 or even 37 on a 10k this summer since I felt that was within reach before the injuries, and then go for a sub 3 attempt this fall as jd suggested. But his take was that I will only get more injuries, especially pushing for more speedy distances such as 10k before my body is ready. The coach/mentor for this group is 52 and a sub-3 runner himself as late as this past year (in the tough NYCM race), so I guess he does know a thing or two when it comes to running with an older untrained body. Will have to give it some more thought and then come up with a plan. I have even thought about trying to become a… …swimmer. :/ Talk about desperation. If I do run a marathon this fall - I have thought about making it a UK one after all the awesome reports and stories here (mostly about races I had never heard of before). You are the greatest!
idlewild Mar 2015 8:40pm, 24 Mar 2015 272 posts	0 idlewild Bit of an obvious suggestion gopace, but what about working on your half marathon time this year? I can see your coach's point about short stuff and injuries, and obviously marathons impose a lot of stress on the body for other reasons. I've always found the half to be an ideal distance for that reason - not fast enough for stress-related injuries, but not long enough for the race (or training) to break down the body. Easy run today after getting in my 30k yesterday. I've got a half-marathon on Sunday, so want a mini-taper before then.
Dave Kelly Mar 2015 5:53pm, 26 Mar 2015 46 posts	0 Dave Kelly I've not been on this thread afor a wee while. Been too busy training and working. Not been racing too much. Raced a half at Warwick on Sunday and got a good 41s PB in 1:17:30 on a bit of a hilly course, plus a nice negative split - helped by the fact that I got most of the hills in the first half