The sub-5 hour marathon thread

20 watchers

fetcheveryone Oct 2019 3:05pm, 14 Oct 2019 22,835 posts	0 fetcheveryone Thanks for nudging this thread Jenny. I hope your training goes well. Looks like lots of Fetchies signed up for it already: fetcheveryone.com/viewracedetails.php?id=3065613
minardi Oct 2019 3:08pm, 14 Oct 2019 4,893 posts	0 minardi I usually hope to get somewhere between 4.30 - 5 but who knows what happens on the day! These marathons can be tricky little buggers: always ready to rear up and bite you on the bum when you least expect it! I shall follow your journey with interest jenny - good luck!
Rosehip Oct 2019 3:09pm, 14 Oct 2019 13,872 posts	0 Rosehip Oh, I do like a good thread resurrection Best of Jennywren I'm still where I was at my last post in 2018, without a marathon at any pace in between! Planned attack at Boston (UK) didn't happen this year as I "broke" my little toe in March. I'm hoping that lots and lots and lots of winter miles will get me close to 5 hrs at some point in the spring - but I don't want to risk breaking myself doing too many hard road miles, so maybe next autumn is the real target...
HellsBells Oct 2019 3:32pm, 14 Oct 2019 25,831 posts	0 HellsBells My PB is 5:29. I don't think I could go sub 5 but I'd like yo get a little closer to it
icemaiden Oct 2019 3:33pm, 14 Oct 2019 4,931 posts	0 icemaiden I haven't done a marathon since 2011, but I think I could go sub-5 at Milton Keynes 2020.
jennywren Oct 2019 3:35pm, 14 Oct 2019 15,333 posts	0 jennywren I had thought about an autumn marathon but know myself too well and realise I actually hate doing long runs in warm weather. I might try jeffing the long runs and even the race itself. I’ve been doing some of that already to try out different ratios. Settled on 3.5/30 recently which seems to give me an overall reasonable pace.
Sweetie Oct 2019 5:28pm, 14 Oct 2019 4,591 posts	0 Sweetie I'll also be looking to do a sub-5 marathon in 2020, I did have my fingers crossed for the London ballot but, in the absence of that, I'll probably leave it until later in the year - October / November. I also run walk these days but, from the discussion above, I wonder if I am doing too long run sections - I tend to have a 1 min walk break at mile markers or 9 min run / 1 min walk - perhaps I should have a play around with shorter run sections and see if that is more efficient?
Surrey Phil Oct 2019 7:20pm, 14 Oct 2019 3,208 posts	0 Surrey Phil Like minardi, I tend to be between 4:30 and 5:00. However, injury and health issues have resulted in my last two marathons being just over five hours due to shorter than desired training schedules. Off to the Chelmsford Marathon on Sunday and I'll happily take 4:59 even though I have been quicker over that course in previous years.
Rosehip Oct 2019 7:37pm, 14 Oct 2019 13,883 posts	0 Rosehip best of Phil
jennywren Oct 2019 7:31am, 15 Oct 2019 15,335 posts	0 jennywren Good luck Phil! Sweetie, I found longer run sections seemed to be better at first (and more like actual running, if you know what I mean)but the shorter ratio definitely produces a faster time with less fatigue. I’m not sure I really understand how but it does!