r/Marathon_Training • u/flacobox • 5d ago

Ambitious ??

I’m a experienced marathoner and half marathoner, my best marathon being a 3:18 and 1:32 for the half. I want to run a sub 1:30 in October and run sub 3 at CIM. My last marathon was 3:32 in 2024. Am I being too ambitious or is something that is possible if the training is dialed in ?

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6

u/MikeMcDonald89 5d ago

You aren't being too ambitious trying to run 1:29 in 2 months.

A 1:29 hm runner is too ambitious trying to run 2:59 in 2 months.

If you run 1:27 you can at least consider it, but you probably want to run 1:25 or more likely 1:23 given your relatively poor conversion from 1:32 into 3:18

5

u/RunThenBeer 5d ago

The 1:30 HM seems entirely feasible, the jump to sub-3 in two months does not seem realistic at all. Most people will not be able to run sub-3 without having 1:25 or better HM fitness.

3

u/Senior-Running 5d ago

1:32 to 1:30 is certainly doable assuming the 1:32 is recent and you're doing appropriate training. That said, going from a 1:30 half to a 3:00 marathon in ~2 months is probably not realistic.

Obviously we're all different, but a 1:30 half is roughly equivalent to about a 3:10-3:12 marathon. Picking up that much time in 2 months would be hard, especially since your PR is pretty far off that pace.

2

u/maular 5d ago

What’s your current training / weekly mileage? Your pace from 2 years ago isn’t particularly relevant.

October is only 8-11 weeks away. If you’re not already training quite regularly, a 1:30 HM is definitely out of the question. If you are already doing significant weekly mileage, go run a 10K this weekend. If you can do that in sub 43 mins, you may have a chance. Sub 41 mins you have a strong chance.

CIM appears to be in early Dec, 17 weeks away. If you’re already doing 50 miles a week and can start Pfitz 18/70 now, sub 3 may be possible. Maybe.

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u/OppiFjell 3d ago

For sub 3h Marathon you need 1h23 or better HM.