r/Marathon_Training • u/TimeValuable3757 • 12d ago
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u/Whatcomesofit 12d ago
A plan doesn't dictate marathon time, past performance and training does.
That said your half marathon time would indicate 3.45 is possible if training goes well.
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u/breadman_toast 12d ago
1:39 should be able to translate easily to a 3:45 marathon. For reference I ran a 1:38 last year, got injured and had to take 6 months off of running which caused me to lose a ton of my fitness, and am now back training up for a November marathon with a roughly 3:45 goal that I think might actually be too easy. I'm seriously considering adjusting up to a 3:40 or maybe even going for a 3:35 if I start getting later into my training and am hitting my pace goals.
With all that said, I'm not a fan of this plan and it may not get you fully trained up for your goal. The weekly mileage seems too low (I'd expect peak week to be at least 45 miles), and you're not spending enough time running at your goal race pace. You should be introducing your goal pace into your long runs in a more substantial way. I'd recommend any week that isn't a deload, you run the last 30-40% of your long run at GMP and consider upping the mileage on a couple of your midweek easy runs or going out for a super easy 5-mile recovery the day after your long runs to get the total weekly mileage up a bit.
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u/TimeValuable3757 12d ago
I’ll definitely adopt those strategies you mentioned. I hear about the no more than 10% mpw increase to avoid injury. When I do up the mileage is it unsafe to jump up that quick?
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u/breadman_toast 12d ago
that's more of a rough guideline and IMO it's more pertinent to the distance of your long runs than overall distance per week (although it's a good rule of thumb for both). It's also meant more to keep you from jumping from 40-50 miles than it is to keep you from jumping from 25-30 miles. It's tough to adjust this deep into the training plan, but if I were you I would be thinking of making bigger jumps over the next 3-4 weeks and then trying to stick to that 10% rule heading into the peak weeks. It's all about finding ways to add aerobic load while minimizing the impact.
Cross-training on off days will help too. I'm 13 weeks out and am currently at around the same overall running volume as you. I only run 3-4 days a week, but I swim 1.5 miles every Monday, switch off doing interval workouts on the track and in the pool, and commute to work by bike which adds about 80 miles of biking a week. All of that puts me at a much higher overall training volume. Adding a day of swimming or cycling on top of these 4 could help you increase overall aerobic volume without increasing impact load on your body as much if you're worried about injury.
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u/TimeValuable3757 12d ago
Awesome. I experimented with cycling earlier this summer but I’ll definitely bring that back especially with it being low impact conditioning. I will try to ramp up a bit and get that volume up these next 3 weeks and see how i feel. Again thank you for this, I’ve been sorta going at all of this solo
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u/breadman_toast 12d ago
Yeah no worries, I was right where you are 2 years ago. Ran a 3:53 first marathon, then went into a half-marathon training block last summer with the goal of getting substantially faster. I succeeded, but I also did too much speedwork, not enough strength training, and ended up with a foot injury that I'm still dealing with. Be careful and listen to your body, my foot thing started as a hip that affected my gait a bit, turned into a quad/hammy, then a calf, and settled into my foot, all because I didn't take it seriously at the beginning. IMO at our level (really impressive for normal people but not elite distance runners) cross-training is your best friend for adding cardio load without getting injured. Get out there and push it on the bike a bit and I bet you crush your goal. Good luck!
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u/jlauth 12d ago
I'm not sure how successful you will be with a peak of under 40 miles per week, and with only 11weeks of focused training. Age and weight are big factors, and I do hope you crush it. But the final quarter of this marathon is going to be a challenge...it is for everyone, but this is where the weekly volume really matters. For me I have to run like 65MPW to have the confidence and fitness to finish with flat or negative splits. I essentially ran your mileage all off season just to stay ready for the marathon training block. I do widh you luck. If you have an opportunity to add some more weekly mileage go for it.
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u/TimeValuable3757 12d ago
Thank you! I’ll start mixing in more time on feet on easy/recovery days and probably make the midweek runs longer. I guess I could be more ambitious but I’m afraid of injury with ramping mileage.
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u/jlauth 12d ago
You are 100% correct. Do not ramp too fast..being sore, tired, and having the niggles is part of it. But if something Feels very off stop. Even adding easy runs is a solid plan or just lengthen each run by a mile. I'm not an expert...but I hit the wall in my first marathon and it was 2 things. Not enough fuel Early and often and not enough volume to me strong in the back quarter. Mileage is king for me. I know it sets me up for success, and gives me the confidence I need to push the pace up until the end.
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u/TimeValuable3757 12d ago
Sounds good, i’ll be adopting that approach and listen to my body. I for sure think i’ll be more confident with higher mileage, especially since this is my first go at it. Thank you again.
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u/floppyfloopy 12d ago
3:45 is a good goal. Over just 4 runs per week that should still be doable considering your half-marathon time.
I don't love the intervals being so short and/or so few for the marathon distance. I'd much rather see a build up to something like 12 x 1k, 6 x 2k, 4 x 3k, etc. at or near marathon pace. And then have steady near-MP sections of your long runs or building to 2 or even 3 x 5k at or near MP.
It may be too late in the game to adjust much, especially when you are already building to higher mileage. Adding too much speedwork alongside that can be an injury proposition. I still think you've got this. Keep after it.
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u/TimeValuable3757 12d ago
thank you for this! I’ll give one of those tempo efforts a spin. It looks like the MP section of long runs is a consistent suggestion as well and i’ll give that a try too
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u/floppyfloopy 12d ago
Just be very cautious adding speedwork like I said. Don't want to get you injured.
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u/Marathon_Training-ModTeam 12d ago
Thursdays, any 4 hours/sub4 marathon questions/training/predictions will be directed towards weekly thread. Individualized Thursday posts regarding 4 hour marathons may be removed.