Back-to-back Marathons?

STrooper

I have resumed training after taking a 3-week break (after realizing I had been in some sort of training/maintenance for more than a year), have seen good progress in my full and half-marathon times.

I find the half-marathon distance "easy" now. but I do run a mix of half-and full marathons. I have run some of the shorter races on back-to-back weekends.

I have an opportunity to run two marathons on back-to-back weekends in February (my current training scheduled is timed to the second one). Both are on the South Carolina coast and are flat courses (compared to my training grounds which incorporate between 1,000 to 2,000 vertical feet of climbing in the mid-to-long distance runs).

One of my running friends and co-worker thinks I've become a strong enough runner and run enough miles per week to accomplish this with the caveat that one should be run "easy" and the other one as a PR goal race.

Thoughts?

Note: I will cross-post this.

athensguy

Go for it. I did marathons two weeks apart, so that's a little easier than one week. If I was going to worry about time in either of them, I would make the first one my target.

justal313

People do the Dumbo Challenge, and that's 5K,10K,Half,Full in 4 straight days. If you've been training I'm sure you'll be fine. Maybe get a sports massage on the wednesday between.

CarsonRuns

Doing the first will hurt your performance in the second. Can you do it? Probably. Should you do it? Depends on your goals. If you want to run your best marathon in the second one, don't do the first one.

STrooper

My goal is really simple...to say that I have done it. I am now signed up for both. And we have family in both places.

I ran the Hilton Head course last year (19 miles of it in the cold rain), but with only 170+ marathoners out on the course it was more like a training run than a race because I was out there alone much of the time once the half-marathoners continued up the expressway. I don't know if it will be much larger this year as most entrants are running the half marathon.

Myrtle Beach will be about 10 times that number, about the same size as the Rock n Roll Raleigh Marathon. I've run approximately half that course in a race in October.

Huppdiwupp

It's definitely possible, but I don't think you can run any of them as a peak effort. For obvious reasons, it cannot be the second one, as the first one even if you run it at a slow pace, would negatively impact your taper. And while a future race obviously cannot directly impact your first marathon, if you really run it flat out, you should allow much more time to recover properly. I think you have to make a choice: either run both of them and accept that they won't be as fast as possible, or just focus on one. If you do want to run both, I would put more effort into the second one; at least that way you'll reduce the chance of getting injured.

kristinegift

Could you run one as a half? I ran my first full marathon in mid-October last fall and two weeks later ran a PR in a half marathon, and I felt like I was fully recovered after maybe 6-7 days. Doing a half one week and a full another would give you double the chance for PRs, right? Either way, good luck! That's a busy race season!

STrooper

What's interesting is that my training schedule was geared to the second one (before I started thinking about running the first one in Hilton Head), and on the taper weekend before the race, I was still scheduled to do 16 miles of a fast finish long run.

The other thing about this year compared to last year is the time between my marathon in November and the Hilton Head marathon in February is the same as last year. BUT, I didn't train all that hard between the two, in part because I was recovering from an Achilles tendon injury, it got cold, and my wife was recovering from knee replacement surgery (and we ended up at the hospital the week before Christmas in 2013).

Last year after the marathon, I put in 26.7 miles of running after taking a bit of a break for recovery. This year I intentionally took a rest break with no running for 3 weeks and still put in 38.5 miles at the end of November.

In December 2013, I only got in 62.2 miles of running. In 2014, even with illness, I put in 95.1 miles. And in January 2014, I only got in 89.5 miles because the weather was so cold and miserable. So far, since January 1st, I've already put in 48 miles and missed only one day running.

So, there is a huge difference in my readiness level between the two years. Weather will play a role in my last minute choice for how to run these. I suspect Hilton Head will be the "easier" of the two since it will be the first one, but I can also see a scenario where I run both of them relatively easily and set back-to-back PR's.

pobalita

I just ran two marathons (one trail/one road) two weeks apart with the only goal of finishing. The second one was harder, but I finished. I think that back-to-back weekends would have been do-able. One thing I've noticed is that it's taking me a lot longer to recover after the second one.

I also ran the Seattle Quadzuki last fall - 4 half marathons in 4 days. I had no problem with that at all and felt strongest in the fourth race.

KOW75

You are strong and consistent. If your goal is to simply do it, I don't think you will have a problem at all. Just listen to your body and don't push too hard.

STrooper

Thanks! I should have updated this.

So, I ran them both. Both were cold (where was that warmer beach weather in winter?) though Myrtle Beach was a tougher run due to conditions. I hit the wall at 23.5 miles. Never experienced that before but I did finish. Was more tired on the second one at mile 20, but ran a very consistent pace through most of the race. The 25 mph headwind after mile 17 wasn't fun, but at mile 23 my brain went "now." For the last 3.2 miles I ran at an increasing speed, passed lots of people and set a new PR beating my previous PR from November by 7:55.

michable

Congratulations! Great PR! Must have felt great to be able to finish so strong in the second marathon, especially after hitting the wall in the first.