Were you able to achieve a dramatic improvement in your marathon time? How?!

arussell134

A little about me: I've used to tell myself I'm just a slow runner or I only care about finishing, and guess what? I never ran much faster than a 10 minute mile. In the last 6-8 months or so, I've stopped telling myself that. Slowly worked on upping my mileage to about 20-30 miles/per week, incorporated hills, intervals, tempo runs, etc. and seen some real improvement.

Here's the thing - I'm beginning to dream of qualifying for Boston. I haven't told many people at all about this, b/c I'm afraid they'd laugh at me. My marathon PR was 5:09 and that was in 2004. Is this absolutely bonkers? Current PR for 5K is 26:24 (that was in the fall) and half is 2:09. I just hired a private running coach at this point to ask his opinion as well.

I'm also perfectly happy and willing to put in the work for several years to get there, too, including several marathon cycles. I know my pace would need to be considerably faster in order to actually shoot for something like this.

So maybe I have two questions, really - am I bonkers (LOL!)? and, second, have you experienced a dramatic breakthrough with your marathon time? If so, how did you achieve it? I'd love to hear some encouraging stories (whether or not they were BQs). TIA!!

Carrieendar

I feel like I answer a lot of questions this way but it's just the truth: miles! I think just upping your average weekly, monthly miles will give you great improvements.

There are other factors:
-getting close to racing weight
- adequate rest
- Making sure most miles are YOUR easy pace
- Adding strides and tempos once ready- and some fast finish long runs in the marathon cycle

vcphil

Yes. I started running to try to quit smoking about 6 years ago. I was pretty slow at first. I couldn't run more than 2 min... It was a huge struggle. It took me YEARS to even be able to run 5 miles lol.

I didn't attempt my first marathon until 2 years ago. I ran 4:10ish.. I brought it from 4:10 to 3:45 to 3:27 now down to 3:19. I expect that I will continue to get faster if I continue putting in the work. I think it helps immensely to be consistant. Mainly it's all about the miles. Running almost every day. Doing the work when no one is watching. You have to become a bit "crazy" a bit "obsessed" lol.. It has to become so much a part of your life that you don't even think twice about it. CONSISTANCY. You can get there if you are committed! You say you run 20-30 MPW- image what you could do off of 40 or 50! :-) it does not happen overnight but your coach should help get you there. I completely believe you can do it!

I had a "crazy" idea about a year ago. My current marathon pr was 3:43 and I hired a coach setting a goal of sub 3:25. People thought I wS crazy. I got laughed at. But I achieved it eventually! You will too!! You just need to commit :-)

arussell134

Carrieendar wrote: »

I feel like I answer a lot of questions this way but it's just the truth: miles! I think just upping your average weekly, monthly miles will give you great improvements.

There are other factors:
-getting close to racing weight
- adequate rest
- Making sure most miles are YOUR easy pace
- Adding strides and tempos once ready- and some fast finish long runs in the marathon cycle

Thank you. You confirmed what I suspected about upping mileage. I feel I would need to do this very gradually. I'm not interested in just "finishing" a marathon any more, so I'm in no rush to sign up for one in 2015 (and possibly, not until late 2016). I'm currently 134 and 5'6", but looking to get closer to the 125 range. I did notice a dramatic improvement in my time dropping 33 pounds last year.

Thanks for chiming in and the encouragement! Appreciated.

arussell134

vcphil wrote: »

Yes. I started running to try to quit smoking about 6 years ago. I was pretty slow at first. I couldn't run more than 2 min... It was a huge struggle. It took me YEARS to even be able to run 5 miles lol.

I didn't attempt my first marathon until 2 years ago. I ran 4:10ish.. I brought it from 4:10 to 3:45 to 3:27 now down to 3:19. I expect that I will continue to get faster if I continue putting in the work. I think it helps immensely to be consistant. Mainly it's all about the miles. Running almost every day. Doing the work when no one is watching. You have to become a bit "crazy" a bit "obsessed" lol.. It has to become so much a part of your life that you don't even think twice about it. CONSISTANCY. You can get there if you are committed! You say you run 20-30 MPW- image what you could do off of 40 or 50! :-) it does not happen overnight but your coach should help get you there. I completely believe you can do it!

I had a "crazy" idea about a year ago. My current marathon pr was 3:43 and I hired a coach setting a goal of sub 3:25. People thought I wS crazy. I got laughed at. But I achieved it eventually! You will too!! You just need to commit :-)

I love you so much for this post, LOL. I have been running 5-6 days a week at this mileage for about 4-5 months now. I am OK with it not happening overnight, that's one of the things that makes me think I might be able to do this.

I am definitely able to commit to this as a long-term goal and be consistent.

I'm also glad to hear what you were able to do with a coach! I'm excited for the chance to meet with mine next month.

Thanks for chiming in here.

karenfaber

I ran between 4:30 and 5 hour marathons for three or four years. Then I had to take a several month break from running (injury) and I gained about 15 pounds. When I came back I couldn't even break 5 hours. I lost 30 pounds and ran a 4:12 using an intermediate Higdon plan. And then I upped my miles. I trained for a 50 miler in July of 2012, so I was running 50-60 miles per week. No speed work or anything, just more miles. That October I BQ'd (I'm an old lady, so only need a 3:55 to quality). Once I was running decent mileage, I added in speed work, intervals, etc., and brought my time down to 3:42 using Hanson's advanced. Then I kept the quality workouts and upped the mileage even more, topping out at 80 miles per week (Pfitz 12/70 with some extra miles thrown in). That's how I got my PR of 3:33. That was fall of 2013.

I had to cancel my fall marathon attempt (wanted sub-3:30) due to PF, and have just now been able to get my mileage back up. I won't be in 3:30 shape for my spring marathon, but with enough of a mileage buildup I hope to get there this fall.

Prior to 2012, I used to joke that I'd age into a BQ and get to Boston when I was 80. More miles, and I was able to BQ at 45, then get a BQ-20 at 46, and hopefully a BQ-25 before I go up another age group.

arussell134

karenfaber wrote: »

I ran between 4:30 and 5 hour marathons for three or four years. Then I had to take a several month break from running (injury) and I gained about 15 pounds. When I came back I couldn't even break 5 hours. I lost 30 pounds and ran a 4:12 using an intermediate Higdon plan. And then I upped my miles. I trained for a 50 miler in July of 2012, so I was running 50-60 miles per week. No speed work or anything, just more miles. That October I BQ'd (I'm an old lady, so only need a 3:55 to quality). Once I was running decent mileage, I added in speed work, intervals, etc., and brought my time down to 3:42 using Hanson's advanced. Then I kept the quality workouts and upped the mileage even more, topping out at 80 miles per week (Pfitz 12/70 with some extra miles thrown in). That's how I got my PR of 3:33. That was fall of 2013.

I had to cancel my fall marathon attempt (wanted sub-3:30) due to PF, and have just now been able to get my mileage back up. I won't be in 3:30 shape for my spring marathon, but with enough of a mileage buildup I hope to get there this fall.

Prior to 2012, I used to joke that I'd age into a BQ and get to Boston when I was 80. More miles, and I was able to BQ at 45, then get a BQ-20 at 46, and hopefully a BQ-25 before I go up another age group.

LOVE IT. This is exactly the kind of story I was hoping to hear.

So everyone has said - more miles, consistency, patience. Got it!

lporter229

arussell134 wrote: »

Thank you. You confirmed what I suspected about upping mileage. I feel I would need to do this very gradually. I'm not interested in just "finishing" a marathon any more, so I'm in no rush to sign up for one in 2015 (and possibly, not until late 2016). I'm currently 134 and 5'6", but looking to get closer to the 125 range. I did notice a dramatic improvement in my time dropping 33 pounds last year.

Thanks for chiming in and the encouragement! Appreciated.

This is one of the smartest posts I've seen in a while. It sounds like you "get it", so you will be fine. You are doing all of the right things. As others have said, mileage, mileage, mileage, but upping it slowly is also important. I picked up a copy of Matt Fitzgerald's 80/20 and I found it to be extremely helpful. I was like you and ran 9:30-10 min mile races for YEARS without ever thinking of improvement. After I ran my first full marathon in 2013, I wanted to increase my speed. I just ran a 3:52 marathon last month. I started by building a 30-35 mile/week base and took it from there, but I never exceeded 50 miles/wk during my training. Hoping to BQ (3:45) in the fall, and my focus will be on adding more miles into the 50-60 range.

arussell134

lporter229 wrote: »

arussell134 wrote: »

Thank you. You confirmed what I suspected about upping mileage. I feel I would need to do this very gradually. I'm not interested in just "finishing" a marathon any more, so I'm in no rush to sign up for one in 2015 (and possibly, not until late 2016). I'm currently 134 and 5'6", but looking to get closer to the 125 range. I did notice a dramatic improvement in my time dropping 33 pounds last year.

Thanks for chiming in and the encouragement! Appreciated.

This is one of the smartest posts I've seen in a while. It sounds like you "get it", so you will be fine. You are doing all of the right things. As others have said, mileage, mileage, mileage, but upping it slowly is also important. I picked up a copy of Matt Fitzgerald's 80/20 and I found it to be extremely helpful. I was like you and ran 9:30-10 min mile races for YEARS without ever thinking of improvement. After I ran my first full marathon in 2013, I wanted to increase my speed. I just ran a 3:52 marathon last month. I started by building a 30-35 mile/week base and took it from there, but I never exceeded 50 miles/wk during my training. Hoping to BQ (3:45) in the fall, and my focus will be on adding more miles into the 50-60 range.

Wonderful - and thanks for the kind words.

I have been racing for the past 15+ years, so I'm beyond "I just want to finish!" I've already BTDT, multiple times, lol.

Again, I really appreciate your encouraging words - and I love your story, too!! I hope you hit that BQ. I keep visualizing how I'd feel crossing the finish line of a marathon I BQ'd at, and it's a pretty amazing daydream!! Good luck!

SonicDeathMonkey80

Read my bio. I ran my first marathon before I was ready. I kinda got cocky after running a pretty good timed half. I crashed and burned and took a year away from the marathon distance and instead ran shorter races while building my easy mileage base. At my subsequent marathon, I shaved an hour off my time. To put things into perspective though, I had 600 lifetime miles going into my first, and was running an inconsistent 20-25MPW. My second, I had almost 2500 lifetime miles, and was running a consistent 45-50MPW. I'm currently training for a marathon on April 18th, and will have over 4000 lifetime miles and am running a consistent 55-65 MPW with a dedicated long run, midweek long run, and speed day, running 6-7 days a week, doubles, etc. Rome wasn't built in a day, but the time does fly by if you're motivated.

arussell134

SonicDeathMonkey80 wrote: »

Read my bio. I ran my first marathon before I was ready. I kinda got cocky after running a pretty good timed half. I crashed and burned and took a year away from the marathon distance and instead ran shorter races while building my easy mileage base. At my subsequent marathon, I shaved an hour off my time. To put things into perspective though, I had 600 lifetime miles going into my first, and was running an inconsistent 20-25MPW. My second, I had almost 2500 lifetime miles, and was running a consistent 45-50MPW. I'm currently training for a marathon on April 18th, and will have over 4000 lifetime miles and am running a consistent 55-65 MPW with a dedicated long run, midweek long run, and speed day, running 6-7 days a week, doubles, etc. Rome wasn't built in a day, but the time does fly by if you're motivated.

Very inspiring what patience & hard work can do!! Thanks so much for sharing.

You all have convinced me to work up upping my mileage. I've got 2 5Ks right now I'm working on (one tomorrow, one March 14th) and then a half marathon on May 3rd. I think this would be an excellent time to start bumping it up.

Anyone have thoughts on what a good build up looks like? An extra 5 miles per week added per month, with maybe every 3rd week backing down a bit? UNtil I'm where? I'm the 40-50 mile range?

Thanks

CarsonRuns

lporter229 wrote: »

arussell134 wrote: »

Thank you. You confirmed what I suspected about upping mileage. I feel I would need to do this very gradually. I'm not interested in just "finishing" a marathon any more, so I'm in no rush to sign up for one in 2015 (and possibly, not until late 2016). I'm currently 134 and 5'6", but looking to get closer to the 125 range. I did notice a dramatic improvement in my time dropping 33 pounds last year.

Thanks for chiming in and the encouragement! Appreciated.

This is one of the smartest posts I've seen in a while. It sounds like you "get it", so you will be fine. You are doing all of the right things. As others have said, mileage, mileage, mileage, but upping it slowly is also important. I picked up a copy of Matt Fitzgerald's 80/20 and I found it to be extremely helpful. I was like you and ran 9:30-10 min mile races for YEARS without ever thinking of improvement. After I ran my first full marathon in 2013, I wanted to increase my speed. I just ran a 3:52 marathon last month. I started by building a 30-35 mile/week base and took it from there, but I never exceeded 50 miles/wk during my training. Hoping to BQ (3:45) in the fall, and my focus will be on adding more miles into the 50-60 range.

I concur.

Far too many people want to run a BQ right now and aren't willing to put in the work, or to even understand that work is required to get there.

I never had a huge breakthrough marathon. I waited for about 7 years before I ran my first marathon and ran 3:38. I ran 3:26 the next year, then have a mini breakthrough and ran 3:12 the following year, qualifying for Boston. I ran 3:10 the following year before running into some injury issues that I am just now getting on the other side of.

I ran high mileage to get there, averaging over 50 miles a week for several years. 85% of that mileage was at my easy pace, falling between 8:45 and 10:00 miles with a little tempo and some strides added in.

CarsonRuns

arussell134 wrote: »

Anyone have thoughts on what a good build up looks like? An extra 5 miles per week added per month, with maybe every 3rd week backing down a bit? UNtil I'm where? I'm the 40-50 mile range?

Thanks

Did you say you engaged with a coach?

JustWant2Run

CarsonRuns wrote: »

lporter229 wrote: »

arussell134 wrote: »

Thank you. You confirmed what I suspected about upping mileage. I feel I would need to do this very gradually. I'm not interested in just "finishing" a marathon any more, so I'm in no rush to sign up for one in 2015 (and possibly, not until late 2016). I'm currently 134 and 5'6", but looking to get closer to the 125 range. I did notice a dramatic improvement in my time dropping 33 pounds last year.

Thanks for chiming in and the encouragement! Appreciated.

This is one of the smartest posts I've seen in a while. It sounds like you "get it", so you will be fine. You are doing all of the right things. As others have said, mileage, mileage, mileage, but upping it slowly is also important. I picked up a copy of Matt Fitzgerald's 80/20 and I found it to be extremely helpful. I was like you and ran 9:30-10 min mile races for YEARS without ever thinking of improvement. After I ran my first full marathon in 2013, I wanted to increase my speed. I just ran a 3:52 marathon last month. I started by building a 30-35 mile/week base and took it from there, but I never exceeded 50 miles/wk during my training. Hoping to BQ (3:45) in the fall, and my focus will be on adding more miles into the 50-60 range.

I concur.

Far too many people want to run a BQ right now and aren't willing to put in the work, or to even understand that work is required to get there.

I never had a huge breakthrough marathon. I waited for about 7 years before I ran my first marathon and ran 3:38. I ran 3:26 the next year, then have a mini breakthrough and ran 3:12 the following year, qualifying for Boston. I ran 3:10 the following year before running into some injury issues that I am just now getting on the other side of.

I ran high mileage to get there, averaging over 50 miles a week for several years. 85% of that mileage was at my easy pace, falling between 8:45 and 10:00 miles with a little tempo and some strides added in.

You just shattered my Boston dreams. I thought it would be easy.

arussell134

CarsonRuns wrote: »

arussell134 wrote: »

Anyone have thoughts on what a good build up looks like? An extra 5 miles per week added per month, with maybe every 3rd week backing down a bit? UNtil I'm where? I'm the 40-50 mile range?

Thanks

Did you say you engaged with a coach?

I'm meeting with a coach on March 7th. See, I'm patient, but I'm also not patient. LOL!

arussell134

CarsonRuns wrote: »

lporter229 wrote: »

arussell134 wrote: »

Thank you. You confirmed what I suspected about upping mileage. I feel I would need to do this very gradually. I'm not interested in just "finishing" a marathon any more, so I'm in no rush to sign up for one in 2015 (and possibly, not until late 2016). I'm currently 134 and 5'6", but looking to get closer to the 125 range. I did notice a dramatic improvement in my time dropping 33 pounds last year.

Thanks for chiming in and the encouragement! Appreciated.

This is one of the smartest posts I've seen in a while. It sounds like you "get it", so you will be fine. You are doing all of the right things. As others have said, mileage, mileage, mileage, but upping it slowly is also important. I picked up a copy of Matt Fitzgerald's 80/20 and I found it to be extremely helpful. I was like you and ran 9:30-10 min mile races for YEARS without ever thinking of improvement. After I ran my first full marathon in 2013, I wanted to increase my speed. I just ran a 3:52 marathon last month. I started by building a 30-35 mile/week base and took it from there, but I never exceeded 50 miles/wk during my training. Hoping to BQ (3:45) in the fall, and my focus will be on adding more miles into the 50-60 range.

I concur.

Far too many people want to run a BQ right now and aren't willing to put in the work, or to even understand that work is required to get there.

I never had a huge breakthrough marathon. I waited for about 7 years before I ran my first marathon and ran 3:38. I ran 3:26 the next year, then have a mini breakthrough and ran 3:12 the following year, qualifying for Boston. I ran 3:10 the following year before running into some injury issues that I am just now getting on the other side of.

I ran high mileage to get there, averaging over 50 miles a week for several years. 85% of that mileage was at my easy pace, falling between 8:45 and 10:00 miles with a little tempo and some strides added in.

Well, I've done three marathons before and two of them sucked. Bad. So no one needs to tell me twice that I'm probably not going to run a sub 3-hour on my next attempt! Bwahahaha!

I am even thinking it might be prudent, with the help of the coach, to make step-down marathon goals. Like maybe my next marathon goal should be 4:30. Once I've met that successfully and just gotten the feel of how to pace the distance, step down to another goal.

But who knows, I'll probably defer to his ideas once we've met and discussed last race times & goals.

In the meantime - thanks everyone for advice & encouragement.

CarsonRuns

arussell134 wrote: »

CarsonRuns wrote: »

arussell134 wrote: »

Anyone have thoughts on what a good build up looks like? An extra 5 miles per week added per month, with maybe every 3rd week backing down a bit? UNtil I'm where? I'm the 40-50 mile range?

Thanks

Did you say you engaged with a coach?

I'm meeting with a coach on March 7th. See, I'm patient, but I'm also not patient. LOL!

I could give you a nice build up plan, but if you are going to be using a coach, I'll let him guide you along the way. Just as a general rule, what I suggest is to go up in mileage for two weeks, then cut back for one week, increase for two more weeks, then cut back. I try not to increase by more than 10% at a time, but it's difficult sometimes. So, a build up cycle might looks something like this.

20
23
23
21
26
26
22
30
30
24

arussell134

CarsonRuns wrote: »

arussell134 wrote: »

CarsonRuns wrote: »

arussell134 wrote: »

Anyone have thoughts on what a good build up looks like? An extra 5 miles per week added per month, with maybe every 3rd week backing down a bit? UNtil I'm where? I'm the 40-50 mile range?

Thanks

Did you say you engaged with a coach?

I'm meeting with a coach on March 7th. See, I'm patient, but I'm also not patient. LOL!

I could give you a nice build up plan, but if you are going to be using a coach, I'll let him guide you along the way. Just as a general rule, what I suggest is to go up in mileage for two weeks, then cut back for one week, increase for two more weeks, then cut back. I try not to increase by more than 10% at a time, but it's difficult sometimes. So, a build up cycle might looks something like this.

20
23
23
21
26
26
22
30
30
24

Great! I love that that seems gradual and do-able.

DavidMartinez2

Carrieendar wrote: »

-getting close to racing weight

This is a huge help in running faster. Judging by your profile pic it may not be a big issue for you. I had two breakthroughs in my running: one was loosing ~20 lbs and the other was being introduced to track workouts.

FromHereOnOut

DavidMartinez2 wrote: »

s and the other was being introduced to track workouts.

Now I'm curious! :-) Care to share your breakthrough story and maybe a link or something wrt track workouts?

CarsonRuns

FromHereOnOut wrote: »

DavidMartinez2 wrote: »

s and the other was being introduced to track workouts.

Now I'm curious! :-) Care to share your breakthrough story and maybe a link or something wrt track workouts?

Speed/track workouts have a very limited effectiveness if you don't have the aerobic base to support it, which you get from weeks and months of easy running.

litsy3

CarsonRuns wrote: »

FromHereOnOut wrote: »

Speed/track workouts have a very limited effectiveness if you don't have the aerobic base to support it, which you get from weeks and months of easy running.

This can't be said often enough, I don't think. I've never had a 'breakthrough' in the sense of 'and I knocked 30 minutes off my time!!!!' or whatever, but that is because I didn't get round to racing until I'd been running for three years and was comfortably running 30+ miles a week. I think it's a breakthrough if I get three minutes off a PR (thats HUGE). But I didn't go through all the pain and misery of training I wasn't ready for, or racing distances I couldn't handle either.

arussell134

DavidMartinez2 wrote: »

Carrieendar wrote: »

-getting close to racing weight

This is a huge help in running faster. Judging by your profile pic it may not be a big issue for you. I had two breakthroughs in my running: one was loosing ~20 lbs and the other was being introduced to track workouts.

I'm currently ranging 133 - 135 lbs and am 5'6". Not sure current BMI. I am open & willing to lose a bit more.

arussell134

OK I know this is *not* long distance, but just had to share that I got a PR on my 5K today! 25:37. Pretty darn pleased with my progress also considering this was a cross country course with mud, trails, a bit of a grassy hill, and dodging puddles!

Now, if I could hold that pace for 26.2....

Carrieendar

Anything over 800 (and some argue 800 included!) is long distance!

litsy3

I think the dividing line is 5000m track = middle distance and 5k road or MT = long distance. So it definitely counts!

arussell134

AH! Thanks for the encouragement, guys! I'm going to keep plugging away.

FromHereOnOut

CarsonRuns wrote: »

FromHereOnOut wrote: »

DavidMartinez2 wrote: »

s and the other was being introduced to track workouts.

Now I'm curious! :-) Care to share your breakthrough story and maybe a link or something wrt track workouts?

Speed/track workouts have a very limited effectiveness if you don't have the aerobic base to support it, which you get from weeks and months of easy running.

I only asked because I am base building now and I have easy access to running long slow distance (basic city and coastal running). And that's all I'm doing for the next couple months. But for any speed or tests or anything requiring a track, I have to pay to join a club to have acces to a track (FYI, I don't live in America where there are tracks at every high school) and so naturally I'm waiting until I'm ready for those workouts before joining (not to mention that running around a track is mentally difficult for me). But once I'm ready and start paying (won't be befor September for sure), I'll want to maximize usage effectiveness and so I'm just looking for pointers or success stories, which I thought it sounded as if the poster I quoted had.

CarsonRuns

FromHereOnOut wrote: »

CarsonRuns wrote: »

FromHereOnOut wrote: »

DavidMartinez2 wrote: »

s and the other was being introduced to track workouts.

Now I'm curious! :-) Care to share your breakthrough story and maybe a link or something wrt track workouts?

Speed/track workouts have a very limited effectiveness if you don't have the aerobic base to support it, which you get from weeks and months of easy running.

I only asked because I am base building now and I have easy access to running long slow distance (basic city and coastal running). And that's all I'm doing for the next couple months. But for any speed or tests or anything requiring a track, I have to pay to join a club to have acces to a track (FYI, I don't live in America where there are tracks at every high school) and so naturally I'm waiting until I'm ready for those workouts before joining (not to mention that running around a track is mentally difficult for me). But once I'm ready and start paying (won't be befor September for sure), I'll want to maximize usage effectiveness and so I'm just looking for pointers or success stories, which I thought it sounded as if the poster I quoted had.

You don't need a track to do speed workouts. You can do them with a Garmin (or other GPS device) or by running a route with know distances. A track is just the most precise way to do them.

Wendy98

I think I mentioned this to you before, but I went from a 3:49 to a 3:14 marathon in 6 months. Yep, shaved 35 minutes off that bad boy! Part of it was my internal motivation. I had been so close to a BQ, but missed it. Secondly, I completely changed how I trained. The general rule is to do your long runs SLOW, like a minute or more slower than your marathon pace. I do not do that. i run them fast to get my body used to the distance and pace. That has been key for me. You do run the risk of injury (as I type this I am injured!). For that 3:14 PR I was also only running 4 days/week. I would cross train on the other days and usually take the day after the LR off. Those 4 running days, I make the miles count. I would start the week with 10 mile run on Mondays (usually at half marathon pace). Tuesdays would be 10k Tuesdays. I do a killer hill workout on the treadmill. Then I would do another run (fast) on Thursdays on the treadmill. I like to do progression runs, meaning that I start at a good pace, and pick up speed every 5 minutes. On the treadmill, I will start at 7.5 mph and I am usually at 9.2 mph by the end and sometimes will get it close to 10 mph for like 20 seconds. This teaches my body to work hard even when its tired.

I don't know if this is an official way, but I found it works for me. I got cocky the past few months though and was trying to run every day. Now I have a major injury that may cause me to miss Boston.

arussell134

Wendy98 wrote: »

I think I mentioned this to you before, but I went from a 3:49 to a 3:14 marathon in 6 months. Yep, shaved 35 minutes off that bad boy! Part of it was my internal motivation. I had been so close to a BQ, but missed it. Secondly, I completely changed how I trained. The general rule is to do your long runs SLOW, like a minute or more slower than your marathon pace. I do not do that. i run them fast to get my body used to the distance and pace. That has been key for me. You do run the risk of injury (as I type this I am injured!). For that 3:14 PR I was also only running 4 days/week. I would cross train on the other days and usually take the day after the LR off. Those 4 running days, I make the miles count. I would start the week with 10 mile run on Mondays (usually at half marathon pace). Tuesdays would be 10k Tuesdays. I do a killer hill workout on the treadmill. Then I would do another run (fast) on Thursdays on the treadmill. I like to do progression runs, meaning that I start at a good pace, and pick up speed every 5 minutes. On the treadmill, I will start at 7.5 mph and I am usually at 9.2 mph by the end and sometimes will get it close to 10 mph for like 20 seconds. This teaches my body to work hard even when its tired.

I don't know if this is an official way, but I found it works for me. I got cocky the past few months though and was trying to run every day. Now I have a major injury that may cause me to miss Boston.

OH NO!!! I hope you get better, that would be a HUGE bummer to miss that.