Will complete marathon training plan early - what should I focus my remaining time on?

VanderTuig1976

Hi,

I will be running my first marathon on May 1st. I am loosely following Hal Higdon's Novice 2 program. I follow his schedule for the weekly long runs but do my own thing during the week (I run more short and middle distance miles than his program calls for).

On a good week, I run between 40-45 mpw. My longest run so far has been 18 miles and other than some calf cramping at mile 17 I've done just fine with the longer distance runs.

I will finish the program early - will have 4 weeks before I need to taper. The longest run in the program is 20 miles.

During this extra time, do you recommend that I increase my overall mileage or focus on building my long run up? If it is the mileage volume, should I continue to run 20 miles every week as my long run?

FWIW, the race course has rolling hills. I haven't done any hill work yet but plan to incorporate it into my middle distance runs.

Thanks in advance for your input!

TavistockToad

Hills!

MobyCarp

Don't run 20 miles every week. Repeat the last 4 weeks of long run distances in your extra 4 weeks, which should include one 20 mile run. Add hills to your long runs. If your race has hills, you need to train on hills. People who train for hilly races on flat terrain tend to suffer a lot on race day.

If possible, get a 20 mile run in with as many hills as the race course has. If you can get two such runs in, that's better.

kristinegift

Repeat a block. If you have 4 weeks before the taper starts, do, say, 12, 16, 14, 18-or-20 and keep doing your other midweek runs. It'll be a good confidence booster.

lporter229

MobyCarp wrote: »

Don't run 20 miles every week. Repeat the last 4 weeks of long run distances in your extra 4 weeks, which should include one 20 mile run. Add hills to your long runs. If your race has hills, you need to train on hills. People who train for hilly races on flat terrain tend to suffer a lot on race day.

If possible, get a 20 mile run in with as many hills as the race course has. If you can get two such runs in, that's better.

This!

STrooper

Let me add a note about hills.

This is not the standard hill training that others see in various training plans (they are usually classified as "hill repeats" where you find some moderate hill, run up it approximately 200m at relatively high intensity, and then walk or jog back down to where you started and you do it again, and again, until you get the number of hill repeats in).

By running hills in the mid-to long-run, you get a sense of managing the energy expenditure as you climb over distances that range from a quarter-mile to distances extending up to or beyond a mile. Most of the time, hills are rarely over a 3% grade if you are using a road course. The steepest I have ever climbed is one nearly a mile in length with an average grade of 5% with a shorter section that reached an 8% grade.

May people worry about the uphill (and the effect it can have on tiring the quads, but be aware it can be equally as hard on the hamstrings if they are your weak link), but what goes up must often come down and the effect of running downhill (and the danger of overstriding) can actually be worse because you are in a state of eccentric contraction of the leg muscles as extend and control/absorb the impact of each step while using gravity.

Think of it this way. You know how to push off and contract the leg muscles to jump. You have to use those same muscles to contract to slow the impact as you land and absorb the downward force of gravity. It will be helpful to accustom you muscles to that sort of use if you can find terrain that is suitable and similar to the race terrain.

Don't overdo it, however because you can end up with difficulty in allowing the muscles time to recover from a new stressor.

I know. I learned this lesson the hard way.

VanderTuig1976

Thanks for all of the advice - I appreciate the time each of you took to respond. I've learned so much from this group - you guys rock!!!