Is my goal realistic?

codename_steve

So I'm heading into my fourth year of running. I did my first full marathon in 2015 and finished in 6:15. Did the same race a year later and finished in 4:35. I'm thinking ahead to this next training cycle and I'm thinking of shooting for a marathon with similar terrain in 4:00. The my next goal would be to get down to 3:30 to qualify for Boston. Kind of a longer-term goal is to run Boston by my 30th birthday (currently 25).

Do you think these are reasonable goals? I've read that runners see improvement until they've been running consistently for 7 years, so I'm well within that. But how much improvement at each time is reasonable to aim for?

daj150

My first question is where you read about this 7 year number? Your improvement is based on your body and mental fortitude. I have been running my whole life, doing distance running for well over 10 years, and I am at my fastest ever, and plan on continuing that trend. The key to improving your speed is to push yourself as hard as possible without getting injured. You will also need a good training plan, and need to either be very self-aware or have a coach to help you level-set if you are pushing too hard, or not enough. I always like using heart rate as a good gauge. I know my ranges, so if, for example, my long run has me in the upper ranges of my HR, then I know I am pushing myself way too hard and need to back off. On the flip side, if I am doing intervals and my HR is in Zone 2, I know I can push myself a lot further. Granted, my muscles might not be able to handle that, so I might need to buil up my strength as well.

Short story long, I personally don't see this to be unreasonable as long as you have a plan and don't push yourself to injury. Good luck!

codename_steve

Thanks for the story! I don't remember exactly where I heard the 7 year thing, but I've heard it multiple times. I've been following Hal Higdon's plans so far with slight adjustments for where I'm at at any given time, i.e. if I'm coming back from a break, or if I've been doing a half marathon plan and two weeks after the race rolling into a full marathon plan. I used a heart rate monitor for a while last year, but I find it easier to base off of perceived effort, and no injuries last year!

lporter229

I agree with @daj150. I have been running for nearly 20 years and I am still seeing improvements at 44 years old. I ran my fastest half marathons this past fall and I ran my fastest marathon of 3:38:26 at age 43, which qualified me for Boston. To be fair, for many years I just ran without a goal to increase my speed. I gradually got faster due to time spent on my feet, but it wasn't until I started doing focused training to get faster that I really saw results. I used a lot of the training info in Matt Fitzgerald's "80/20 Running" to help me get there. The point is to do the bulk of your running at slow, easy pace to supplement your speedwork, which is about 20% of your runs. However, I think that what really helped me in the end is the solid foundation I had built up with years and years of easy running.

In short answer to your question, yes, I do believe your goals are realistic. The main thing is refraining from trying to do too much to soon, which is likely to lead you to injury. The suggestion of hiring a coach is a good one, because, as runners, we are often our own worst enemies. When it comes to training for endurance racing patience is the most important thing. Good luck!

MobyCarp

codename_steve wrote: »

So I'm heading into my fourth year of running. I did my first full marathon in 2015 and finished in 6:15. Did the same race a year later and finished in 4:35. I'm thinking ahead to this next training cycle and I'm thinking of shooting for a marathon with similar terrain in 4:00. The my next goal would be to get down to 3:30 to qualify for Boston. Kind of a longer-term goal is to run Boston by my 30th birthday (currently 25).

Do you think these are reasonable goals? I've read that runners see improvement until they've been running consistently for 7 years, so I'm well within that. But how much improvement at each time is reasonable to aim for?

I infer from the parts I bolded above that you are female and you're looking at a BQ target of 3:35, aiming for 5 minutes faster to beat a cutoff. If this is correct, you have an ambitious goal. It may be possible, but you don't really know until you get out there and see what kind of development you're capable of.

If you are male, the BQ target is 3:05 and you'll have a much tougher time improving enough to get into Boston before age 30. The targets do get easier with age, but not before age 35. While it is possible that the Boston Athletic Association may change the qualifying targets for years after 2018, IMO the targets are unlikely to get any slower than they are right now.

simmoner4

Yes it's reasonable - don't do too much too quickly. Speed workouts like interval training and tempo runs will help speed and ive also studied research on how weight training can help too. If you're in your off season incorporate weights more - train the upper body for posture and endurance (3 sets of 12+ reps with lower weight) and lower body for strength (5 sets of 5 reps and heavy weight). Your lower body won't bulk up because of the weights, running will cause it to not bulk and provide your lower body endurance. Weight training has significantly helped me in increasing speed. But this is all just my suggestions from personal experience and research

codename_steve

thanks everyone!

@MobyCarp I am female (username is a misnomer).

@simmoner4 thanks for that suggestion! I've been doing Stronglifts and gotten my squats up to 1xbodyweight. The hardest part for me when it comes to lifting is being consistent, I'll do really well for a month, then stop for 2-3 months. Currently I have 4 weeks until my training cycle starts, so I'm back at trying to make lifting a habit. Usually once training starts I sacrifice my lifting in favor of running. I have also been doing speed work; during last year's training cycle I alternated one Monday as Tempo and the next as Yasso 800s. I plan to continue that but also add another day of the week (maybe Wednesday?) as Hills. I've been using Hal Higdon's plans for my training for the last three years.

spiriteagle99

You might want to try Pfitz or Hanson for your next cycle, since they do include more speed work than the Higdon plans. OTOH, you've made great progress with Hidgon so far, so you may not be ready yet to try something different. Eventually, you will probably want to try something new in order to get different training stresses. Same old same old is not good for improvement.

Most runners I know, including Higdon, say that specificity in a sport is most important. You'll make more progress by running more than lifting more.