We are pleased to announce that as of March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor has been introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!
Seeking input to my plan
CathOh
Posts: 72 Member
So I'm 7 weeks out from my "A" race marathon in which I was hoping to qualify for Boston, and I'm beginning to think that maybe I ought to continue putting in the miles and aiming for a fall marathon instead. I'm seeking your input in whether and how to go about this.
Here's some background:
I've been running since 2004. Over the years, I've run a bunch of events, various distances, pretty much all at the same comfortable pace which is nowhere near the pace I would need to run to qualify for Boston. The May marathon is the first time I've trained with a specific finishing time in mind, and while I've had one person tell me it just isn't going to happen for me, the running/ tri coaches and athletes that I train with have every confidence that I am more than capable. Since January (building off of the base I already had from last year and previous years), I've been increasing my long runs, doing speed work, intervals etc. and I have made a lot of progress in getting my speed up over both short and long distances.
I ran a 30k event this past weekend. It was my fifth run outside this year (since January), and the first run over 10k outside. I have been doing all my runs indoors because this is what my family and work life (and the weather) allows, and also I have been running each run with a very specific pace in mind, and I have been depending on my treadmill to set this for me. (One of these days I need to learn how to use my Garmin).
Going into the 30k, I had two game plans in mind... the first that I would have been thrilled with if it had happened would have been if I had run the race at a 5:00 pace (finishing at 2:30), which would have put me pretty close to my marathon pace. I'm more than capable of this on the treadmill, however I realize that my marathon will not be run on a treadmill :-P For the 30k race, I didn't taper at all (I wasn't sure whether I'd "race" the course, or just "run" it... I was worried about losing precious time if I raced this event, and getting distracted looking towards my "A" race in May), the course is very hilly, and like I've said, I've done about 99% of my runs on the treadmill in my temperature-controlled basement.
Needless to say, this led to my second game plan, which was to use the race as a training run and finish by 2:45. I ran the event in 2:44, a pace of 5:27, which is fine for a training run, but no where near getting me qualified for Boston. This being said, the course that I'm hoping to qualify for Boston on is nothing like the race I did on the weekend.
Regardless, I'm 7 weeks out from my "A" race, and I'm wondering how to adjust my plan. Should I still aim for this race and use it to gauge where I'm at and what progress I have made? I don't want to be pessimistic about the race, but I'm thinking that it is very likely I may need to run a marathon in the fall to qualify for Boston. Knowing this, should I still run the marathon in May? How should I continue to build my base from May thru to October?
Thanks so much for your help.
Here's some background:
I've been running since 2004. Over the years, I've run a bunch of events, various distances, pretty much all at the same comfortable pace which is nowhere near the pace I would need to run to qualify for Boston. The May marathon is the first time I've trained with a specific finishing time in mind, and while I've had one person tell me it just isn't going to happen for me, the running/ tri coaches and athletes that I train with have every confidence that I am more than capable. Since January (building off of the base I already had from last year and previous years), I've been increasing my long runs, doing speed work, intervals etc. and I have made a lot of progress in getting my speed up over both short and long distances.
I ran a 30k event this past weekend. It was my fifth run outside this year (since January), and the first run over 10k outside. I have been doing all my runs indoors because this is what my family and work life (and the weather) allows, and also I have been running each run with a very specific pace in mind, and I have been depending on my treadmill to set this for me. (One of these days I need to learn how to use my Garmin).
Going into the 30k, I had two game plans in mind... the first that I would have been thrilled with if it had happened would have been if I had run the race at a 5:00 pace (finishing at 2:30), which would have put me pretty close to my marathon pace. I'm more than capable of this on the treadmill, however I realize that my marathon will not be run on a treadmill :-P For the 30k race, I didn't taper at all (I wasn't sure whether I'd "race" the course, or just "run" it... I was worried about losing precious time if I raced this event, and getting distracted looking towards my "A" race in May), the course is very hilly, and like I've said, I've done about 99% of my runs on the treadmill in my temperature-controlled basement.
Needless to say, this led to my second game plan, which was to use the race as a training run and finish by 2:45. I ran the event in 2:44, a pace of 5:27, which is fine for a training run, but no where near getting me qualified for Boston. This being said, the course that I'm hoping to qualify for Boston on is nothing like the race I did on the weekend.
Regardless, I'm 7 weeks out from my "A" race, and I'm wondering how to adjust my plan. Should I still aim for this race and use it to gauge where I'm at and what progress I have made? I don't want to be pessimistic about the race, but I'm thinking that it is very likely I may need to run a marathon in the fall to qualify for Boston. Knowing this, should I still run the marathon in May? How should I continue to build my base from May thru to October?
Thanks so much for your help.
0
Replies
-
Find a race from 5K to 10 miles in the next two weeks and race it. Use your finish time to predict your potential marathon pace. Make your decision after that. You really need a race pace effort on a comparable course to even come close to an accurate prediction.0
This discussion has been closed.