20.1 miles, first 14.1 miles at 10 minute pace, the last 6 miles at 10:40. Achilles was bothering me at 10 miles but then subsided, and it didn't get worse. So pretty happy with the run.

I don't think I could go further than that, really beat. I am also going to be bad and have some bubblies now to celebrate, and hopefully that will not be too bad for recovering. :drinker:

Big week this week.

M - 6.6
T - 10.1+5.6=15.7
W - 12
H - 9
F - 10.5
S - 10.3
S - 21.1

WTD - 85.3
MTD - 227.0

28 miles this week including 5K PR of 27:36!
MTD 81.1 miles

Hi Runners,

HELP!! I need some input from the marathon experts regarding pacing and setting a time goal :frown: :drinker: :bigsmile:

I am scheduled to run a marathon on October 5 (yes really HELP!!!!) it is mostly downhill but have rollers at 8/11 and 18 miles, and I am super worried, because my training slowed unexpectable, I lost motivation and crashed in June/July (I think b/c of the delayed processing of my parents situation, but I am back to running now and hopefull not TMTS). I still did some running during this down period but it was minimal.

In the last four weeks I have kept a 40+ weekly mileage. My longest run is at 20 miles last weekend (but it includes 4-5 miles on the tread mill because of the hills (mostly uphill :bigsmile: hah! right) and a sore achilles - it is chronic so I can't do much about it except the normal things massage stretching etc. I did this run at a 10:06 average pace, somewhat faster on the tread. The last road miles were at 10:48/10:50/and 11:10 (ugh). My long runs are; 13, 13, 11, 16, 17, and 20.

I am not even sure where I should set my goal. My dream goal was initially 3:59 but that seems optimistic now, my secondary goal is 4:29:19 (to surpass Oprah), and my third goal is 5 hours. I did a 1:48:27 half last year.. and I have a recent 15K at 1:19:44 almost 2 weeks ago, and my most recent 5K is at 24:03 (same week as the 15K).

I just did a 6 mile run today, and I felt I was worked really hard at a 9:45 minute pace! Now I am wondering if I should just forget the sub 4 goal? And go for a sub 4:30? or maybe 5hrs?

Or maybe keep a 9:30 pace - 4:09 (but that time just seems like an odd time for a goal- but maybe that is the most appropriate)?
What do you think?
[sorry for the lengthy message but appreciate any response :flowerforyou: ]

Cooriander- I would actually recommend scheduling walking intervals. It sounds nuts, in fact, that's what I thought when someone recommended it to me, but it can give your body a chance to recover a bit and then you can actually run faster on your intervals, evening out the time with much less stress on your body.

"Why do walk breaks work?
By using muscles in different ways from the beginning, your legs keep their bounce as they conserve resources. When a muscle group, such as your calf, is used continuously step by step, it fatigues relatively soon. The weak areas get overused and force you to slow down later or scream at you in pain afterward. By shifting back and forth between walking and running muscles, you distribute the workload among a variety of muscles, increasing your overall performance capacity. For veteran marathoners, this is often the difference between achieving a time goal or not.

Walk breaks will significantly speed up recovery because there is less damage to repair. The early walk breaks erase fatigue, and the later walk breaks will reduce or eliminate overuse muscle breakdown. "

To see the whole article http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/walk_breaks.html

You can do this! :-)

Sorry Cooriander - no advice but interested in the replies. I am doing my first marathon 3 Nov and currently wondering how I go from my 3 hour long runs to the prob 4.30-5 hour marathon. Winding myself up!!

27 Sept 4.3miles speed work
WTD 17.65
Mtd 113.9 miles

I've only ever run one marathon. so not sure I can help that much.

I have a half Marathon on the same day - I feel my training has gone a bit like yours. I'm going for the "Carson plan" - conservative start and step it up depending how I feel.

Congrats Leanz on finishing your goal!!!

Sarah - I started having company on my long runs as well, it really helps! (: the only bad part of it is that we run to fast when we chat!! LOL. Good luck on training for you half!

Black cloud - you may be recovering for your 14 miler? (accounting for the 'lost pace'), so perhaps 2 hours is still in the cards!!!

9/28- 6.24 rough miles on wasted legs!