I finally got my marathon training plan from my coach. Yeah! Oh, by the way, I should mention that he got me a comp'd entry an October marathon, so I will now be running a half-marathon in November. (Do you think that is enough rest time?)
Here's a sample of the plan:
Week FIVE:
Mon: 6-8 miles
Tues: Track 2000, 1600, 1200, 800, 400
Wed: 5-6 miles
Thurs: Off
Fri: 6-8 miles w/3-4 miles tempo
Sat: 6-8 miles
Sun: 14-16 miles
Week NINE:
Mon: 6-8 miles
Tues: Track 2000, 1600, 1200, 800, 400
Wed: 5-6 miles
Thurs: Off
Fri: 8-10 miles w/4-5 miles tempo
Sat: 6-8 miles
Sun: 16-18 miles
Week FOURTEEN:
Mon: 6-8 miles
Tues: Track 14-16 x 400
Wed: 5-6 miles
Thurs: Off
Fri: 8-10 miles w/3-5 miles tempo
Sat: 8-10 miles
Sun: 16-18 miles
Week SEVENTEEN:
Mon: 6-8 miles
Tues: Track 5x1000, 2x400
Wed: 5-6 miles
Thurs: Off
Fri: 8-10 miles w/3-5 miles tempo
Sat: 8-10 miles
Sun: 20-22 miles
Just thought I would show you a couple of weeks. Seems like the range of miles is 47-62 miles. I thought I would be running more than this to bring down my time. I was thinking more of the 60-70 range. Any experienced runners know if it is possible to break 3 hrs on this mileage? Do you think I should ask for more miles? I had talked to him about doing double workouts and he said a second run of 4-5 miles on 4-5 days a week (not long run or track days) was a great way to get miles up. I'll ask him tomorrow, but just wondering....the little miss "how can I get an A+" in me wants to know!
I have no idea as going sub 3 is a goal of mine but not something I've done. However, one thing I've learned with lots of different sports is you have to trust your coach. There is a method to the madness. Don't go sneaking in extra miles. It's about quality, not quantity. Okay, I'll step off my soapbox now.
ReplyDeleteSo I know coach knows all but I recently read a couple of articles from my old runner's world mags and there is an article about how to go fast...and essentially it says in order to run a sub 3 marathon you have to run at that pace during your training sessions.
ReplyDeletefor the marathon it say:
"at the start of your training, replace a weekly temp run with five miles at your goal marathon pace (GMP). Do this workout early in the week, and add one mile every week. Once you reach 10 miles, move the GMP run to every other weekend, alternating it with your slower placed long run. Then build the GMP run to no more than 15 miles; the last one should be three to four weeks from race day. A final five-mile GMP run a week out from race day should feel easy."
I can't even imagine running a sub-3 marathon. That is freakin' awesome!!!!
I don't know that I'd try to run more miles, but what do I know, I'm not even aiming for sub 4 at this point LOL.
ReplyDeleteBTW, make sure you are near the front. The crowd at the MCM seriously slows you down. I'm usually go out way too fast and I couldn't get below an 11 minute pace when the marathon started.
I think you'll be fine to run the half in Richmond. You are used to pretty heavy mileage.
MCM Mama
So exciting you are having the coach :) I have no help, you are way faster than me!
ReplyDeleteHI,
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog because I googled Yasso 800's to see what the theory is and it brought me your link. SO read a bunch of your posts because I was so intrigued by your training, your baby, your fun writing style, ect.
I'd like to offer input on your question in this post...yes I do think it is possible to run sub 3 hours on the training plan your coach outlined for you. I did that exact thing two years ago. I ran between 40-55 miles a week with a very similar pattern of tempo/speedwork and long runs and I finished my marathon in 2:58.
Two years and another baby later, I am at it again and shooting for sub 2:55. I have bumped up my mileage a little, but still haven't exceeded 65 miles in a week. My marathon is in 4 weeks, so we'll see how it turns out. I log my training at nan.fastrunningblog.com if you're interested to read what I'm doing.
Happy training! Take care of yourself and I hope you HEAL SOON!!!