Question:
I ran my first marathon last Oct (Chicago). My time was around 4:20. I felt
like I certainly had more in me at the end, but being my first, I just
wanted to finish...
In any case, I am training again. When I compare my training log now to that
of last year I can see that I am clearly a stronger runner (i.e. running 4-6
miles at 7:30 pace fairly easily, whereas last year it took me months to run
at that pace). I certainly don't think I can get a Boston qualifying time my
2nd marathon, but I want to train as though that is my goal. But I just
don't know what sort of pace I should be doing training runs at. Also, my
training is complicated by the fact that I am simultaneously training to
climb Mt Rainier in July (a very tough endurance climb). One of the climbing
guides said to not do my long weekend runs til after the climb. He said he
has run several marathons and finds that to be a good rule.
So given that I won't be starting my long runs (as in 12 miles plus) til 3rd
week of July, what sort of plan should I be on? I have a way better base
than last year. Right now I am running around 10 miles a week. I know that
is well under the recommended base of 20-25 miles a week the month before
training. But all the hiking I have been doing has my legs in very good
shape (usually 1 10 mile, 6-8 hour hike per weekend, at good enough pace to
keep my heart rate around 160 the entire time; and with 45 lb backpack) Any
help is appreciated!
Answer:Have you recently run any shorter races? A 10K would be good just to see
how far away you are from realistically shooting for a Boston qualifier.
That's sort of how I did. But I didn't even think about it until I was
running some 10K times that were in line with a BQ. Once you run your
10K, plug the time into this web site:
http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/rununiv/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm
It will tell you what your marathon time would be, assuming you trained
appropriately for it. You can also see what you get for the various
training paces - long runs, easy runs, tempo runs, VO2 workouts, etc.
