Question:I'm thinking of running Portland Marathon at a 4 hr pace with a friend
and then doing Hawaii Ironman 27 days later. I estimate I can race a
marathon in 3:20, is this 4 hr attempt still too much too close?
Answer:
I've done 3 Ironmen and 12 marathons; and will be doning Kona next
month.
Last year, I did a marathon 6 weeks AFTER Ironman Canada
"for fun". It was my slowest marathon ever (3:15, typical 2:55
to 3:05), and it was the most painful of all. And, it took just as long,
if not longer to recover.
I've said this quote to many of my close friends who run but don't do tris, "I'd
rather do a Ironman than a marathon."
What I mean when I say that is, a marathon, at any pace uses just specific
muscles groups. Even at a casual pace, you'll be using those muscles for
a long time in a marathon. In an Ironman, one (meaning, us humans, not the
elites) can not generate the energy to maintain as high a pace as one can in a
"straight marathon." Hence, it will probably take just as long, if not longer
to recover from an easy paced marathon. Thus risking your "fun quotient"
at Kona. I'd save the energy for Kona.
As a suggestion, meet your friend at 13.1 miles and finish the race with
him/her. The last few miles are when people need to most support anyways.
I plan will be a Kona also, but my longest run will be tomorrow, 15 miles.
It's very normal to feel some self-doubts this close to your big race.
Spend an hour or so carefully analyzing your training log over the past
several months. How many long runs have you done? What was your *true*
weekly average hours spent training? And, as I ask my athletes, just
how many marathons do you want to do in the four weeks leading up an
Ironman?
