Sub 3:00 FLM 2005

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Comments

  • TwoDogs - races are important, I did a 10 miler and a half marathon on back to back weekends, it seemed daunting at the time but it gave a little rest from the weekend long runs whilst still maintaining good weekly mileage. If you do well at the races it gives great confidence as you are racing on legs full of miles without any taper. Well worth doing and it is a guage as to how things are going - I hit a pb at the half and knew then that things were on the right track for sub 3.
  • yeah I agree...I've got a couple scheduled in for next year (Hastings half and Paddock Wood), but I'm not really planning anything else this year. All I want to do between now and early Dec is keep up the mileage a bit so I don't lose much of my Snowdonia fitness.
  • TwoDogs - Sounds like you are a local boy, I will be doing both of those as well!!
  • Local-ish...Beckenham. Hastings is always my fave half..well, not this year actually, with that wind and the fact that I wasn't trained at all for it and ran a PW!
  • How bad was that weather this year!? It's a great race though, well worth doing. I think I may take it fairly easy next year coz the hills take a hell of a toll on the legs. Looking forward to the speedie Paddock Wood!
  • Yep the weather was sh!te!!
    Any recommendations for Feb races?
  • Tunbridge Wells half is a good one, pretty tough though.

    Do you belong to a club?
  • in theory I'm a Dulwich Runner but I've not been for about a year
  • If you fancy some cross country then we do the Kent Fitness League which is for non elite athletes (above 34min 10k). I don't think Dulwich is one of the affiliated clubs, but im sure I could get you in as a guest.

    http://kfl.canterburyharriers.org/
  • Am aiming for a sub-3h at London following a comfortable 3h11 in Australia (Gold Coast - flat) earlier this year. I've only just noticed this forum and will look forward to following its progress. I'm from Northampton if there's anyone looking for long-run training buddies.
  • Gold Coast!! Now there's a marathon that needs to be done!!
  • Hey welcome Zoe nice to have another 'girlie' on the thread....no offence 'boys'.
    3h 11m in the Gold Coast Mara hey, tell us all about it?
    Have you got a Championship start for London?
  • Hi Helen
    I've got a Championship entry but only because I missed the GFYA entry date. I would rather run with the masses so that I can make use of the pacers but am very tempted by the plush toilets they have on 'the other side'. I take it you're in the FLM as well - are you a regular sub-3 runner?
    The Gold Coast was a great run - well organised and plenty of road space, if a little tedious - long, straight, flat roads with very little to look at. Great for a PB! I started with the 3h15 pacer, then pulled away just after halfway. I can recommend it if you're ever planning a summer trip to Oz.
  • Zoe - What sort of temperature was it?
  • Bout 28 degrees, I think - with plenty of water stations.
  • Do any of you know where I can download the (18-week 70-mile p/w Marathon plan), that nick mentions in an earlier thread. I am currently doing around 55 mile per week so see the increased mileage not too much of a problem ( he says with a grimace on his face).
    1st marathon 2003 3.51
    2nd marathon 2004 3.21 walked the last 4 miles with a broken bone in my foot, so I shall attempt to crack it next year,fingers and toes crossed.
    Kind regards
    Graeme
  • Hi Zoe, yup I'm on the Championship start but as yet I aint done the sub 3. The closest I've got is 3:07:00 in London 2002.
  • wobbly,
    I have just finished catching up on this thread and I think the 70 mile plan is from a book, Advanced Marathoning.
  • Anyone in the Cambs / Suffolk area thinking of 3 hours-ish for FLM 2005 (or Paris if no luck on entries)?

    2-58 in FLM 2000 - but few pounds to lose before Xmas!!

    Possible training partners would be useful for occasional runs.
  • Wobbly - I dont think you will find the training plan on-line, I've tried and can't see it. Most of the concepts in the book can be found at http://www.pfitzinger.com/ (he is one of the authors) but unfortunately not the plans. Alternatively the book is less than a tenner at Amazon.

    PaddyG - I think you will have been debited if you managed to get in.

  • Or if you are a member of an Essex library there are three copies somewhere in essex.
  • Am I mad deluded or both ?

    I've been running regularly for the last 4 months or so (ave. 25-35 miles per week, completed a steady paced 13.2 miler at 7:14 per mile)and am thinking about sub-3 marathon (hoping for FLM2005 place).

    While I know that mileage-wise a target of 60 mpw is essential I'm quite intersted in what kind of natural ability level you think is necessary for a sub 3 ? I read somewhere that a sub-38min 10k is the ball park ability for a sub 3 marathon - is this true ? It seems very fast !

    What are your thoughts ? How realistic am I being ?
  • Tim - I would personally look at half times and then decide. If you can get as close to 1.20 for a half then I reckon you are on the right track - there are some that have done 1.26 halfs and still got under 3 hours but in my opinion as close to 1.20 is a good sign. Generally a sub 38 10K will come if you are doing sub 1.25 halfs.
  • A reasonable rule of thumb I heard was was that a predicted marathon time is twice your half marathon time plus 10 minutes. So far in my experience it's been pretty accurate, 1:26 for the half 3:04 for the marathon.
  • Sounds about right to me. When I cracked 3 hours I was around 1.25 - 1.24 shape. If you can maintain 50 - 70 m/pw and you are currently running 1.27 - 1.28 I reckon you should just about do it.
  • So Andre / Pasty / Nick would the following sound about right ?:

    - Build steadily up to 60 mpw by Jan / Feb (running 5-6 times per week)

    - Run a half (when / where would you recommend ?) and assess things from there -at the end of the day I'd rather gracefully complete the 26.2 rather than walling at 20 miles like some young whippersnapper !

    How about speedwork ? Where and when do I need to think about this ? (If not already ...)



  • Tim - everyone is different but I liked doing tempo runs or intevals as they were a break from the mundane longer slow runs - I tried to fit 2 sessions a week on a Tuesday and a Friday and started doing them from beginning of my 3 month schedule. Agree with your first point to building up mileage - I then ran a half race flat out 5 weeks before the marathon - big confidence booster if you can do a good time as you will not be tapering. Two weeks before that I did a 20 miler at mp and that also felt quite easy which was also a confidence booster - all other 16 + mile runs were done a lot slower. Hope this helps.
  • Tim - It would be better if you followed some sort of schedule like those in the book we were talking about earlier in the thread (Advanced Marathoning). They do include speedwork. If you get your training right you shouldn't really hit the wall on 60 miles pw, if you do it should be so late that you can run through it.

    I usually do a half just before I start to taper (3-4 weeks before the marathon). Remember that the marathon is fairly flat, so to get a true refection you need to find a pretty flat half.
  • Andre - A 1:20 half sounds a bit harsh! You did a 1:21 for notts and ended up with 2:55! 2:59:59 would do me.

    This autumn I did two halves at 4 and 6 weeks before a marathon. The one done 4 weeks before I'd rather not talk about (my personal equivalent to Paula Radcliffe in Athens) - but the one 6 weeks before I did in 1:26 and ended up with a 3:06 in the marathon. I agree that this was the best indicator of what I ultimately did in the marathon. Plan is to go flat out in Bath and hopefully get a 1:23-1:24 (god that sounds painful) which is 4 weeks before but will do another half as well a bit earlier.

    For training I was doing 6 days a week typically with 1 interval, 1 tempo, 1 medium long, 1 very long and 2 recovery runs peaking at about 60 mpw.
    For the very longs (18+) I tried to do them at target pace but ended up running quicker in the marathon so they were effectively 20s per mile slower. I also tried to make the routes quite hilly just so I knew what it was like to dig in when you're tired.

    I agree with Nick though - get yourself a good schedule, be realistic about your target pace judged from your half time and you should run out of glycogen as you cross the finish line.

    How's everyone's training going? my mileage is way down at the mo, as I'm still taking it easy after Dublin. Did 5M on the tready today at 6:40 pace but found this a bit of a struggle. Hopefully things will recover soon.

    Does anyone know when the Marathon news is sent out - I've got some friends who have entered and see me as the source of all running knowledge (!!)and keep asking me but 'cos I'm on a deferral I paid no attention to the entry dates ?

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