Just took a quick look at the RW sub 3.15 schedule. Can any sub 3.15ers give an opinion on whether this is any good.
Basically it has you running 6 days a week but a lot of it is 4-7 miles run at easy pace. My instincts are that it could make the sessions more demanding and chuck in another rest day or two to balance that out?
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well I can almost hear some of the forumites wincing as I get on my soap box once again, but I think it is possible (if you want/have to train this way) to get good results off 3 runs per week.
(stepping off soap box)
best
mm
started training in November
with a Long run of 2hrs 45 in early march building up from 1hr 30 at 7.30-8.00min mile pace
2 mid week runs of 8 - 10 mile at 7-7.30 mile pace
one hill session of 6-10 hills
two runs 4 -6 miles fartlek
also ran a 20 mile road race in this period of 2hr 30min
before this my best London time was 3hr 16min
ran 1st half in 1hr35 2nd in 1hr37
hope this helps
I too would love to break 3-15.
Pan-man schedule seems pretty good to me.
I guess secret is QUALITY sessions rather than junk miles. I guess this is how 3 runs could do it if they were says one long - one longish and one hills !
Good luck anyway
- the long run, obviously. But it's best not to run this too slowly: 30 or 40 seconds slower than target pace is about right. Aim to get at least five or six runs done of 20+ miles. Of these, a couple close to 24 miles would be good;
- the mid-week semi-long run at target marathon pace: in the early days of the build-up this might be 8/9 miles, then increase it gradually until you get to 13 to 15 miles. This session teaches your body to run for sustained periods at target pace, and helps with pace judgement;
- a faster session: could be a tempo run, or long intervals (1000m or mile reps). Or a hill session would fall into this category.
Anything else can be easy. 45 - 55 miles per week should be sufficient.
Good luck
I was re-reading last year's RW schedules last night and have concerns. Compared with the Hal Higdon Intermediate II schedule there is a LOT of speedwork in all the schedules; in effect 4 hard sessions a week incl the long runs. Hal Higdon has similar mileage, but only one marathon paced run a week, the rest slower.
I have a sneaking feeling I won't be able to do all the speedwork and the long runs in the RW schedules. Was thinking of maybe forgetting the short intervals and swapping one steady paced run for a tempo run at 1/2m pace on the Hal Higdon schedules. I already run a lot on the hills anyway.
What really are the benefits of say 400 m intervals and hill sessions for a marathon on the flat? I can see there's an overall benefit to speed but important are these considering the increased likelihood of injury/and the effort needed to do these sessions?
But as you suggest: the real key to success is sustaining your training over a long period. Pulling a muscle because of too much intense speedwork is a real risk.