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.
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.
