re: Official Running Log/Marathon Training Thread

It’s supposed to storm all day tomorrow, so we did Easter here today. I was unable to get my run in. I might have to run on the rain some tomorrow, but I’m not missing another run this after I finally back into the groove.

Got in 20 today

I need to lose more weight

I guess define “in shape”

Obviously I did 20, and my last mile was my fastest mile, so I can complete. Not sure what you’re trying to ask?

Oh that’s fair.

I use the running to help burn calories as too. My weight is coming back down but I’m about 15 above my last marathon.

Also the 20 today were still easier than the 18 a few weeks ago.

Looking to May, what do you think is better for me? Add a fifth day of running per week or increase average mileage per run? I really like the two rest days prior to my long Saturday runs. I could add a Sunday recovery run or run on Thursdays, which would remove the two days rest. Or do you think bumping average mileage up to 7-8 mile runs three days per week and then a 10 mile long run is the better course of action?

Honestly, I think you could add another run per week and diversify the intensities more. Slow down a little during your easy runs and start working in some tempo and speed work a couple of times a week. The length of your long run should be based somewhat on the distance you are training for.

Will you be doing the 55 or 70 mile plan?

Based on what I have noticed on Strava and what you have posted here, it seems like you have been running most of your runs around the same intensities and trying to run them faster. Am I right about that?

I am familiar with Pfitz plans and his philosophy. I used one of his plans for my marathon. I can give you specific advice on how to build for one of his plans is you can provide me with a little more info about which plan you want to use and your running experience.

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I’ve never done any tempo runs, sprints, fartleks, strides, cross training, etc. I just up and go.

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You will improve A LOT by just diversifying and balancing your training.

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I’m currently up to 24 mpw and usually stay around an 8:20-8:40/mi pace. I had a great run this weekend but some average runs during the week.

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If your HR is getting into the 160s for your regular runs, you are running too fast for most of your mileage. You really want most of your running to be easy, like 135-150 kind of easy. The target HR will vary depending on your max HR and some other things that I don't have the data for, but 160+ is tempo range for most people. You should aim for 80-90% of the time you spend running during the week being easy and 10-20% being moderately hard to hard. Otherwise, you run the risk or over training and/or getting injured. The exact percentages will vary depending on where you are in your training cycle, how fit you are, and your prior experience, but that's a good general breakdown of percentages in your mileage.

As you increase your volume, this is going to be even more important. I cannot stress this enough. How fast you run your easy runs is not important. If you want to get the most out of them without sabotaging yourself, you really need to slow down and keep these easy.

If you plan to peak your mileage at 55, then somewhere around 30 miles per week is probably good for your building. You could go higher if you wanted, but that really isn't too important with your goal race that far off. If you are at 24 right, I would just add a 1-2 a week for the next few weeks and see how that goes.

Pfitz does not see a purpose in running any less than 4 miles, so all of his runs will be at least 4 miles long, even at the beginning of the plan. He is also a believer in having a midweek medium-long run in addition to a weekend long run. After using one of his plans in the past, I tend to agree with him on these things, especially for marathon training.

Pfitz only considers runs over 12 miles to be "long runs." His midweek runs build from about 6 miles to 12 miles. His long runs build to 20 miles in length. Some of these runs will be progressions with the last portion being at marathon race pace, and some will be tempo runs. I think I remember one of my Sunday runs being like 4 miles easy, 8 miles at 10K race pace, 4 miles easy. For your base building, you don't really need to go longer than 8 miles for your longest run of the week unless you decide to go with a plan that has higher peak weekly mileage.

The main thing I think you could do right now to improve and build a base for a marathon at the end of this year is to begin adding speed and tempo workouts into your weekly schedule and maybe even set short term goals for shorter distances. You have enough time to train for a 5K or 10K before you start your marathon training in July/August. Maybe aim to do a time trial or a virtual 5K or 10K in June. That would set you up really well for your marathon training cycle.

24 MPW is a good starting point in terms of weekly mileage. Start adding in some actual speed and tempo work a couple of days a week while making sure that you are actually running easy the rest of the time. Let's say that you trained for 10 weeks before doing a 5K time trial or virtual race. You could aim to peak your weekly mileage at 38 miles.

A sample first week might look like this.

M: Rest
Tu: (~4 Miles) Hill Repeats (20' WU; 4 X 200M @ 1500M race pace; 10' CD)
W: 4-Mile recovery run
Th: Rest/Cross Train
F: (~5 Miles) Tempo run (10'WU; 15' @ 10K pace; 10' CD)
Sa: 4-Mile recovery run
Su: 7 Mile progression run (easy for the first 5-6 miles, then moderately hard the last mile or two).

As you can see in the example, the idea is to work on speed and anaerobic fitness a little at a time while allowing yourself to adequately recover and maintain aerobic fitness from week to week. As you progress from one week to the next, you will add a little more weekly mileage but maintain roughly the same ratio of easy to hard. Once you get to about 30 miles per week, you might want to start running 6 days a week instead of 5, which will allow you to spread your mileage out more and keep your hard days split up.

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Gotcha. I just ordered Pfitzinger’s Advanced Marathoning anyways. Maybe there is a base building chapter in there.

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I don't remember a base building chapter, but there is a lot about the easy/hard training method and types of workouts, things I touched on. Once you get the book, read up on that stuff and start incorporating it into your week.