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Tk F.
Tk F. Sendmail

Dean Karnazes Silicon Valley Marathon 2009

posted over 2 years ago | Report

I am still celebrating my first marathon run and completion; with a decent timing, few minutes shy of 4 hrs.

Here is a blog post about my experience running it, and share yours if you had run it: http://runrantsrumors.blogspot.com/2009/10/running-my-first-marathon.html

My goal is to qualify for Boston sometime down the road. Any advice on how to get there from this stage? I have been running upto 10K since high school days (I am 42 now) but started running long distance only for the last 8-9 months as part of training for SF 1/2 marathon and this one.

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  • Mannosteel
    Mannosteel Sendmail

    Hey, Tk F. I've run 16 marathons now and have been qualified for Boston every one since 04 (just giving you background so you don't think I'm giving advice from the couch, haha). Just did a 3:20 in October. My times came down dramatically when I started running at least 5x/week. I'd do easy run or cross-train Mondays, intervals Tuesdays, easy, longer mid-week run Weds., tempo run Thursday, rest Fridays then long run Sat with rest Sundays. Personally, I like to get in at least 5 twenty milers and extend one of those to 22 or 23mi. I'm older than you so you can def do it if you have the drive. Now, I do 2 a year and have since 04. Nothing like the feeling of qualifying or achieving a goal you've set out to accomplish. You can look at the competitive training program at: www.halhigdon.com too.

    posted about 2 years ago

  • D Anthony C.
    D Anthony C. Sendmail

    Hi Tk F.
    I'm 42 and ran the Portland Marathon in October 3:28:35. BQ for us is 3:20:59 that I plan beat in May at Eugene, Oregon. I ran my first marathon there in 2007 just under 4 hours in agony or "controlled suffering" as you wrote. Nice blog entry for your run by the way. I was heel striking then and ran too quick at the onset. To race well in the marathon I think you need strict attention to pace. I was on training/pace to run 3:15 in Portland, but went out the first 10 "a little too quick," again like you wrote. You get so strong with the training and with the raceday jitters...well it never pays off for the last 10k, the real race of the marathon.

    So my advice is similar to get to at least 5x running a week using a 10-12 week cycle to build to the event. I run 6 now and try to resistance train everyday - although I'm slack more with that than going out to run. I've moved to midfoot running and it's made all the difference for me. As I've gotten stronger, I've had to stretch more. I mean as part of my planned workout - like 20 minutes of WORK to stretch especially my quads. I've lost all my foot, knee, and hip pain though. My 6 day cycle looks like: rest day, tempo (warm and cool with 2-5 miles of goal pace), recovery run, speed work, recovery, speed or tempo, long run. I usually run long on Sundays and rest on Mondays. If I have a speed workout on Saturday I long run with a slow finish on Sunday. If I have a tempo run, I'll try to finish at pace.

    For recovery and long runs especially, go slow. 2+ minutes a mile or only 70%. We want to run 7:35 - 7:40 a mile (with bathroom/drinking breaks right!) so figure 7:30 miles for an easy to remember number. That means long runs need a 10:00 pace, recovery too. Train to go fast when it counts. Look up Yasso 800's; running 10) 800m repeats at your goal marathon pace in minutes. So for us, we'd need to do 10) 800's at 3:45 each (with equal time of rest in between). I could do that before Portland but I think I screwed up by going out just a bit too fast. So now, I'm planning to train for 12X1200's or 12 repeats in 5:35.

    Sorry to go on so long. I obviously enjoy working on this stuff and was glad to read about someone so close to my own goals. Hope you have a Happy New Year. -Anthony

    posted about 2 years ago

  • Tk F.
    Tk F. Sendmail

    Thanks to both Mannosteel and Anthony for the tips. I plan to put in some serious training this year and like to see where that would take me in terms of improving my performance.

    posted about 2 years ago

  • Bill K.
    Bill K. Sendmail

    Consistent mileage, longer tempo runs, longer speed intervals and cross-training were the elements that got me a BQ in my first marathon last May. I typically did OK in shorter races running 25-30 miles a week. I needed to get consistently in the 40-45 range building up to the marathon. I used to do a lot of 400s and 800s for speed, plus tempo runs no longer than five miles. For my marathon buildup (16 weeks), I did no speed intervals shorter than mile repeats. I mixed it up with two-mile repeats at times. Tempo runs progressed from four miles up to eight at a pretty hard pace, about 35-40 seconds faster than my marathon pace. I did spinning classes twice as week as cross-training, which were probably the best thing I ever did for my running. Best of luck. Getting the experience of finishing a marathon will be invaluable as a starting point toward a BQ.

    posted about 2 years ago | edited about 2 years ago

  • Thesean D.
    Thesean D. Sendmail

    Run more. rest, repeat.

    posted almost 2 years ago

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