Currently training for IM Maryland in October. Did Beach to Battleship last year. I come more from a running background and until last year I thought an Ironman would be something cool to do but never thought I would actually do it. But, now I’ve done one and plan to do the the Maryland race but then would like to concentrate more on the one bucket list accomplishment ive had since I did my first marathon as a sophomore in high school, to run a sub 3 hour marathon. I don’t know if I can do one, so I don’t want the conversation to revolve around my race times. I’m more interested in if somebody has used the barryP method of training to train for a sub 3 hour marathon and how it looked as far as how high the weekly milage got and what paces they ran in training. I currently use the barryP plan for the run training for triathlon training.
Kinda interested. My guess is varies. I’d say no less than 60 mpw if you’re above 19 for 5k
Much like KaiserChief says, I would guess above 60mpw consistently, inlcuding some work in Barry P phase 2.
I’ve read several places that the average mileage required for the average joe would be in the region of 70mpw, and am also aware alot of people have had success going sub 3 with the pfitzinger 70 18, which peaks at 70 and has a lot of weeks in the 60s also.
But of course, it depends…
If I were to concentrate on the marathon, I would structure as follows:
6.7
13.3
6.7
13.3
6.7
OFF
20
That’s about 67 miles.
At least in Phase I. But for marathon I would probably barely get into Phase II anyway. You could add a few miles onto one of the medium runs or the long run to get to 70.
[quote sch340I would structure as follows:
6.7
13.3
6.7
13.3
6.7
OFF
20
There’s no way in hell I could ever do that … every run must end on the .0 or .5. That is non-negotiable.
What pace do people train at when training for a sub 3 hour marathon. The thing I like about barryP is that I am no longer killing myself trying to make every run a hard tempo run like I used to do when only running 3-4 times a week. But how fast do people do their training runs when training to be going 6:50 min miles for a marathon. I have seen how running more often, even if it is at a slower pace, with the barryP plan has brought my run times down, but I would be seriously stretching myself to the limit to do a sub 3 hour marathon and curious what paces I would need to run and what mpw I should shoot for. Sounds like around 60 mpw is what I’m hearing. That is consistent with what I’ve seen before of people saying they were doing 50-70 mpw to get a sub 3 hour marathon with other training plans. Now I am just curious on what paces I should be shooting for.
I have a late fall goal of also breaking the 3:00 mark. I’ve run a 1:20 half, so have the speed, but timing and training for marathons hasn’t worked out for me. I was in great shape for the 2012 Boston Marathon, but race day got to 90 degrees, and I finished in 3:12. My last real shot was a 3:04 eight weeks after the end of the tri season that same year, so not a ton of bigger mileage going into that race.
In terms of every-day runs, if you can go out for an easy run and 7:30-7:40 is easy for you, then I’d think 3:00 is reasonable.
I’d also look at the McMillian conversion charts to put in other races you’ve done.
I can go back and look at old training logs at my paces but I think when I went sub 3 or the first time most of my runs were probably at a comfortable 7:30 pace. I am now able to run about a 2:40-45 marathon and most of my z2 runs are at 7:00 or a bit under. But I don’t pay too close attention about pacing and just go by feel. Some days are faster/slower than others. If you want you can also plug the time in mcmillian calculator and it says 7:08-8:18 pace for long runs and similar to easy runs. Don’t over think it, just run, a lot, then run some more!
What pace do people train at when training for a sub 3 hour marathon. The thing I like about barryP is that I am no longer killing myself trying to make every run a hard tempo run like I used to do when only running 3-4 times a week. But how fast do people do their training runs when training to be going 6:50 min miles for a marathon. I have seen how running more often, even if it is at a slower pace, with the barryP plan has brought my run times down, but I would be seriously stretching myself to the limit to do a sub 3 hour marathon and curious what paces I would need to run and what mpw I should shoot for. Sounds like around 60 mpw is what I’m hearing. That is consistent with what I’ve seen before of people saying they were doing 50-70 mpw to get a sub 3 hour marathon with other training plans. Now I am just curious on what paces I should be shooting for.
Running alot is good. But be careful with pace. Easy pace is very individual. I suspect there is an average easy pace for a typical 3h marathon type, but that # probably tells you when you’re ready to go sub-3, as opposed to “I must train this fast to do sub-3”. Correlation vs. causality. And changes take a long time to build up. Train for maximum adaptation, and be patient. -J
I’ll jump in here. The BarryP plan is basically a less risky way to increase your running volume and consistency. Once you’ve reached the goal of consistent 6x/week running, you can start developing training strategies geared toward your desired race goal.
Back in 2010-2011, I used the BarryP plan to build my running consistency and volume. I have now completed 5 standalone marathons since 2011 (3 @ sub3, 1 @ 3:01 & a 3:09 fail). The most important lesson I learned was to respect the easy running days. Pace wasn’t as important as how you felt that day. Some easy days are 7:20 pace and others are 8:25. Most are between 7:30 and 7:55.
I’m currently 5+ weeks out from another run in Boston. My 3 short-easy days consist of my typical 9.2 mile local loop. My 2 workout days are between 11-13 miles with 3-6 miles of effort. My long run ranges from 16-20 miles. My long run pace varies based on what I’m trying to do that day.
I’m averaging about 63 miles per week during this training cycle. My goal is to run sub 3 in Boston (scene of my 3:09 fail). My Strava log linked below is a good guide for what an average working guy can maintain.
Hope that helps.
I would structure as follows:
6.7
13.3
6.7
13.3
6.7
OFF
20
There’s no way in hell I could ever do that … every run must end on the .0 or .5. That is non-negotiable.
This. Just looking at numbers like that gives me FWE. Even ending on a .5 bothers me a bit.
I would structure as follows:
6.7
13.3
6.7
13.3
6.7
OFF
20
There’s no way in hell I could ever do that … every run must end on the .0 or .5. That is non-negotiable.
This. Just looking at numbers like that gives me FWE. Even ending on a .5 bothers me a bit.
My bad - I realize that we all need to maintain our mental health as well as our physical health, so how about 7-14-7-14-7-OFF-21? That equals 70 exactly 
My plan is all on minutes, not miles, and all runs end on a 0 or 5. So typically mileage will vary and may even have values with 2 digits after the decimal point. The horror!!
Even ending on a .5 bothers me a bit.
I’m with you there and always make sure that if I do it I have an even number of .5 runs per week such that by end of week II’m back to .0 overall.
Even ending on a .5 bothers me a bit.
I’m with you there and always make sure that if I do it I have an even number of .5 runs per week such that by end of week II’m back to .0 overall.
So if you race a half marathon do you run 0.9 miles to warm down? Or 0.8 in a marathon?
Races are the one exception to the rule.
What pace do people train at when training for a sub 3 hour marathon. The thing I like about barryP is that I am no longer killing myself trying to make every run a hard tempo run like I used to do when only running 3-4 times a week. But how fast do people do their training runs when training to be going 6:50 min miles for a marathon. I have seen how running more often, even if it is at a slower pace, with the barryP plan has brought my run times down, but I would be seriously stretching myself to the limit to do a sub 3 hour marathon and curious what paces I would need to run and what mpw I should shoot for. Sounds like around 60 mpw is what I’m hearing. That is consistent with what I’ve seen before of people saying they were doing 50-70 mpw to get a sub 3 hour marathon with other training plans. Now I am just curious on what paces I should be shooting for.
My easy runs were based on HR and I that usually put me around 8:00 pace. My progression runs every other week went like this: 2 miles @ 8:00, main chunk at 7:40, then with 40 minutes left I dropped to 7:20 and took off 10 sec/mile every 10 minutes and ended the last 10 at 6:50. My steady long runs on the other weeks were at 7:40 steady after 2 mile warm-up. My intervals varied at 1-mile and 2-mile repeats done at 6:40 pace.
My weekly mileage maxed out around 70, mostly in the 50s though and I was able to bust out a 2:52.
Races are the one exception to the rule
Sacrilege! 5Ks are 1 mi warm-up, race, 0.9 mi warm-down. Adjusted if course length was off.
#OCDmuch?
Races are the one exception to the rule
Sacrilege! 5Ks are 1 mi warm-up, race, 0.9 mi warm-down. Adjusted if course length was off.
#OCDmuch?
Nah, just switch your watch to read in kilometers… then it’s an even 5000meters. Nice, rounded and clean number, and the “5” looks more impressive than a “3.11”. ; )
Not necessarily the plan you speak of, but I’ve had good luck with 4-8-4-8-4-long-off during tri training and 8-4-8-4-8-long-off for with less biking. I’ve only done 6 weeks of 50+miles in my life and those are spread over several years, so obviously everybody does not need 60-70mi to run 2:5X. 35-45mi/wk year round was worth more to me. Use a pace calculator.
I’m a 1:18 half and 2:46 marathon guy. My easy run pace is somewhere between 7:20 and 7:50. When I’m healthy I usually run somewhere around 45-60 miles a week and peak around 70 when training for a marathon. Slowing down for easy runs is one of the biggest changes I’ve made in running philosophy over the years.