In an effort to improve my running (which is my weakest of the three disciplines- comparably) I am participating in this weekends Detroit Marathon.
I assume many of you do the same, but what type of training between now and next May should I do to improve my running. (I have PB of 3:31 for marathon (don’t laugh) but suffered through a 4:23 at IM USA this past year.) Ideally, I would like to get my Ironman Marathon PR down to under 4 hrs…closer to 3:45.
This past year, I did a lot more TEMPO runs w/ local running club (on Thursday) which helped my times in the shorter/mid distances (lowered my 1/2 marathon PR to 1:28)…but obviously still have a long way to go.
Any thoughts…hope to see some of you in Detroit on Sunday…
I am running the half marathon this weekend in Detroit, mostly for fun, and don’t expect to be running nearly as fast as Eric etc will be for the full marathon. But, stopping halfway should mean that I can beat them to the post race party.
You will probably get better advice on how to run faster if you provided some information about why you think you are not running as fast as you want. Do you fade when running marathons? Simple, do more long runs and semi-long (8 miles or so) runs. Is your endurance fine, but you think you are also slow for 5 and 10 KMs. Then do speedwork of some sort. Some other problems that you think you have? Then, there would be different advice on how to cure the problem.
I’m trying the same thing(improve my running). I’ve never ran a marathon outside of a IM. I fell apart at IM Moo this year about a 4hr 38min. I think I can do Detroit in about in 3:20-3:30. It’s no Boston I know, but it will give me a good starting point for my turn around in running.
Eric, good luck to you guys…I’m sure you’ll do very well and make your goal to qualify for Boston. I hope to run around 3:30…but I never quite know how I’ll do…all depends on the day.
Thanks for the follow up and tips. I guess I should have put a little more info in.
Let’s see…I’m not fast.
I have decent endurance although about halfway through both of my IM Marathon runs I suffered a horrible calf cramp (the same happened during 2 previous half IM’s.) Maybe it’s a diet issue? I always am fatiqued after long runs (12-18 miles)…but it’s the cramps that get me during races. I had trained to run around 3:50-4:00 for Lake Placid (or so I though)…went out a little fast on the first half and then the cramps did me in and I shuffled for 13 miles to the finish.
Hopefully I won’t have any cramping issues this weekend…time will tell. I’ll post results after the race…
With a 1:28 half, you should be running with us. What do you have to do for Boston?
I am going to be working on my running this winter also. I will take some time off after the marathon and then start building back up, doing a combination of more miles and more hard miles.
Was on my list of races to do this year, but alas, I’m undertrained. I have got to remember that on the first of sept my effective workload doubles, I mess that up every year scheduling fall races.
I will be volunteering at this one. Thanks to the fine folks at Sports Street Marketing (GU), my wife and I, along with the University Of Detroit Cross Country team will be passing out packets of GU to the marathon runners near Mile 15 (just before Chene Park).
We’ve even got the new flavor Expresso Love (with twice the caffiene).
Try to dispose of these packets in a garbage can…not too much fun cleaning these suckers up afterwards.
Should some party or parties willfully attempt to interfere with my runner, the repsonse to the threat will be commensurate with the degree of threat and administered without delay.
running it with a friend. he’s not a runner, but is raising money for his non-profit scholarship fund. i’ve run 3x. this is going to kill me, as he is aiming for about 5 hrs.
i would be around 3:45, and runnning that extra hour plus is real painful. Ever run that slow for that long? BUT, the best feeling - irrespective of how i feel - will be seeing him finish and cross the 50 yard line at ford field. very cool. then i’m going to guzzle a vanilla milk shake from Don’s Drive in on Grand River and Beck in Novi!!! the great big one. great recovery food.
Hi Eric, glad to see that you are planning to go for Boston next spring.
I did my local small marathon two weeks ago off a summer of olympic distance and half Ironman training (long runs were 2 hours, except for one 3 hour run). I manage to pull off a 3:07 and get under that 3:15 Boston cutoff. Went through half in 1:27 and as soon as I hit 2 hours, things started falling apart. I managed to hold it together for a 1:39 second half, but in the cold (7 degrees) and super windy day, I had a rough time. There were only 100 folks in this race, so I ended up running 41K solo and pushing the wind. Certainly a tough day, but I got my Boston time, so this winter, I will log some serious run miles on top of the XC ski racing.
The plan is to try and beat my Boston 2002 time of 2:59.52. To do that, I have to get into 1:25 first half shape so that I can still slow down and run a 1:34 second half. For those who have been to Boston, you already know that the first half is sustantially easier than the second half, which includes the Newton Hills and the terrible headwind all the way from the end of the hills to the finish. I truly believe that negative splitting on this course is not an option. If you negative split, you likely went too slow in the first half.
Good luck in Detroit and hope to see you in Boston. what kind of time are you going for in Detroit and then Boston ?
You shouldn’t have any trouble doing a 3:15 as long as you don’t try for a 2:55.
Deegan and I had grumbled about doing Detroit a couple of weeks ago to get a Boston qualifier for 2006.
I haven’t run more than 1:15 since my 3:35 split at IM-Moo, so that may not be strongly advised. Deegan ran Detroit like 18 times in a row before he got into Ironman training four years ago, so he could be easily tempted. I’ll update you later.
