Since I have put the time and training in, I am contemplating a marathon the first week of October. I completed IMLP two weeks ago and since then have not gone on a run more than 5 miles. I have plenty of base, but still think I should do some long runs. Any suggestions for a long run structure with a race in 8 weeks? Here is what I was thinking:
1: 12 miles
2: 16 miles
3: 18 miles
4: 16 miles
5: 20 miles
6: 12 miles
7: 5 miles
8: Race
My longest runs for IM training were 19 miles (3 hours and 10 minutes), but I was training at a very slow pace. I would like to start more speed workouts and focus on running this fall.
If you have enough base (which I think you may if you did IMLP)…Run 16-18 miles every weekend instead of your progression suggested. 3 weeks out, run 21 miles. Aside from that, run 6 other times a week with one day having a 60 min run in the morning and another 60 min run later in the day. Keep all other runs in the 45-60 min range. This will give you in the range of 8 hours a week of running, which should be good for a solid marathon. Limit your “intervals” to your half marathon race pace (or max 10k race pace). Run once a week on hill that is 2-3 min long…run up aerobically and run down faster than your marathon race pace…this will harden the quads. Keep all runs that are not intervals or hills at a conversational pace. I’d wait for the final 4 weeks to worry about intervals…the downhill runs will keep your speed up. Fleck can fill in on the rest of what you might want to do.
The years I did LP and maxed out the effort there is no way I could get through a 16-18 miler with any sort of benefit (or without causing more damage) every weekend, let alone 3 weeks out.
FWIW, I’d keep the mileage/long runs under control until early Sept to allow more recovery and flexibility then dig in… but if you can do this and succeed, rip away!