Marathon training question (5)

Triathlon Forum
1

Hello,

I am currently training for a marathon that I’m supposed to run two weeks from today. I tried using a coaching service, because I was curious. I’ve run multiple half marathons before at roughly 2:05-2:10 pace.

I have become increasingly worried, because my assigned mileage over the last six weeks has never exceeded more than 10 miles a week. I did a 10 mile run two days ago (vastly deviating from my assigned 5k) and I can tell that my body is not quite used to that heavy, mileage routinely, but I’m definitely getting there.

My longest run has been 10 miles at a very slow pace. I’m not even in the shape I was in when I did half marathons. I’m trying not to lose faith in my coaching team, and this is definitely not their fault because I had to take a little bit of time off in September, due to injury and sickness.

Is this kind of training routine for marathon prep? I feel vastly underprepared and am considering dropping to the half.

2

10 miles total a week? In what, 3 runs? That is not marathon training…

Minimal = ~35-40 miles a week peak mileage in ~3 runs a week (e.g., FIRST plan). This will do well for many runners, especially if you tone down the quality a little bit to get more easy miles and reduce injury risk.

Decent = 40-50 miles a week average over a ~12 week block, with some workouts focused on threshold and marathon pace work.

Good = 50+ miles a week average over ~12 week+ block, with 2-3 regular workouts a week (including some quality long runs).

What did you run as weekly mileage to make those half marathon times? That is, average in the 3 months leading up to the race?

Edit: I should say that my ratings above for training sufficiency are based on running for a goal time / racing a marathon. If your goal is simply to complete the race within the time cutoff, much less running will do (and I have much less experience with such training plans). Regardless of your goals, running more in training will make your race easier, and 10 miles/week is very little. Are you planning run/walk breaks? What are you doing for fueling, and have you practiced taking in calories during training much?

3

I was running 15-20 miles/week. Mix of interval, distance and recovery runs.

I’m not blaming the coaching team at all, but this just doesn’t feel right and everywhere I read says I should be significantly higher on my mileage.

I’ve never done a marathon before, and I don’t want to just walk half of it. Do you think two weeks is enough time to at least get across the finish line (without injury)?

4

Run half and walk half.

5

I was running 15-20 miles/week. Mix of interval, distance and recovery runs.

I’m not blaming the coaching team at all, but this just doesn’t feel right and everywhere I read says I should be significantly higher on my mileage.

I’ve never done a marathon before, and I don’t want to just walk half of it. Do you think two weeks is enough time to at least get across the finish line (without injury)?

You should blame the coaching team. If 10 is your longest and you’ve got 2 weeks to go, I’d probably do 10-12 again this weekend, maybe increase my frequency by 1 run per week and accept that you’re going in well below what you should have been doing.

IDK if you’ll have to walk half or not, yet, with a solid run/walk strategy in place I suspect you can get across the finish line.

Best of luck to you

6

I was running 15-20 miles/week. Mix of interval, distance and recovery runs.

I’m not blaming the coaching team at all, but this just doesn’t feel right and everywhere I read says I should be significantly higher on my mileage.

I’ve never done a marathon before, and I don’t want to just walk half of it. Do you think two weeks is enough time to at least get across the finish line (without injury)?

You should blame the coaching team. If 10 is your longest and you’ve got 2 weeks to go, I’d probably do 10-12 again this weekend, maybe increase my frequency by 1 run per week and accept that you’re going in well below what you should have been doing.

IDK if you’ll have to walk half or not, yet, with a solid run/walk strategy in place I suspect you can get across the finish line.

Best of luck to you

Thanks man! I plan on running 12 next week and really seeing how I feel after that. I appreciate the counsel!

7

Drop to the half and train better. Ideally weekly mileage for long distance should be 2-3. Times the race distance, minimally and more for triathletes 1x the distance. So it seems at 10 miles you are only ready for a 5k.

8

Who did you hire to coach you? Gotta make sure no one on this board ever goes anywhere near them.

9

Two weeks out, you should be thinking about tapering, not long runs.

At this point, you can’t fix your training, you can only fuck it.

A marathon is hard work, whether you’re racing it well trained and fit, or you’re simply aiming to finish on low mileage.

It’s easier to get away with low mileage if you have experience over the marathon distance and have trained at high mileages previously. Both your body and mind are familiar the undertaking, and with experience you’re more likely to make sound judgements with pacing and coping strategies.

Very few people would enter their first marathon on as little mileage as you’re considering. There’s good reason why that’s the case.

Do you have a particularly strong imperative to do this particular event? If not, I’d recommend making your marathon debut when you’re better prepared.

If you are going to attempt it, now isn’t the time to be considering your training, but rather focusing on how you’re going to complete the marathon.

Be prepared to be out there for 5.5 or 6 hours. I would suggest adopting a run/walk strategy from the beginning of race. You’re very unlikely to be able to run 26 miles continuously on the little training you have done.

And definitely be very conservative as to the pace you run from the start. A 10 minute mile is around 4:20 marathon pace. I’d advise running slower than 10 minute pace that from the beginning. It’s very easy to burn too matches in those first few miles.

Carry some lube with you. You have no idea what will be chafing after three hours. Also consider your feet. Address blisters before they become a problem.

If your coaching service isn’t telling you this stuff, I’m unsure what you’re paying them for. Doesn’t sound like very much “coaching” or “service” unfortunately.

10

I tend to agree. It’s going to sound dumb but every 3 minutes, no matter what walk 30 seconds. No more. No less. Do that for the first entire half marathon.

2nd half, if you’re feeling strong (and with this approach you should!) extend that to 5 minutes running and walk 30sec.

Last 10k, if you’re feeling strong, skip the walking breaks except for the aid stations, walk those.

You’ll end up negative splitting your first marathon and passing a lot of people who ran by you early on.

Send me a PM and I’ll give you a PayPal address for a coaching invoice. 😉

11

I’m not blaming the coaching team at all

I think you should really consider re-hiring them again. Even if this would have been a “I get injured if I run over 15-20 miles week” a competent coach would have at least discussed with you whether running a marathon on this mileage is realistic.

Two weeks out is way too late to build any kind of reasonable endurance to really race miles 13-26.

At this point, just aim for a good jog-walk strategy and try to make it to the finish line somehow.

You can run a reasonable marathon without a ton of mileage, but you definitely need better training and will realistically need to at least peak at 40 miles per week.

12

Drop to the half and train better. Ideally weekly mileage for long distance should be 2-3. Times the race distance, minimally and more for triathletes 1x the distance. So it seems at 10 miles you are only ready for a 5k.

The first part of this is spot on - perhaps consider dropping down to a half (ideally at the same event if offered as I suspect it would be free to swap) and focus on this. You mentioned you had previously been fitter, so you may find the half a good challenge in itself. There will always be another opportunity to target a full marathon.

As for the marathon, if your longest run is 10 miles then you are in no position to participate. Either you’ll end up injured, or you’ll end up on a long walk (& there are much more enjoyable and scenic places for a long walk than a marathon course). I can’t see any reason why a coach would recommend a plan which doesn’t at least extend to 18 or 20 miles for the longest run.

Good luck whatever you go for.

13

All mid/long distance running has 2 components: one is general fitness, and the other is the ability of your body to absorb the damage from running without being injured.

It is possible to run decently with very little preparation up to a half marathon. For instance, my HM PB this year with sub 4min/km came on 9 runs prior to the race in 5 weeks, none longer than 14km. However, I’m a cyclist so my general fitness is on a fair level all year long, so, as long as I gave my body some “acclimatization” to running, I was doing just fine on the run.

Then again, a marathon is a distance where no one (including me) would recommend this approach, both from general fitness as well as damage absorbing fitness perspective, especially the latter. And you just must put in the mileage there to be prepared, there are no shortcuts.

Just accept the fact you’re not prepared (not your fault really), and choose the race you really want to “run”, not walk, some decent time away so that you have the opportunity to be ready.

14

Two weeks out, you should be thinking about tapering, not long runs.

How much do they have to taper off of, though?

Anyway, like others have said, I’d drop down to the half and see how it goes. Doing it that way, you can take the training you have done and build off of it. Trying to do the full and slogging through it - not the only possible result, but the most likely one - and you’re looking at a significant recovery time afterward.

15

Two weeks out, you should be thinking about tapering, not long runs.

How much do they have to taper off of, though?

Anyway, like others have said, I’d drop down to the half and see how it goes. Doing it that way, you can take the training you have done and build off of it. Trying to do the full and slogging through it - not the only possible result, but the most likely one - and you’re looking at a significant recovery time afterward.

The taper has less to do with the length of the event and more to do with the training leading into the event, specifically the carried fatigue. Gotta be really honest with yourself and experiment a few times to get it right. Generally for last week or two it’s better to go into the event over-rested and under-trained than under-rested and over-trained.

16

Crazy question but are you sure they knew the date of your marathon? The training you’re describing sounds more like base building before you get started on a marathon prep block.

17

How’d the marathon go???

18

How’d the marathon go???

I think they’re still out there.

I’ll check the tracker. Might have a split for the half soon.