Marathon Time

[Blake Ward]

I recently just finished the Richmond Marathon with a time of 4:30.. I did this with out much
training..I signed up with the 4:30 pace group and just held on..My question is what type of
training can I do to try to achieve
3:30 time which is my qualifying time for the Boston Marathon...I run around 30 to 40 miles a
week..I know I"ll need tons of long runs in that group of miles..Before I very seldom did much
over 10 miles..The 4:30 pace was a we bit slow for the first 13 miles but that slower pace helped
me allot in the high miles...Any help would be greatly appreciated....Oh yea I am a male..if this
makes a defference...

[Dumbass]

On Mon, 17 Nov 2003 03:32:46 GMT, "Blake Ward" <hward@triad.rr.com> wrote:

>I recently just finished the Richmond Marathon with a time of 4:30.. I did this with out much
>training..I signed up with the 4:30 pace group and just held on..My question is what type of
>training can I do to try to achieve
>3:30 time which is my qualifying time for the Boston Marathon..

Any.

[Donovan Rebbech]

In article <yjXtb.3555$tP4.578607@twister.southeast.rr.com>, Blake Ward wrote:
> I recently just finished the Richmond Marathon with a time of 4:30.. I did this with out much
> training..I signed up with the 4:30 pace group and just held on..My question is what type of
> training can I do to try to achieve
> 3:30 time which is my qualifying time for the Boston Marathon...I run around 30 to 40 miles a
> week..I know I"ll need tons of long runs in that group of miles..Before I very seldom did much
> over 10 miles..The 4:30 pace was a we bit slow for the first 13 miles but that slower pace
> helped me allot in the high miles...Any help would be greatly appreciated....Oh yea I am a
> male..if this makes a defference...

Do you have a half-marathon time ? You'll need to be able to do the half in under 1:40 (but 1:36
would be better) to have any chance at a 3:30. A one hour improvement is over 2 minutes per mile, so
you'll need a combination of being able to *race* a marathon, improved endurance, and marathon
specific training. I'd suggest working on the half marathon times (or 10k times, but the half is a
better predictor) and bringing them down as much as possible, then you'll have some idea of where
you can go with the marathon.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/

[Ed Prochak]

"Blake Ward" <hward@triad.rr.com> wrote in message
news:<yjXtb.3555$tP4.578607@twister.southeast.rr.com>...
> I recently just finished the Richmond Marathon with a time of 4:30.. I did this with out much
> training..I signed up with the 4:30 pace group and just held on..My question is what type of
> training can I do to try to achieve
> 3:30 time which is my qualifying time for the Boston Marathon...I run around 30 to 40 miles a
> week..I know I"ll need tons of long runs in that group of miles..Before I very seldom did much
> over 10 miles..The 4:30 pace was a we bit slow for the first 13 miles but that slower pace
> helped me allot in the high miles...Any help would be greatly appreciated....Oh yea I am a
> male..if this makes a defference...

Check almost any training plan for the marathon. Look at runnersworld.com under the training tab.
There are 20 articles on marathong training.

HTH,
ed

[Keith Stone]

"Blake Ward" <hward@triad.rr.com> wrote in message
news:<yjXtb.3555$tP4.578607@twister.southeast.rr.com>...
> I recently just finished the Richmond Marathon with a time of 4:30.. I did this with out much
> training..I signed up with the 4:30 pace group and just held on..My question is what type of
> training can I do to try to achieve
> 3:30 time which is my qualifying time for the Boston Marathon...I run around 30 to 40 miles a
> week..I know I"ll need tons of long runs in that group of miles..Before I very seldom did much
> over 10 miles..The 4:30 pace was a we bit slow for the first 13 miles but that slower pace
> helped me allot in the high miles...Any help would be greatly appreciated....Oh yea I am a
> male..if this makes a defference...

Well, at 44 it's going to take you some time to ramp up. To cut to
3:30 you're going to need to get several weeks in the high 40's/low 50's and you just can't walk out
the door and do that. You're also going to need to spend a lot of time training at or below your
marathon goal pace. Find some people from the Winston or Kernersville clubs that run your goal
pace and work to stay with them. Looking at your Salem Lake results from '01 you've been running
that 4:30+ pace for a while, so it's going to take some time. Pick a fall marathon next year and
use a number of longer races over the next year to gauge your progress. Find long long race like
Salem Lake 3-5 weeks out and run it *AT* goal pace. If you can't hang that close in and there's no
circumstances like, rain, heat, bizarre winds, etc, to moderate your opinion either bag it and
pick a later race or reevaluate your goal.

You're going to need to add some structure and goals to your training so tieing in with a club will
help. Training with people with similar goals will make the process easier and give you added
incentive to get out the door.

Keith