"rick++" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> > Getting ready to roll now... only 90 days left till Bayshore Marathon. I'm registering tomorrow.
> >
> > I did my first two runs this week... a 4 miler (30 min) and a 7 miler
today
> > (54min) Goals for the 13 weeks... 20, 25, 30, 30, 40, 40, 40, 45, 50, 50, 55, 40, 40 = mileage
> > weeks....
>
> Qay too fast of ramp up. Hope you have good health insurance.
I started running seriously in September, and was probably a similar pace to what you've just done
(7miles in 54). I'm aiming at an April marathon though may have to postpone to June due to treading
awkwardly in a pothole. Anyway, my peak mileage has so far reached 71K, though I did hit 90K in a 7
day period - following which I took two days off because ****les were becoming serious ****les. I'd
been running for about 20 weeks at that point.
55 miles (88K) in 11 weeks strikes me as very ambitious, and I'm not known for following guidelines.
But if you want to run a marathon in 90 days time, then I'd suggest (and this is based entirely on
my experience, and should be treated with the appropriate amount of respect
)
a) Finding a different marathon that gives you more time
b) If you really want to do this marathon, then figure out a training plan based on the sessions you
need to get in, and don't get hung up on weekly mileage. In this case, your long run is likely to
be the most important thing - so work out how to ramp up to a 20 miler. From a baseline of a
7mile run, you should be able to do that in 10 weeks, at the expense of any speed work. Assuming
you're about my age, and respond to training in the same way I do, which is a hell of an
assumption.
c) Train intelligently. Back off when you feel serious ****les developing, and don't try to catch up
the miles. You'll probably train better anyway because you'll be more rested.
d) You want a bigger taper than that at the end, unless that last 40 miles includes the race.
e) Try and get a race in beforehand so you know how they work. A mass-participation race is a bit
different, but it'd be better to be stuck in the toilet queue when the start gun goes on your
trial race rather than the marathon.
When I was 21 I ran a marathon off a few runs of 10 miles and not a whole lot else. I can still
remember how painful the last third was, and it put me off running for 8 years. I now intend to make
sure that when I run this marathon I'm ready for it. If you want you can run a marathon in 90 days
time, but I'll bet you wish you hadn't.
Ben
