Marathon...10 weeks enough time?

Well, 2 months (March 2009 would be July for you) out from my marathon here is what I put in mile wise for the month:

R: 95.60 Mi - 18h 29m 48s

Then 1 month (April 2009 would be August for you) out from my marathon:

R: 108.75 Mi - 20h 05m 33s

Then the month of (May 2009 would be September for you):

R: 56.95 Mi - 11h 20m 27s- race was 5-16-09.


You put in 56 miles last month . So basically, in July you would need to ramp up from 56 miles to 96 miles. That's probably not a wise decision.

I'm not a coach though. Just looking at the raw numbers it doesn't look like a great idea... but people do amazing things everyday.



Edited by KSH 2009-07-09 9:57 AM

You can do anything you put your mind to buddy.

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Plenty of time princess.

Guess you've never heard of periodization there prince.

OP, could you do it?  Sure.

But why????  Marathons are a dime a dozen year round.  What's the rush??

(And you really currently don't have the volume to do one and be comfortable with it - in my opinion.)

Do it if you feel like you can safely ramp up your miles in the next couple of weeks.  I did my first 1/2 mary with only 4 weeks of training- no, not the best idea ever, but what's a girl to do?   It was fun!

Runnersworld.com does some pretty simple training plans online. I might try those and put the pedal to the metal with your training asap!

Hey buddy- OP asked if he could do it;  I said he could. Why the attack?

Would I do it running 60-80 miles per month? Nope- Maybe double that.

I've always maintained that 90% or more of the people on here could finish a marathon tomorrow if they so chose, with no specific marathon training.

Would it be slow? Yep, well under potential.

Would it hurt? Probably a lot more than if you were properly trained.

Should they do it? Not unless they have some compelling reason to do that marathon and not the one two, three mnths down the road.

Because your post, while perhaps accurate, would have been more useful advice had you included that disclaimer in it.

Because it is somewhat irresponsible for you to recommend that he do it at that volume.

Mike

Ok, truth is, when I'm asking it means I have doubts that it would be smart but would like confirmation of that fact. I also failed to mention that a few years back I ramped up too quick for my first  1/2 mary and had issues with my IT band. So I should know better.  Would rather do an Oct. Mary, but the ones around here don't work with my schedule or I farted around too long and are now closed (ie Chicago)

So it sounds like the bottom line is that I could probably finish but would either risk hurting myself to be ready or be underprepared making for a pretty unpleasant experience.  I guess I will look for a better alternative where I can ramp up in a proper fashion.  

Isn't there the Whistle Stop 1/2 and full in the fall? Register for the 1/2 and work your training plan. Use that fitness level and try and maintain it over the winter and do an early summer race next year... FWIW.

Mike

Eh, I ramped up properly for my mary and got a stress fracture DURING the race. Started to hurt at mile 3. But mile 24 I had shooting pain in my foot. Couldn't walk on it the next day.

Why not try to train for it... if you get injured... don't do the race.

Not an attack.  But poor recommendation for training.  No recovery week, just increased mileage.  Bad approach to training.  They'd end up potentially injured.

I'm not the one who called the OP a princess my friend .......... so watch out for the pot/kettle association.

HA! I KNOW!

Just like your advice to me about not being able to do an Ironman was solid.

"And  here in this thread folks, we can see how many people get pizzed off at each other for writing sarcastic comments on the net."

Edited by Daremo 2009-07-09 12:53 PM

I don't ever believe I said you (or anyone else for that matter) COULDN'T.



Edit:  Just to be sure, I checked:

Edited by JohnnyKay 2009-07-09 1:06 PM

There ya go. 

Saved me some typing...

let me start by saying this is just my personal expereince.  Daremo and jonnykay, IMO, are much better suited to give out some advice to a broader audience, and listening to them would serve you well.

define "hurting" yourself.

there's hurt and theres injured.  some people think they are the same thing.  my definition is as follows (not scientific):.

injured means you cant do anything.  cant swim. cant bike. cant run.  nothing worse than someone walking around saying their injured, yet they're putting in 15+ hour training weeks.  Hurt?  maybe.  Injured?  Please. 

seriously hurt means you can do 1 of the 3 sports

hurt means you can do 2 of the 3.

somewhat hurt means you can do all 3 with mild discomfort.

last year I did NYC marathon under similar milage as you currenlty.  peaked around 30-35 per week.  IT band issues, foot problem.  I was somewhat hurt.  still could do all 3 sports, but had mild discomfort throughout.  took 3 weeks off after the marathon to heal up.  in my head, I blamed the IT band issues on my lack of stretching, which maybe had some do with the IT band issues, I think most of it comes back to lack of milage.

so, if you are OK with a good chance of having some IT band issues, which cand be pretty serious, than go ahead. 

Personally, if you got your MPW up to 30-35 which is doable based on what your doing now, you could do it without getting injured, as long as you back off every few weeks.....but be prepared to be hurt to some degree.




Edited by cusetri 2009-07-09 1:22 PM

See, I was too lazy to even look it up.

You said it was a mistake. It wasn't. Thanks. So I guess your solid advice isn't always that solid. Just saying man.



Edited by KSH 2009-07-09 1:50 PM

So because I said it "sounds like a mistake" before you told me you had considered it more carefully you are free to pass out bad advice without somebody calling it as such?

Just saying man.


(And, FWIW, my "advice" was to make sure you considered why you were doing it carefully.  Which you said you had.  So you followed my "un-solid" advice.  And once again, carry on.)

There are many that feel that Hal's novice plan is not really enough to get to the finish happy and successfully.  BUT .... plenty of people have and I've actually recommended it to a few with success.

I get what you are saying though, and it makes sense in some ways.  I just go back to "What's the rush?"

Could you finish? Sure. 4 hours is not likely though given your relatively low volume and your race history. You could probably finish in the 4:30-5:00 range. That could leave a sour taste or it could make you determined to do it again with proper training. Even the most minimal training programs would have you doing 35-40 mpw and you're nowhere near close to that even in your bigger volume months. However, start a slow and steady increase now and by next spring you could have a solid marathon.