Fast Running Blog

Just curious...I'd love to hear the greatest improvement folks have made in consecutive marathons.  Please brag...I've only run one marathon and am still considering what to mark as my personal goal for marathon #2.  I'd love to run a BQ, but am not sure how possible a one hour improvement is within a 5-month period.  Can't wait to see what some of you guys have done!

My first 3 marathons were 2:49, 3:41, and 2:46, in that order.  So technically I improved almost an hour from the second to third.  But in reality, it was just a matter of being severely undertrained for my second marathon rather than really improving that much.  But I think Cody has improved by more than an hour, although over the course of a few marathons.  A lot depends where you start- if you start at 3:30, it is a lot harder to take of an hour than if you start at 5 hours.

So far, I have gone from 3:58 to 3:15 in consecutive marathons, and have every intention of breaking 3:00 this year at SGM.  I was also very undertrained for my first marathon, and actually had to miss two years in a row because of injuries before I found the blog and was able to finally start training consistently.

3:44 in Dec 05 (first marathon).  Not much running until June 06.  Began training for TOU in Sept.  I ran 3:11.  Steady training since then.  Ran 2:52 then 2:46, then finally 2:38 at St. George.  Almost an hour off of my first marathon in 16 months of training.

3:49, 3:02, 2:40, 2:42, 2:42, 3:49. Somebody might beat me on the 69 minute improvement, but they probably won't also match my 69 minute death march breakdown at Chicago last year.

So what's the story in Chicago? 

First marathon: 3:48. 
Seven months later: 3:19.
One month later: 3:11.
Six months later: 3:08. 

I'm happy to be trending in the right direction, but hope the slowdown is an abberation!

Provo Marathon August 2009  3:45:00
Ogden Marathon March 2010 3:04:00
Deseret News Marathon July 2010 2:51:36

TOU '08 (my 1st) - 4:34
Ogden '09 - 3:54
TOU '09 - 3:42
Mesquite '09 - 3:36
Ogden '10 - 3:20
Utah Valley '10 - 3:25 (too soon aften Ogden, it hurt)

Hoping for a 3:15 in St. George '10.  So it has been slow but steady progress for me.

2005- STM-2:58. Then on the same training I went to Boston the following spring.
2006- Boston- 3:00, STG- 2:36. After STG I maintained similar training through the winter and ran Boston the following spring.
2007- Boston- 2:37, STG- 2:25. After Boston in the spring I started really ramping up the mileage the rest of the summer and a long with half the blog had a great race in the fall of '07 at STG.
2008- 2:30 @ STG but horrible weather. I personally feel the wind and rain cost me 10 min's that day. I was in way better shape than the previous year when I ran a 2:25. This race ended up being one of the biggest bummers, busts or let downs of my life.
2009- 2:58 @ STG. Logan and I helped pace a friend to a sub 3 hour marathon. Best marathoning experience of my life.
2010- 2:36 @ Utah Valley. Went up to run and see the course but not race all out. Ended up being a very positive experience. STG- ?:??

I'll note that I ran only the first marathon back in 2005 before I joined the blog. So since joining the blog back in the spring of 2006 it's been a great tool and aid to running success.

I had to look most of these up. I used to be able to remember exact times, but can't do it anymore.

2002 - Top of Utah - 2:40:19
2003 - Ogden - 2:43:46
2003 - Top of Utah - 2:35:20
2004 - Top of Utah - 2:45:09
2005 - Ogden - 2:35:24
2005 - Park City - 2:43:32
2005 - Des News - 2:40:48
2005 - Top of Utah - 2:39:22
2005 - St George - 2:26:35
2007 - Ogden - 2:26:24
2007 - Top of Utah - 2:39:22 (pacing)
2007 - St George - 2:18:09
2007 - Olympic Trials - 2:22:34
2009 - Top of Utah - 2:23:07

Note that I didn't really pop one off until my 9th marathon, and everything thereafter was substantially better. I had a lot of trial and error (mostly error), plus I think it took a while for fitness gains to really catch up.

But I look at myself as proof that a person running in the 2:40s can run under 2:20 (at least at St George) if they improve and train well. If you're currently running 2:40, you should set your sites on 2:20. Even if you fall short, you'll probably still find yourself in a good place.

1996 - STG 3:34
2007 - STG 3:26
2008 - STG 2:56
2009 - Ogden 2:48
2009 - STG 2:47
2010 - Surf City 2:51
2010 - Utah Valley 2:44
So far about 50 minutes between my first and current marathons. To bad there was over a ten year gap in there. I missed a lot of good running years.

What a great topic!  I've only run three marathons.  I went from twin 4:14's (2006 and 2007) to 3:15:11 (2010).  Consistent running, the books "Advanced Marathoning", and this blog have helped tremendously. 

2004 STG- 3:07:30 First marathon and no clue what I was doing, just tried to hang with the 3:10 pacer guy and it worked.
2005- No marathon had ankle surgery and moved to St. George
2006 BOSTON- 3:06:45 Still no clue what I was doing, but having fun seeing the sights of Boston and eating way too many GU's along the way
2006 STG- 2:46:11 Big time improvement in a just a few short months of really good training.
2007 STG- 2:44:59 Good race, but had hip issues throughout the summer of training and then also during the race
2008 STG- 3:07:27 The Big Storm, lots of people ran bad, but I ran real bad
2009 Ogden- 2:53:56 This was more of a glorified training run.  I took it easy the first half, but didn't have much left the second half
2009 STG- 2:55:01 Things were going good through 16, then I cramped up bad and ended with another STG BUMMER
Fall of 2009- Actually had quite the fall off of a roof, which set my training back quite a bit going into 2010
2010 UVM- 3:15:08 Wasn't prepared for this marathon.  I ended up pacing Bill Campbell through 8 miles and Mike Warren through 20 miles, then I died and became as good as a bum on the side of the road.

I find hope in Paul's comments that he really didn't pop one off until after his 9th marathon.  I still have lots to learn about running marathons and training for them.  I do think I am capable with the proper training off running well under 2:40, but I just need to put in the work which hasn't happened yet.

2008 Top of Utah my first 3:34
2009 Ogden 3:15
2009 STG 3:01
I have had a steady improvement mostly from good training.   No marathons for 2010 do to injury.

2008 Austin Marathon - (new course) - 4:12
2008 Dallas Marathon - 3:30
2010 Austin Marathon - 3:24