Kerry's Running Blog

If you volunteer 7:15 right now you should have no problem running 3:35 marathon after some work on the endurance. 50% of running a marathon at a certain pace is being able to run 1 mile at that pace, and 75% is being able to run 2 or 3. The rest requires hard work, but it is a matter of doing it, not so much a miracle to change the genetic makeup/nervous system/bones/muscles/etc.

Thanks, Sasha. I've been wondering about that. Last year at St. George I held an 8:00 to 8:10 pace through 22 miles, but then I just crashed and burned. I really need to figure out how to hold that pace all the way to the end. I did several 20+ mile runs last year, but maybe I should a little longer and faster.

No, 20+ should be plenty. Steve Jones set the world record in his first marathon. Prior to that the longest distance he had ever run was 18 miles. However he did run 85-90 miles a week consistently, did brutal speed workouts, and a lot of his "easy" running was at a tempo pace. What saved him was that he could run a 10 K in 27 minutes. With that speed, he could run fairly comfortably and be done with the marathon in 2:08. This did not give him enough time to crash. There was probably also another factor - his speed gave him a very good running economy, so he did not need to stock up on a lot of fuel to last 26 miles.

If you are still crashing the problem is somewhere else. I would recommend the following:

Make sure you eat to the best of your knowledge.

Train consistently through the year 6 days a week. Eventually build up to 10 miles a day or more if you can handle it.

Do regular 10-15 mile tempo runs at your marathon race pace.

Work on your speed. What you've done in St. George proves you can run hard for 3 hours and not crash. If you could improve your speed a little bit, when your crash threshhold of 3 hours arrives, you will be done with the race or at least be close enouch to the finish to not lose much if you even walked the rest of the way.

Some more thoughts. I ran my first marathon at the age of 17 in Moscow. I had been running consistent 40 miles a week with a lot of speed work. My longest run prior to the race was a half-marathon in 1:17:40. So I was not really ready for a marathon - I just entered it on a whim to see what would happen.

I made to to the half in 1:23, and it felt good. Then at 15 I started feeling weak. At about 18 my quads started cramping really bad, and I made it the rest of the way by stopping every two minutes or so to massage them. Nevertheless, I still made it to the finish in 3:05:51.

While this is not what I would call an ideal marathon racing or training, it shows something. Consistency in training takes you very far, and I believe further than the length of your longest run. Speed can move your crashing point close enough to the finish, to where your consistency can carry you so you can still get a decent time, even if you are not exactly trained to run a marathon.

Thanks! That's very helpful to know. Last year I really didn't focus on speed at all, trying instead to build up endurance through a weekly long run. I know I also need to do a better job fueling and hydrating during the race. It was nausea that really brought me to a stop and that was when I noticed how tired and wasted I felt.