Tam's training for 3:45:00" in Feb. 2008

September 20, 2026

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Location:

Austin,TX,USA

Member Since:

Sep 11, 2006

Gender:

Unknown

Goal Type:

Unknown

Running Accomplishments:

Paul & Tam at Congress Avenue Mile: 5:46" 2004. Marathon: 3:44'

Short-Term Running Goals:

Run AT&T Marathon (Feb.18, 2007) in 3:30:59" to qualify for Boston.

Long-Term Running Goals:

Being healthy at 59... like Paul!

Personal:

Married, 2 kids, boy and girl.

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Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	0.00	Year:	0.00

Tue, Jan 02, 2007

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
1.50	0.00	3.10	0.00	4.60

S8H.

Noon @ YMCA

WU 1.5 miles

Ran 5K @ 6:58” pace (PR). It was a very tough challenging run.

I had all the reasons not to do it today: It was my lunch break; right knee was tender during warm up; 4 days off during the holidays; tomorrow is our weekly quality work out; 20 miles run at 8:00” pace this coming Sunday; last but not least the thought of running 3.1 miles under 7:00” pace seems SO intimidating (7:00” pace is my 1 mile repeats pace).

After 1.5 miles warm up, I took a short break, drank some water, did some serious soul searching and decided to do it.

It was a tough run even during the first mile. And it was getting harder as the run progressed. The legs were up to the task but not the heart and mind. Toward the end of mile two, I was breathing pretty hard and really wanted to stop. It was my pride that kept me going and finally finished.

At the end of the run, I felt like I could hold on to another lap at this pace if it was to qualify me for Boston. Mentally, that was all that I can take!

Time predictor said to run a 3:30:00” marathon I will need to run 5K @ 6:55” pace and 10K @ 7:12” pace. Will try it before Feb. 18, 2007.

Comments

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Jan 12, 2007 at 16:26:58

Tam - you are within range. Note that you can never run a 5 K on your own as fast as you would in a race. I'd say do not worry too much about hitting goal pace in tempos. Just go out and train, put in the miles, and when the race day comes take what it will give you. Worrying about the race can only make things worse.

On race day start out at 7:55-8:00 pace and hold it for a while. If you get to 18 and it starts feeling way too slow, start pushing. If you get there and you cannot hold it, just run to survive. See if you can still get a big PR. There will be another day for BQ.

A marathon is a very unpredictable distance, very susceptible to random influences. A mild cold you would not have otherwise noticed, a mild indigestion, a bit too much anxiety, and you run 4-5 minutes or more slower than your potential on race day. So you usually have to try more than once to reach it.

Right now after a few months of good training you are walking on the verge of BQ. However, give yourself a couple of years of solid training, and you will be very well over it. So in this one, take a BQ if your body will give it, but also have a plan for solid training in the future.

From Tam Hoang on Mon, Jan 15, 2007 at 10:32:08

Thanks Sasha. It's very wise. I will do that.

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