PBs and Jelly
I have this crazy idea that I’d like to qualify for Boston some day (even though I haven’t even run a full marathon yet), but it ain’t gonna happen at my current pace. For runs of 6 miles or shorter I can run an 8:25-8:40 minute/mile pace; my best half marathon pace was 9:22. Should I decide to target the 2009 Boston Marathon, my qualifying time would be 4 hours (plus 59 seconds, of course!). I’m sure with the proper amount of training (which would include lots of speed work), it’s doable. But given how my body has been behaving to a faster pace, it could be a stretch (actually I think stretching is what my body needs right now).
In his book “New Marathon” Jeff Galloway includes a race prediction chart based upon one’s 5K and half marathon finishes. Basically, a 2-hour half marathon finish does NOT mean you can run a full in 4 hours. According to the chart, I should shoot for an approximate 1 hour, 52 minute half marathon time or a 23:50 5K if I’m to do a 4-hour marathon. Yikes!
Given I’m training for my very first marathon, I’m not incorporating any speed work into my routines (I just want to be able to finish). However, I have been trying to beat my personal bests for my regular runs around Greenlake and Discovery Park. In April I beat my 5.6 mile Greenlake run by 1 1/2 minutes, and this past week I beat both my 3.2 and 6-mile Greenlake runs (by 14 seconds for the former, 27 seconds for the latter). Of course, it probably wasn’t a wise decision to run the 6-mile run the day after the 3.2 mile one; I basically collapsed on the couch for the rest of the evening (and woke up the next day with a small muscle pull in my left buttock).
Even with kicking butt (literally) I’m still no where near the pace I should be. Mind you, I consider myself more of an endurance runner than a sprinter, so I think the half marathon finish is a better predictor for my full marathon performance than the 5K time.
Regardless, I’m going to take baby steps. I have an unofficial half marathon coming up (I’ll be running the latter half of the Green River Marathon, which is a free race put on entirely by volunteers. No bib numbers, no timing chips, just a bunch of runners having fun) and my goal is to run it in under 2 hours. The next weekend is the Fremont 5K, which I hope to finish in 25:45. The only other race I may run before the Marathon du Medoc is the Torchlight 8K (I’ll run it if I don’t have to cater any parties). My goal is to beat the time of my last 8K race, which was 44:24. Other than that I’m going to concentrate on long, SLOW runs in preparation for Medoc.
Assuming I enjoy the full marathon, I’ll then kick my training up a notch in preparation for a 2008 qualifying marathon (after the appropriate recovery time from Medoc, of course). Will this madness never end?
My personal bests:
Races
8K — 44:24 (May 2006)
10K — 59:04 (October 2005)
Half Marathon — 2:02:38 (July 2006)
Training Runs
2.8 Greenlake — 23:35 (December 2006)
3.2 Greenlake — 26:56 (May 2007)
5.6 Greenlake — 48.34 (April 2007)
6.0 Greenlake — 52:00 (May 2007)
Discovery Park, 1 loop — 26:14 (April 2006) I need to confirm the distance of this trail. Apparently it’s 2.8 miles (a rather hilly 2.8!), but now that I have my Garmin I can double check.
Discover Park, 2 loops — 54.16 (July 2006)
May 21st, 2007 at 2:00 pm
haha. i love that – will this madness ever end? seeing as you started a blog to chat about your running, i am guessing that for you, like me (and everyone else who does this) no – the madness will never end. and we like it that way, don’t we? Your personal best pace of 9:22 for your half is exactly the same as mine was for last years’ half … with the proper training, i knocked off 26 minutes in a year and bet you can do the same! I’m not really familiar with Jeff Galloway’s program … i did do speedwork & i think it helped a great deal. Generally, i think you take your half time, double it & add about 10-15 minutes to get an estimate of your full marathon time.
That Garmin talks to you? Does it literally tell you to speed up or slow down? That is very cool.
May 21st, 2007 at 3:00 pm
You have to program in your desired speed, but then it will beep at you and flash either “Slow Down!” or “Speed Up!” when you’re not within the desired range. Who knows, it may get pretty irritating by the third or fourth run, but it keeps me from always having to look at my watch to see if I’m in the right range.
P.S. Looks like I’ll be doing some other workout this week other than running; my left quad is STILL aching so I’m going to give it some much needed rest. It’s been ages since I’ve been to the pool and I think it misses me!
May 22nd, 2007 at 9:38 pm
Hah! You caught the marathon bug and you haven’t even done your first marathon. 🙂
May 25th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
Betsy, I think you should try a half-marathon first. Then you can decide whether you want to do a full or not. Most will also qualify you for the Boston Half-Marathon! Did you know there was such a thing? You can go to their website and check it out: http://www.bostonmarathon.org/HalfMarathon/Default.asp
I decided, after doing a half, that I couldn’t possibly listen to “Eye of the Tiger after 12 miles… for anything.
Best to you, L
May 26th, 2007 at 6:22 am
IF I’m going to try for Boston, it will definitely be for the full (next year may be pushing it, however). But I would definitely first try to shave off 10-15 minutes off of my best half marathon time.
(But let’s see if I’m still talking all this craziness when I return from France in September!)