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Boston 2010: I'm going for it!

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5ksandcabernets: Boston 2010: I'm going for it!

5ksandcabernets

Monday, May 25, 2009

Boston 2010: I'm going for it!

On Saturday, for the second long run in a row, I found myself stride for stride with guys who've run marathons in the low 3s or sub 3s.

This past Saturday, after starting the first 7 miles real conservative (8:20 miles), I decided to just let my legs carry me as fast as they wanted to without racing. I wound up doing the last 5 miles in a 7:16 pace, and ended up passing a few of those low 3s-marathoners, who I am sure were taking it really easy.

The total run ended up being about 14 miles in a pace of 7:48/mile.

Perhaps I ran the last few miles a little too fast, but my lungs felt great, my legs felt great, and the next day I was able to do a 7-mile recovery run in about an hour.

This strength I seem to have on long runs has me pondering what my next marathon goal pace should be. I am hoping to one day qualify to run Boston, and at my age (40), I need to run a 3:20 qualifying marathon. That is 33 minutes faster than my marathon pr, which I ran in Fort Worth on Feb. 28.

I know I can run better than what I ran in Fort Worth. And the speed I am maintaining on these hilly courses in Austin and in this heat has given me the confidence that maybe a 3:20 is not that far out of reach.

So after Saturday's long run, I talked to one of the Team Rogue coaches, Steve Sisson, who just so happens to be the assistant long distance women's track coach at the University of Texas. I also talked to fellow blogger Sadie, who runs with Sisson's group. Sisson's group emphasizes the Lydiard way of training for marathons, high mileage and not much quality (intervals, tempo runs) until close to the goal race.

Now, when I say high mileage, I mean upwards of 80 miles a week. That's what Sadie ran leading up to the Austin marathon. The coach I'm running with now, Carolyn Mangold. has suggested I get to at least 60 miles a week during marathon training and I think that's a good idea for me, seeing as though I've ever had a week with more than 55 miles. (Since running the Cowtown Marathon in Fort Worth on Feb. 28, I am averaging about 38 miles a week. So ramping up another 20 to 25 miles should not be too hard.)

Still, I will probably transfer to Sisson's group because his features many runners who are faster than, or run right at the same speed as I do. Carolyn's group _ and Carolyn is a great coach and a really nice lady _ has runners who are much slower than I am. And in fact, I usually end up running by myself during her group runs.

So, Sisson's groups meet Tuesday and Thursday mornings for stretching and then runs of 8 to 10 miles, and they also meet on Saturdays for the long run (with the rest of the Team Rogue runners). The weekday groups meet at 5:30 a.m., which is 30 minutes earlier than I would run on Tuesdays and Thursdays in Fort Worth. So, that'll mean I'll have to cut out some wine drinking if I want to be able to get up with time to get dressed, use the bathroom, and make the 12-minute drive from my apartment to the Team Rogue training center.

But I'm sooooo motivated.

Boston, here I come!

12 Comments:

Blogger DawnB said...

Motivation is good, sounds like a plan!! go for it, you can and you will.

May 25, 2009 at 1:48 PM  
Blogger Phil said...

Train in the heat and on the hills, then find a marathon that is flat and cool. You'll BQ with no problem. I regularly run flat marathons 15 minutes faster than ones with small rolling hills. Two great marathons to BQ at are Chicago (which is already full) and California International in December. Good luck!

May 25, 2009 at 2:14 PM  
Blogger Billy said...

You can definitely go sub-3:20 with the right training and a greater focus on endurance (hey - we all know you got the leg speed!).

Go and get 'er Kev. You have every right to be confident in your goal to BQ for 2010.

May 25, 2009 at 8:25 PM  
Blogger Run For Life said...

I think switching to the faster group sounds like a good call. Have fun training!

May 25, 2009 at 9:12 PM  
Anonymous Rich said...

I have read your blog for a while now and even though I've never commented before this post inspired me to finally do so.

I think you have a great shot at meeting your goal of a BQ for 2010. This is not based on luck but on the facts. And, the facts are you have 10k and half marathon PRs that extrapolate out to you being very close in the marathon.

Your 10k in 43:49 translates to roughly a 3:25 in the marathon. Your 1/2 in 1:36:01 would translates to roughly a 3:24 in the marathon.

If you stick to your plan of increasing your mileage, I think you have an outstanding shot of making it.

My only word of caution would be to slow down some of your training runs. Take a look at some training pace calculators from McMillan, Daniels, or another source to find the paces you should be training at for your eventual goal. Having a coach should really help a lot too.

I wish you the best of luck and look forward to reading about your training and ultimately about you BQing.

May 25, 2009 at 11:40 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Very cool Kevin! I know you can do it -- I think the first few marathons just don't count. There was some mind-trap-thing going on there. Cowtown is the one you should count and you did very well.

The sad part is the whole drinking the wine thing. I have to do this too, before my big runs. Mostly mental but today's chase run, I had to get to bed early for the 6AM start. _That_ is about an hour and half earlier than the earliest I want to run anywhere. :-)

May 26, 2009 at 1:32 PM  
Anonymous Cynthia said...

Yes, do what Phil said and come out to California! You have a place to stay in Sac!

May 26, 2009 at 4:02 PM  
Blogger Brian said...

Go for it! I'm excited to read the results. I'm upping my mileage to about 100 mi/week in prep for a (hopeful) sub 3 in February. If you can cut back on the wine, perhaps I can cut back on the bourbon :).

May 26, 2009 at 8:41 PM  
Blogger A Plain Observer said...

With the way you are running, I am sure you can qualify. I qualified twice. (there is a benefit to being a female and older than you!) but I haven't run it, if I ever qualify again maybe. I should say, if I ever run again...

May 26, 2009 at 8:48 PM  
Blogger Marci said...

Keep shooting for the stars :)

May 26, 2009 at 10:22 PM  
Blogger Linden said...

Awesome! It would be so exciting if you BQ! Can't wait to hear about your training!

May 27, 2009 at 7:54 AM  
Anonymous Denny said...

Kevin,

Great goal. I'm thinking about doing my best to qualify by the end of 2010 for Boston 2011. I would love to try for it and run next year but my graduate school is too time-constraining to get that done. Your runs as of late have been awesome - I hope to draw some motivation from you as I get back into my training (Cleveland was two weeks ago tmw, time to get serious). Race day is such an anomaly when compared to training that I am sure you can do it the way your runs have been going.

Look at it this way - I ran my first marathon training for 4:00. I ran 3:46. I trained for my second (a year and a half and +20 pounds later) hoping to break 3:40. I did 3:27. Aiming for 3:15 this fall, so who knows maybe I can BQ in the fall. You're ahead of where I'm at and I'm pretty sure you've got it in the bag - just do the work and you'll do well. You can always stack the deck and pick a flat race further north where you can avoid the heat some.

May 30, 2009 at 1:57 PM  

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