3 Runs A Week - Training for Tulsa's Route 66 Marathon

Less than two weeks until the Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa, Oklahoma! (Sunday, November 24) 


Six weeks of travel in Latin America and Asia messed up my training schedule.  Too many late night arrivals and early morning departures.  Found it hard to get in enough training runs. Some weeks just two runs, others three.  My long runs on the weekend were never long enough. 

 

Ran up Mt. Doi Suthep to Wat Doi Suthep

Got back from my Asia trip on October 11th.  Ran 13 miles the next day, (which was the longest distance I had run since the Half Marathon in OKC at the beginning of May.)  I was thinking about switching to the Half Marathon for Route 66, but it turned out it was past the deadline.  (Took a few days to find that out.) So then I was faced with trying to ramp up my training to the level needed, without injuring myself ( in only 5 weeks).  So Sunday, October 20th, I ran 13.11 at a 7:31/ mile pace (mile splits ranged between 7:15 and 7:40/mi). Tuesday that week I ran 5.63 and Thursday 6.25 miles.  My pace was between 7 :25/mi and 7:31/mi.  My long run the next Saturday was 16 miles (October 26).  The following Tuesday and Thursday my runs were both 6 miles plus.  Saturday (November 2) was 18 miles.  Again Tuesday and Thursday, 6 miles plus.  Saturday (November 9) was 20 miles.  Every run has been under 7:50 per mile. The shorter ones were all under 7:39 with some of them under 7:20 per mile.

I believe that I can run the Route 66 marathon in under 3:25 (3 hours 25 minutes).  But my weekly mileage totals have topped 30 miles only the past two weeks.  I have only one run of 20 miles.  It seems unlikely that with only three runs a week and only one run of 20 miles that I could finish in less than 3 and a half hours.  It also seems unlikely that I could break 3:25 when I have never run a marathon faster than 3:32.  And finally I have never put in so few miles prior to a marathon before.  Prior to Houston I ran just three times a week but had multiple 20 mile runs.  (I finished in 3:34.  My goal was a bit too lofty. Faded badly.)  But if I can run 20.2 miles with an average pace of 7:47,  surely I can run 26.2 with a 7:48 pace. 3:30:00 or less would qualify me for the 2015 Boston Marathon.  3:25:00 or less would greatly improve my chances of actually getting in.  Beating the qualifying time by five minutes or more puts one into the third of four groups. The first group are those who finish 20 minutes faster than the qualifying standard.  The second group are those who finish 10 minutes faster than the standard.  The third group are those who finish 5 minutes faster than the standard.  The fourth and final group are those who finish less than five minutes faster than the standard. Following the listing of each group  on the Boston Athletic Association page are the words "if space remains"(starting with the second group).

Sic'em Bears!