Five Weeks to Marathon and Having Training Problems

by Chris
(Ireland)

Hi, I'm currently training for a marathon which is five weeks away. I have been training for five months and got up to just over 2hrs at the end of August. Since then, with the kids going back to school and I have travelled over to England on two separate day trips in two weekends I have failed to make any progress and started chasing my programme.

I do my long runs every Monday and speed workouts on a Thursday, I went out today hoping for 18 and started to struggle on the 2-hour mark 14 miles approximately and didn't complete the run although this was much better than last week.

I do work long hours 46 - 54 a week in the bar trade and I know resting is a problem but the pace I'm trying to run I feel is not beyond me.

I did do a 12-week programme two years ago for the Dublin half and finished it in 1hour and 48 so I felt at the start I was well able.

If you have any suggestions to get my training back on track I would much appreciate it, at the moment and for the 2nd time in a week I feel like quitting but my head still says I can do this.

I know I can finish it but only interested in starting it if I can break 4 hours
Yours sincerely.
Chris

Answer by Dominique:

Hi Chris,
Thanks for your questions about your upcoming marathon. I feel for you. Training for the marathon is a tricky endeavour especially with a young family and busy work commitments.

You are in a tricky spot. Let's cover off on the following:

1. Your training vs what the marathon requires
2. Where to from here?

Your Training vs What the Marathon Requires

The marathon is an honest distance. If your preparation is not up to scratch, it will let you know it is not! It is good that you have been preparing for this marathon for the last five months. I am curious to know what was ahead of that five months. Did you have a base to start off from, or did the marathon preparations start from a lower base of fitness? A success factor in marathon preparations is the amount of running you have been doing ahead of the marathon specific program.

It is also good that you have been able to build up to two hour runs. Ideally, as you would likely know, you would have built up that long run beyond this level. If I were your coach, I would like you to have done a good number of runs over 15 miles and a fair few 20-milers as well. All depending on ability and goals.

With only five weeks to the marathon, there is not a crazy amount of time left. One positive: in this instance, I would not bother with a three week taper. Your training has been limited in the last few weeks. You have had some rest. Your legs should be fresh. This means that your taper can be shorter. It is likely you could get away with a two week taper.

Still, only buys you three weeks to suddenly get a whole lot more comfortable with 18 to 20 milers.

So, I don't know how to twist and turn this, but it feels like you have run out of time to get the most optimal preparation for your marathon. Which gets me to the next part: where to from here?

Where to From Here?

You indicated, you don't want to bother if you can't break four hours.

Your half marathon time of 1:48 hrs indicates that, with good training, you could do a 3:45 marathon. See my race conversion calculator to check the calcs. For a first marathon with limited training background I would generally tell you to add at least 15 minutes to that estimate.

And that's when somebody has done the required training.

So, in short, I'm sceptical you'll break four hours.

Does that mean you should not run at all? Well, that's your decision to make. But you have invested a lot of time into this. Time building up your fitness, time away from the family. You have gone through all of that already. It would be a shame to not run this race just because of an arbitrary time limit you have set yourself that you may or may not reach.

I'd have a think about it and not stare yourself blind on the time. Finishing a marathon is a massive accomplishment. And I reckon doing a marathon on sub-optimal training is something we all need to have gone through. For character building. To learn a little bit more about ourselves. And to know what is required next time.

When you decide to run it, my tips would be:

1. Train well over the next weeks with a few longer runs.
2. Do run/walks to increase the length of your training.
3. Run the marathon with a run/walk strategy.
4. Finish with a smile on your face, knowing you have done an amazing thing.

I would try to prepare as well as possible, then run it and see what happens. In the end, even if you don't make your time goal, you will have finished a marathon. You can do another one next year and use the experience of the marathon of this year to your advantage.

Just a thought of course, you need to decide what is best for you.

I hope this helps.
Kind regards,
Dominique