Conner Mantz says 4:46 pace at altitude feels "comfortable" - Indicates he will go out in 1:03 at Chicago Marathon

Prediction: 1:03 first half and 1:08 second half.

Some universal workouts that basically all 2:02-2:06 guys run.

25k at marathon pace

40k at 92-93% of goal pace

Long alternation workouts like 4x5k, 6x4k, 8x3k, 10x2k at goal pace with 1k rest at 80-90%.

Maybe a special block with two workouts in one day:

AM: 10k at 87% + 15k at 97% / PM: 10k at 87% + 10 x 1k at 105%

He's probably very capable of running very fast, but I don't see a sub 2:08 in the training. I hope I'm wrong, because that would mean his potential is REALLY high someday.

I hate to sound like a broken record but these guys and coaches in the U.S. need to consult Canova and the like and get a better marathon program. Swallow your pride about your "system" and do what has been proven to work. There's no way we can be so bad at the marathon with such a huge population and depth of talent and a perfect feeder like the NCAA.

In every Mantz thread I've seen prior to this, he WAS over 40 himself. His age seems to have been cut in half for this thread only.

Ok, cool, thanks for all the input. Consensus seems to be way longer runs at marathon pace or really long tempos.

He did do a ten miler at 4:47 per mile at Provo’s altitude and said it was comfortable. So that is impressive. Also, he did some 25 mile runs, which seems unconventional, & some long runs where the pace was medium, followed by like three miles at marathon pace. And his 5,000 & 10,000 PRs are much faster this year than they were before the 1:00:55 half last year.

So it will really be interesting to see how he fares. When he says he’s going to go out in 1:03, I wish he meant like 1:03:45 trying to even split. I think 1:03-flat is pretty aggressive.

I think Mantz is made for the marathon, and expect him to be really good at the distance.

But this being his first marathon, I think any time under 2:10 would be good. I don't think he finishes faster than 2:08. I also hope he surprises me.

2:08:16 is a very fine performance for a debut. He went out at 2:07:30 pace, which was wise, and fell off a bit, but he held pace better than others in the top ten. He was outside of the top ten at 35k, but 7th at the finish. More surprising was to see Panning and McDonald in there for sub-2:10 as well. With Mantz's significantly better speed at 5 and 10, you'd be justified in thinking that he can run 2:06-7 in the next year or two, as marathon training tends to build on itself over time and allow for continued improvement through 8-10 marathons or even more in some cases, as in Kipchoge's case. Mantz should be in prime age for the marathon for the next five to ten years, so this should be a very good extended run. Good thing he got into the marathon already in his mid-20s, because he could see that was where his potential was greatest.

Just to update, based on the comments I see above me, which seem to not have taken in the results, he went out in 1:03:45 with Frank Lara and came back in 1:04:31 for a 2:08:16 finish. The race was won by Benson Kipruto around 2:04:24.

Considering that he was training for indoor track through Feb (7:41/13:10) and for outdoor track through June (13:11/27:25), this is a great result for a first try.

Great result, he ran smart. 1:03-flat halfway would’ve been foolish. I’m sure he’s a little disappointed he didn’t get sub-2:08, but still a fantastic debut.

He has also been training for next month's NCAA x-country championships. Hope he can recover fast enough to three-peat in that.