2:51 Marathon on 30 MPW

Would be interested to hear - I assume yes, with maybe a few caveats - probably those with a history of marathons and a with good quality pacework/intervals could get there.

I was at 3:49 when my longest week was 25mpw (because of time constraints at that stage in life). I was doing two or three runs mid-week with the dog , which was 2-4 miles each time at anything from 6:30min/mile to 9min/mile pace, and I simply increased the Sat LSD in blocks.

Over the 12 weeks, the Sat LSD was (in miles) 10/12/15/5/15/16/18/6.2/16/18/20/5/Race.

Had I 10 more miles per week in there with actual quality work (long runs were pretty solid tbh), there's no question I'd have dropped the time easily, and again in a second cycle. Whether sub-3, I don't know, but I would guess there definitely are those who have.

It's doable but you have to expect a tough last 10km. I ran 2:54 recently, averaging less than 30 mpw, but I had run 2:30 2.5 years ago with mileage about 60-65 mpw.

With that half time, I suspect you have a decent chance but it's hard to say how much time you'll lose in the second half when the wheels fall off.

Should probably have mentioned that I did run a marathon in 2:51 a week ago.

I did have a very tough last 4/5miles. I was on for a 2:45 at mile 19 but my legs turned to bricks.

I was wondering if anybody has done similar on their debut with low mileage and then achieved a much better time after getting more miles and more proper sessions in.

Yes. I have. 2wice. I actually did it on 25.

Do you have a PB on higher mileage?

When I was much younger, at 26, I ran a 2:51 at Boston on between 25 and 30... it was mostly 4 days a week of hard 7's... and then every 3 weeks, I'd run a long run up to 13... never ran longer than that...

I don't think it was sustainable though. I think I was able to do it was because I already had a base that allowed the 7's to basically be run between 6 and 6:30 pace... I think it would be pretty hard to start from scratch and get to that.

At 37, I went from almost a year off and got back up to 45 miles a week over 8 months and ran 2:49 in New York. I think you can run a decent marathon on low mileage, but you need to make those miles high quality... IMO.

When I was 39, I was running 3-4x/week

Sun: 2hrs ~ 25km

Tue: 8x1k @ ~10k pace w/ 1k recovery ~ 15km

Thr: 1hr @ slower (90%) than MP ~13km

Sat: 12-15 x 200 ~8km

Ran 2:48 after a few months of this. I had run 2:59 6 months earlier.

I did london marathon this year in low 2.47 averaging 65k per week for the 12 weeks before (about 40-50k pw before i started the training block) so its doable.

It was more 2 weeks 50k, one week 80 - the aim was 80k per week but motivation and life got in the way. Longest long run was only 18 mi, but did get 2 x 2 hour + runs most weeks. Only did 3 sessions at above tempo pace, plus a 10k 4 weeks out and a hilly HM 2 weeks out. I also dropped from 90- 85kg (don't sue me for saying being less fat helped but it did).

Guess it depends on you talent level, experience and how you respond. The real killer is its taking me much longer to recover from than previous marathon cycles.

I am sure there were a few over the history of Marathon running.

But the distance from HM to Marathon is another HM and a lot can and will happen.

Good luck and let us know how your sufferfest after mile 22 went.

I mean, clearly you're talented with the 1:16 on low mileage. That says you can run in the low-2:40s. Plus you've done 20 @ the pace you more/less want to aim for. It'll be really hard, especially in the later miles. A good weather day & a good fueling plan should get you to the low-2:50s. As others have said, the marathon is about lifetime mileage. Would feel better about this if you had run half a dozen marathons & put in some builds with decent mileage.

I ran 2:54 on 35 mpw peak, and I'm not especially talented (never broke 17 for 5k).

So I am sure there are people who could go a faster on the same or less training.

Easily. You have about 10 minutes of leeway for low mileage.

does 2:52:29 count?

did that with an average of 28 miles per week over 15 weeks. i was 39 at the time

i was a personal trainer so i was doing a ton of cross and strength training and 3 runs per week.

one long run, one tempo run, one speedwork (typically repeat 800's) per week

race was Boston... 6:35's for the first 16, mid 6:40's through the hills and 6:20's to close: 35k to 40k was the fastest split of the day.. left the race thinking i could have been a bit faster

FWIW my half PR was 1:19, but at that time I hadn't gone faster than 1:23 in several years

I ran 2:52 in Chicago 21. PR 2019 Chicago 2:26. I ran 3 days a week. 1 day interval. 1 day tempo/time trial. Capped intervals at 5k and tempo was 10k. Usually 5-8 miles total for those days. And then the long run. 16-20 miles. I blew up at mile 21 but if your long run is run at a specific pace you can do 2:51 easily.

I ran 2:46 at 1996 Boston after 35mpw for 3 months.

Does that qualify?

maxibom95 wrote:

Hi all,

I am wondering if there are many running out there who have run a marathon in the low 2:50s on only 30 MPW?

I currently run between 28-34MPW and the longest I have run is one 20 miler (6:32 pace).

Also, I have run a 1:16 half quite recently.

Many thanks,

M

yes, it's possible. probably based mostly talent and how many long runs you did.

I did 2:52 first ever marathon on 28-34 mpw, but only did one run over 18 miles (20 miles) in a 12-week build-up. I hadn't run for 5 years though, so I wasn't really fit and the last 4 miles were brutal.

Next, I ran 2:47:50's on 33.5 mpw, but did four (4) 20-milers in the 11 week build-up. basically, a long run, a short workout at 10k / HM pace, and a third easy run.

Third, I was training on lower volume as a several month "break" and I did two (2) 22-milers and two (2) 20-milers in about 12 weeks at 30 mpw. I ran 2:44 with the goal of 2:45, so my pacing was dialed in from training. I had also been running consistently without injuries for almost 4 years and had a couple years averaging around 45-55 mpw before this lower mileage stint

I've run 2:32 on 50-60 mpw and 1:11 HM. I was more of a mid-distance 400/800/1500 guy in college, so marathon training is boring.

Do you count your warm-up and cool down mileage?

Do you do any cross training?

Often training time is wrongly given.

lexel wrote:

Do you count your warm-up and cool down mileage?

Do you do any cross training?

Often training time is wrongly given.

Yes, all included

Typical week listed above:

Monday - 5 miles easy (easy recovery run because long runs on low mileage beat you up) 7:15-20 pace avg, first mike at 8:00ish, last mi near 7:00

Wednesday - 1 mi w/u, 2-3 x 2 mi @ HM pace w/ 400m jog rest, 1 mi cool down (or 6 x mile MP-HM pace with super short rest)

Saturday - 15-20 miles long run with anywhere from 2-6 miles at MP trying to end under 6:00 pace

Day after long run - 20 min easy bike ride or 20 min walk to move some blood

-Push-ups and sit ups and tons of foam rolling

-Wednesday workout sometimes substituted with fartlek of 10 x 60 sec at 5:00-5:10 pace w/2 min recovery) typical easy pace around 6:50-7:10

-29 years old (After 34 yrs old this plan wouldn’t work for me!)

maxibom95:

It also depends on your age and background. If you are 26 y.o. (referring to 95 in your nickname), the answer is "yes, of course". You just need to train smart within your low mileage.

The main question is "what for?" If you plan to run a marathon (and especially not once), you'd better increase your mileage and start doing more specific training.

I was in a similar situation back in early 80's when I was around 25 y.o. My average was about 35 mpw (and not more in the years before) and I was fond of ХС in the range of 3-10K. My PB at 3K on the track was 8:40. Once a year I ran 20K (with PB 1:06:20), but not more. In 1983 a crowd of friends signed for a marathon and started pressing me to join them, so I finally agreed. Was quite scared (by many) to "hit the wall" and "die" around 35 km, so ran with a good margin (as I felt it). Did not noticed any wall though and even increased the speed at the last 5K. Finished at 2:42:xx but made sure it was not mine (too long, too boring).

Good luck!