That’s sacrilege, I know, according to traditional wisdom. You want to run a marathon? You have to burn a LOT of miles. And I did, for the first 3 I have run…
But I just can’t do that volume of miles, it really beats me up. Now, I am far from elite. I am a Clydesdale, middle-of-the-pack runner, or I was as a half-marathoner. Best time in the half was a couple of minutes under 2 hours. For me, that was a very good day, to give a frame of reference for what I can do. Respectable (in my circles), but a ham and egger, nothing remotely upper echelon.
But for marathons, I start to have hip issues around mile fifteen or so, and it gets progressively worse (and I get progressively slower), so that I am practically crawling by the end of the race. I feel like I’m grinding dust out of my hip sockets, a persistent dull ache, one that increases with each mile. Fine up to about fifteen, but in each marathon, I felt as if I was dragging myself across the finish line, that it was not fun–not the well-paced effort I thought I trained for.
My first marathon, I ran in 04:41. I was okay with it for my first try, but knew I could do better. I couldn’t. My times have gotten progressively worse, even as my cardio endurance has improved. I feel like I could run another ten miles at the end of the race, as far as my lungs and heart feel, but I feel like I’m going to pop a bolt in my hips.
I use a Runner’s World training program–several 15-milers, a couple of 18-milers, 20-milers, and one 22-miler. Highest mileage in a week was about 50, generally nothing below 30 or so. This is a LOT of miles for me, and the long distances are NEVER easy, though some are better than others. But I definitely feel like the result of this training is twofold: (1) I have a great (for me) cardio endurance base and, (2) I have beaten up my joints, hips in particular, so that there are days where I’d walk around like Fred Sanford.
I’m going to see a doctor. But even so, I was just coming to the conclusion that this is just not a realistic distance for me. Then I read an article in Runner’s World about a new approach to marathon training, one that emphasizes core and strength training (lots of hills, squats, etc.) and NOT a lot of miles. Longest distance in training is 12 miles or so. I know a guy who runs triathlons and ultras, a retired Navy Seal, and he agrees wholeheartedly. He NEVER runs a training run longer than 10 or 12 miles, but he is always running for a purpose, with specific strengthening objectives.
This seems like something I REALLY want to try, like it might be perfect for me, and I’m interested if anyone has any experience with this type of training for a long distance race. I am 51 years old, and I’m not ready to just “hang it up,” not if I can help it. I’d like to try an approach where I don’t “use up” my miles in training (sacrilegious as that is!) and can still find a way to run effectively (for me) in a marathon.
Not sure how much of a response I’ll get on the SDMB on this particular topic, but thought I’d give it a try. Anybody have any experience with this type of “high strength / lower mileage” marathon training?