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Mar 2013
8:46am, 13 Mar 2013
10,282 posts
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Ultracat
Good luck.
Getting GFA would be nice, maybe I could go for it when I go into the next age category, not that I want to run London again.
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Mar 2013
8:54am, 13 Mar 2013
10,919 posts
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Naomi P
I've gone from 5:00 to 3:28 in 5 years, it would have been 3.5 or 4 years if I hadn't started doing multi-marathons and knackered myself out.
Am fairly sure I could go sub 3:20 with a decent six months, and sub 3:15 if I were really committed. But I'm not arsed about it enough to try.
It is possible to make huge improvements. I've never had the weight loss lever but increased mileage and smarter training worked wonders.
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Mar 2013
8:58am, 13 Mar 2013
7,003 posts
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Mrs Winkle
It is possible to make big improvements, but you have to put the miles in and cross train lots in my opinion. I've just got my time down to 3.36, having started on 4.26 in 2010. It's been delayed by a year because I broke my ankle last year though. So, it would have been 2 years, with really only a year of more serious training I suppose. I reckon I should be sub 3.30 by the end of this year.
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Mar 2013
9:09am, 13 Mar 2013
378 posts
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Spleen
No. Not a chance. I'm in good shape but I'm not built for long distance running, and there is no way I would be able to get my 3.45 down to sub 3 hours whatever training I did. It's, what, 6:45 min miles all the way - I can't sustain that for any length of time, let alone a marathon.
What does 'average' mean anyway? Just someone with no health issues or does this include height, weight, build etc as well?
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Mar 2013
9:36am, 13 Mar 2013
857 posts
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SmileyBob
Naomi, I think you're the only Fetchie I've seen that has gone from a plus 5 hr mara to sub 3:30, I see from your mileage log you peaked at around 50miles per week, which I think I can manage, eventually! Do you think thats enough or if you were going for a sub 3:15 would you be aiming for more? Also you mention smarter training... do you adovcate P&D, HADD or something else? And are you doing this all year round or just when you focused on a specific marathon?
Mrs W, Finally got off my large arse and started doing some cross training via a boot camp working on my core and that has made improvements already this year so will continue with it. Also looking at investing in a bike to offer another form of cross training.
Spleen really good point... what is average? I'm certianly not average in weight and build but for the benefit of this I'm assuming I am else there would be no point in trying 
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Mar 2013
9:44am, 13 Mar 2013
50,588 posts
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Gobi
It is about dedication and how much you want something
16 st to 12 st - if you want to run faster then weight is the best place to start.
Consider the time you have ie your target race is 2016
You right this year off to losing some weight and working on your short speed. This doesn't mean no long runs but nothing over 15 miles and after a period of 2 or 3 months put in speed work based on 5/10km
Next year if you have a good habit going the weight will settle or even drop a little more(you have years and a stone a year would see you 12st something in 2016) Off the back of weight loss your speed would continue to improve even if you did more base work.
2014 would again see no need to run over say 15 miles but start to see some race focus over 10 miles and a half marathon.
2015 and I would consider if I was going to run a few 20 milers and maybe do a 20 mile race but still my primary focus would be on speed up to 13.1 and more weight loss.
Seasons go in flux(people think it is an improvement curve but it is more like 3 steps forward 2 steps back thing sometimes) if done right so how you end 2013 and how you start 2014 could see you get slower for a period of time. This is normal and will happen on other years as well.
Come 2016 you will be lighter fitter faster and stronger, have years of focused planned base all targeting the moment when you step up to the marathon.
Sorry for not sending this in the mail as I said I would, work got in the way :¬(
When you coach kids you start at short distances and move up, it is also how the likes of Paula Hallie made progress. Years putting in foundations.
Adults sadly are stupid (I am an adult sometimes) and think oh I did a 5km now I should run a marathon.
Like I said it is about dedication and how much you really want something
Spleen - any healthy AVERAGE man could run a sub 3 to be fair it is not that hard really you just give up life for a while :¬)
I have taken a number of runner on Fetch from the indifferent reaches of 3.3X to 3.10-3.15 inside 4 months just by giving them the right training.
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Mar 2013
10:06am, 13 Mar 2013
10,920 posts
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Naomi P
Yeah, my PB training was 50-55 miles a week and I think I’d only need a little more to get to sub 3:15, maybe 60ish peaking at 65. I had a big base to work off with a massive 2010 and a more balanced 2011 and I think that is very important. Like Gobi says, no point going straight from a 5k to a marathon.
As for smarter training, I don’t think you have to slavishly follow a schedule, I didn’t. I read a lot but put my own schedule together, always including a long run, one or two speed / strength sessions and some easy miles. Most schedules use the same building blocks.
I also took up dynamic pilates just before my PB, it really helped the strength and flexibility of my legs and core. Wouldn’t bother with yoga, too much time invested for not enough gain in my opinion. And I try to have fair to middling mileage all year round, I’ve just been crocked the past few months. Never got serious injuries when multi-marathoning ironically..
It would be nice to think Mr Average could get sub 3, but he needs to define average first. Average runner? Average man on the bus? Seems stretchy to me.
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Mar 2013
10:18am, 13 Mar 2013
50,590 posts
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Gobi
I think what they mean is
2 legs , no obvious medical ailments
you know , ME :¬)
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Mar 2013
10:20am, 13 Mar 2013
13,945 posts
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DeeGee
I have gone from 4:57 to 3:26 since 2008 - nothing like the same rate of progress of others, but I have actually only taken 4 minutes off my PB since 2010. In that time I've lost 4 stone.
It's taken a serious increase in mileage now to get to the position where I feel that I could reasonably have a crack at GFA this year.
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Mar 2013
10:22am, 13 Mar 2013
50,591 posts
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Gobi
Volume increase is new for 2013 so give it a change DG
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