Cork Marathon Advice

Cerlan

Hey guys,

Looking for some advice. I plan on running the Cork Marathon this year on the 1st June. I want to do it in under 4 hours and want to know if this is a realistic goal.

I'm 31 years of age, have never run a marathon before and have only started running in the last 6 months. I now run around 4 times a week, usually averaging between 15 and 20 miles.

At the moment, I can run 4 miles at an 8.20 pace. Over longer distances my pace gets slower. It's around 9.20 over 8 miles and that is pushing it quite hard.

My question is, with those sort of mile times at the mo, is it a realistic goal to aim for a 4 hour marathon in June?

Cheers

hunnymonster

There are various running calculators out there that can help estimate your potential at different distances. McMillan is one of the more reliable ones
http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm
That said, it's an "average" calculation and people often differ significantly from the predicted results.

TheRoadRunner

I'd say you are capable of running sub 4 based on those times.

Having said that you will need to get a good marathon program and some advice from somebody who has ran a few marathons and knows your form. You never know you may go even quicker.

Get a marathon training plan and some races in and come June you will have a good idea of your ideal marathon pace

buck65

I'm at the same level as you and am aiming for a sub 4 in Cork too!
My race pace is 8 min mile atm for shorter races, aiming for 85 mins at Ballycotton which over the longer distances equates to a 3.58 marathon according to McMillan. Of course I haven't done any speed work yet so maybe there is another 10-15 secs a mile in me before Ballyc!
My training pace is usually about 9-9.30 min miles. I have been running consistently since October. Lookin at your times etc you are spot on for a sub 4 or even 3.45!

TFBubendorfer

I'd say you are certainly capable of running under 4 hours (in fact, I'd say you are capable of running a good bit faster than that), but to do it on your first marathon is a different kettle of fish.

The better you prepare, the better you will do. As simple as that. I recommend you start training for the marathon as soon as you can, gradually increasing your mileage as you go along.

Highway_To_Hell

Not qualified to give advise but Dublin 08 was my first Marathon and did it in 3:54. I only started running in Feb 08 and at first couldn't run more then 5 mins without stopping. (only quit smoking 20+ a day in Jan 08). Worked up the milage slowly and surprised how quick I got to being able to run 10K without stopping, (in April I ran the Bupa 10K in 54mins). In June decided to run the Dublin Marathon and used the training program that was on the DM website (there are better ones out there). Using a program give you structure to your training and takes the guess work out of what one should be doing.

I think the critical thing is the long runs as these get you use to being on your legs for 3+hrs and I found built my confidence, when you have run 20+ miles in training you know with a taper 26.2 is possible.

Advise I took from one of Honeymonster's posts was that you only do your first marathon once - enjoy it. and I know that Dublin 08 was my first of many more marathons.

Enjoy the training and your first marathon.

chinguetti

I'm aiming for 4 hrs in Cork myself (my first) but according to Runners' World figures makes it possible according to my 5 miles/10 kms run. Did 8 miles yesterday in The Park and worked out on average just over a 7 min/mile.

Only running bout 8 months so 4 hrs is very doable imo.

All the best to all training for Cork. When its getting hard, picture crossing the line, it helps!

Cerlan

Cheers for the replies guys. Training on my tod and no running experience so wanted to see if my goal was reasonable. Seems like it is.

Gonna start this training program this week and see how it goes.

http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_4/130.shtml

chinguetti

Cerlan wrote: »

Cheers for the replies guys. Training on my tod and no running experience so wanted to see if my goal was reasonable. Seems like it is.

Gonna start this training program this week and see how it goes.

http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_4/130.shtml

Training on my own as well Cerlan so had a couple of bouts of the yips about 'was i mad to be doing this' on my own.

I'm going to use the following from run republic (the 4 hour one) as its a gradual built up which i prefer but have added a few tweaks with it as doing the Connemara Half. Happy training!

http://www.runrepublic.ie/training/marathon.htm#sub400