Marathon training

[everyonegoes430]

I'm looking for some advice for my summer training.

BAsically what I'm looking to do is run some 5k's until early august and then start training for a marathon in mid october. I think i have the 5k training down and I'm hopeing to go sub 16 at a few races. I'll probably be running around 50-60 miles all summer for that. Now for the marathon I'm not real sure what to do, I'm sure I'll need to increase mileage but by how much, and what kind of workouts should I do. Also what kind of time range am I looking at for the marathon if im in 15:50/27:00 5k/8k shape at the end of the summer. Thanks to anyone who responds, this has always been a goal of mine but I'd also like to be prepared for it when it comes time to run.

[KevinM]

Curious...I wasn't sure what you meant in your post. Are you training for a marathon that occurs in mid-Oct, or do you want to begin training in mid-October for a later marathon?

[DCtrack]

In terms of periodization, it actually makes sense to do 5k training as your first phase when preparing for a marathon. The marathon is a very interesting event. The last 6-8 weeks especially you will need to work on your fuel efficiency. What does this mean? It means that you should not be doing any kind of fast intervals leading up to a marathon. This will teach your body to burn glucose, not fat. That will cause you to bonk in a marathon. You will need to do some shorter tempo runs, and intevals from 3k-10k pace while training for the 5k. Then you will switch to slower and longer tempo runs while still keeping a few shorter faster tempo runs. Fractional utilization and efficiency are key. You will raise your VO2 max early so that you will be capable of doing more work. Then you will do more tempo runs so that you will be able to perform at closer to your maximal output for a longer period of time. I would also recommend doing short hill sprints with full recovery to work on nueromuscular coordination which will in turn cause you to be more comfortable at race pace without causing you to switch over to sugar as a fuel. Then, of course, you will need some long runs. I would go by time, not distance. Don't worry about how fast you are running. It would actually be wise to run too slow if anything at least for a while. Good luck.

[everyonegoes430]

Are you training for a marathon that occurs in mid-Oct, or do you want to begin training in mid-October for a later marathon?

I'll be training for a marathon that occurs mid october...most likely the columbus marathon in Ohio

[DCtrack]

Between now and August I would do 6 weeks training for the 5k then 4 weeks training for the marathon, then 4-6 weeks again for the 5k, and then the last 8-12 (however many are left) should be devoted to marathon specific work. However, I would still advise a tempo run every week and at least a 100-120 minute run once every two weeks throughout this whole time. Good luck.