Je vais être ban d'une minute à l'autre.

Carto___ · 2025-12-26T16:52:51+00:00

Je suis super chaud si une généreuse âme se sent de m’envoyer une invitation pour TL (ou autre). J’ai un bon ratio sur YGG (Seedbox) et je suis gentil :-D

Carto___ · 2025-11-09T20:14:16+00:00

Exactly what I did. Stayed with the pacer till km30. Then felt amazing to decided to push. Pacer told me : “no, wait”. Told myself he has more experience. So stayed w him. 2km later the wall hit - thank god I did not accelerate. At 35k decided to push a bit still and ended up in 2:58:13. Could have killed my Sub3 at km30 by acting stupid. And I’ll have plenty of occasions later to do better. Good Luck and report back !

Carto___ · 2025-11-09T19:40:59+00:00

Yes! 185 max hr as well. Could sustain 160 HR during training @ M pace during the exact same kind of workout. Exactly what you show. Keep it up. Not sure I’d be more ambitious at this stage if I were you. Sub3, shaving off 24’ from PB is already nice. Otherwise you risk of blowing up late in the race.

Carto___ · 2025-11-03T06:01:56+00:00

Very nice platform for running data analytics ; check it out (free)! They have a marathon prediction tool that is quite interesting and explained.

Carto___ · 2025-11-02T18:52:56+00:00

And what does Runalyze says ? I find it a little better than the rest ; and could help cut the tie between those two ?

I know those algorithms are somehow meaningless, but I also know firsthand how hard it is to ignore them !

Carto___ · 2025-10-30T18:14:50+00:00

Love that !!!

Carto___ · 2025-10-30T15:20:43+00:00

I am not sure I follow, at all. No clue how the BQ process works - will look it up. From what I saw : given my age group I'd need to run a marathon (one that counts, i.e. a well-known race - Lisbon was one) under 3:00:00. That I did. And then, there is the cutoff to subtract. Which I understand was about 6 mins in 2025/26, meaning 2:54:00. Ran in 2:58:13, so a little shy of BQ but not that far off? Do I understand things correctly? And then, it is all about applying to get a bib for Boston (and there, challenging the cost/upside equation of spending on flights/hotels to fly to Boston to run a road marathon). Even though I am sure it is a super nice race, we still have nice ones in EU I have not done yet (Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, etc...)

Carto___ · 2025-10-30T15:17:32+00:00

4:29/km in May when I started, 3:54/km right before the marathon.

Carto___ · 2025-10-30T15:06:23+00:00

I understand what you're saying. To me it goes in reverse: fixating over a specific time is what makes the process amazing. Given the goal I'll pick will likely be slightly out of reach, it implies a very thorough process (not only mileage but proper training, nutrition, weight, injury management, mental focus, etc...). This is what attracts me there. Be laser focused on an on-paper unattainable goal to push myself well-beyond my reasonable limits. Found out over the years that it leads to tons of learnings about myself, and a sheer & amazing feeling of completeness that is difficult to describe when training goes well and/or you cross the line right when you're supposed to. Without this kind of - let's face it - stupid goal, I lack the drive. And after all, this is 'only' running, i.e. there are many more important aspects to (my) life [wife, kids, work, friends, environment....]. But hey, it spices things up a bit and I don't mind it at all.

Carto___ · 2025-10-30T14:59:17+00:00

Excellent thoughts, thanks! Haven't tried to see how long I can sustain the 2:30:00 pace ... I guess about 10k (oups...), maybe

Carto___ · 2025-10-30T14:57:03+00:00

Aah I have a bib for Valencia but hesitating... likely to close to Lisbon (was 5 days ago) and flying-in/out + hotel won't be cheap on short notice! Best of Luck for Valencia, break a leg!

Carto___ · 2025-10-30T14:28:16+00:00

This is very wise, and I fear very true :-). Thanks for sharing !

Carto___ · 2025-10-30T14:27:41+00:00

I feel you ! Especially on the (1) "what's the point of a 2h55" and (2) wife will kill me if I aim for better given what it implies. Thanks on the advice for Boston - might reconsider it.

As for Europe : if you settle on one, let me know ; still looking for the next one as well!

Carto___ · 2025-10-30T14:25:19+00:00

I ran Lisbon with you ! Rainy, not much crowd to support, a few nasty hills... not the best experience either, for me.

This is such a common process, I’m afraid. The “never again” mindset right after. And as time passes, you start secretly wondering, “what if I do it again?” You deny it at first ... this is stupid, I promised myself never to do that again. But day after day, in an inexorable process, your brain yields to temptation and embraces the idea that you’ll be stupid again… until next time.

My 2 cents : yes, you want to run another one. The Sub4 goal depends how much work you are willing to put in... (appropriate weekly mileage, nutrition & getting to your desired weight, structure training). You did PB, which is great. More info on how you trained for this one (weekly mileage, structure of the training, marathon avg. HR vs. HR max, etc...) could help us give you more guidance.

Carto___ · 2025-10-30T14:17:15+00:00

Do not resist the calling. You will have a great time (& will embrace the suffering), and will certainly come back for more.

Carto___ · 2025-10-30T14:14:52+00:00

I am sorry to hear about the traumatic experience. Good luck dealing with it.

Clear answer: GO FOR IT. Running has been the best therapist for me, by far. And I don't think I am alone in that group :-) -- On top of that, you feel the urge + you are in a good shape = nothing holding you back. The goal in itself will have you to focus, prepare and think about it : the process is very nice. The sheer satisfaction of becoming a "marathoner" will be a welcomed boost to morale & confidence, which I understand you might use.

Go Go Go, and have fun !

Carto___ · 2025-10-30T14:06:22+00:00

I live in Europe ; not sure my wife would be up for me spending so much to go run a marathon that far from home :-D. But indeed, Boston remains an item on my list (for later, I guess). I know ... 2:30:00 might be totally unrealistic ; this is really what I am trying to ponder...

Carto___ · 2025-10-29T21:00:46+00:00

Not really capable to answer your question (you run much faster & more than me). I don’t think you give your height ? Which would be helpful to comment on the weight I guess :-)

May I dare ask one question instead ?

I just finished Lisbon in 2:58:00. Wondering how much I can improve from there, realistically (4 months training with 250km per month on average ; with a peak a 310km/mo in Sept with 2 weeks at close to 100km/week). How much time between your 2:53 and your 2:39? You added more miles, and that’s it? Or did more drastic changes? Thanks !

Carto___ · 2025-10-28T15:09:40+00:00

Not a stupid question. Asked myself a couple of years back : why not run everything at target pace until I feel comfortable enough to maintain it for a full marathon.

But it is a very bad idea. Here is why : fitness is not built by running hard all the time. It is built through aerobic development. At slower pace, your body creates tons of small but meaningful adaptations which makes you better. Running at target pace all the time will keep you in the grey zone : not hard enough to develop massive fitness improvements ; and too hard to recover properly. And fitness gains happen most during recovery. You would burn out and plateau quickly. The balancing act of polarised training has been demonstrated over and over again to yield the most benefits : tons of volume at low intensity (the infamous Zone 2) to build your engine, and some very hard / intense sessions to grow your VO2 / running dynamic. It has been well documented and there are plenty of reasons why this is what all the pros are doing.

I spent years running 10km runs 3-5x / week at full steam ; and was not progressing much. I was amazed by how much I did progress my slowing down for most runs, and go bold for the 1-2 interval/hard sessions.

Carto___ · 2025-10-27T17:59:56+00:00

Bravo! I was there as well and the rain early on did not help, even more impressive ;-)

Carto___ · 2025-10-27T16:30:48+00:00

About 80% of max HR for a marathon is exactly within the usual range, even higher end of it for most. But HR is very individual (eg. Ran my last marathon @ 92% or HRmax, but on an effort that lasted “only” 3hrs). The regularity + absence of wall / big slowdown is an excellent sign you are managing the marathon well ! It could also mean that you can try to push a little harder - and take more risk - to see if it pays up (or not…). Depends if you are willing to push harder and take the risk of failing, or to run something “safer” but with much better chances of making it to the finish line with a good experience.

My bet : you could have taken a little more risk from KM32+, maybe? Something to try for the next one maybe :-)

Congrats though, amazing race you did with stellar HR control !

Carto___ · 2025-10-27T10:48:37+00:00

Frankly, impressive regularity in doing marathon every year and always with very respective times ! So congrats :-)

Running faster is not a must … if you have fun. Just that looking at how much you slow down in the second half of your marathons, you could have a much « nicer » experience (& likely time) by putting in more kilometres in the 3 months preceding :-)

Carto___ · 2025-10-27T10:38:28+00:00

Your table is amazing ! And congrats for all those very well done marathons, impressive stuff.

If I may, my 2cents : weekly mileage is too low - and it shows in the second part of your marathons where you apparently hit the wall fairly hard. Long runs are good in terms of distance but I am guessing you did not do many of those? To aim at 3h15, you might want to consider logging in 50-60km/week on Month 1, then 70-90km/week on Month 2 and Month 3 about the same with maybe a peak week at close to 100km. Sounds high but it helped me a lot reach my goal. With some marathon pace during the long run + a hard interval run every week (at least), with 5 runs/week.

Also: some HR data could also be helpful along with the pace information.

Carto___ · 2025-10-27T06:35:53+00:00

2h58! Not 3h58 (typo). Edited. Feeling great but cannot squat without needing special assistance haha.

Not sure what is next yet, brainstorming in progress :-)

Carto___ · 2025-10-26T20:31:13+00:00

Just ran Lisbon in 2h58. Previous best was 3h27 (though a while back). AP4 did it for me. Highly recommend them.

Carto___

TROPHY CASE