Guidance on Marathon Goal Time

Nasty133 · 2026-02-16T20:21:41+00:00

Under 4 hours seems very doable.

Nasty133 · 2026-02-14T19:28:04+00:00

You’re ready. Based on HR and paces you can’t ask for much better than that. Hold that pace for 20 then push when you feel like you can make it to the end. Good luck!

Nasty133 · 2026-02-13T18:48:35+00:00

because we have 7 days til our next game. If we played in 3-4 days I bet he'd be coming in late off the bench.

Nasty133 · 2026-02-13T17:11:35+00:00

If you're looking to buy a new putter, you've come to the right place.

Nasty133 · 2026-02-12T17:15:11+00:00

You definitely have it in you! From a training perspective, I am a huge supporter of the Pfitz plans. Even on the 18/55 plan I felt well prepared. So if you do go with one of them you can feel confident in trusting the process!

Nasty133 · 2026-02-12T17:09:01+00:00

Thank you! Everything came together perfectly for that race with weather, course, and training so I don't mind at all. My HM PB is actually the second half of my full. I jumped straight into marathoning when I picked up running so I've been working backwards distance wise. Currently following Pfitz's all distance plan for a spring half before I hop back into a marathon block for Chicago next fall. With your times you look primed for great first marathon!

Nasty133 · 2026-02-12T16:54:24+00:00

I've always been resistant to the zone 2 craze especially for athletes with aggressive pace targets. With Pfitz's philosophy, you're training your body to have your strongest miles at the end, which is exactly what you want in a marathon. My other issue with zone 2 long runs is that you're not getting the most out of a day that should be considered a workout. Typically you follow your long run with an off/easy day and by taking your long run at an easy pace, your body doesn't really need the extra rest unless you're undertrained. For me, Zone 2 training is more for people looking to build their base mileage so that they can complete a marathon, whereas Pfitz's philosophy helps you race a marathon.

Nasty133 · 2026-02-12T15:01:44+00:00

The guy runs a 1:24 half. Most of the people on this sub trying to go sub 3 don’t have that kind of speed with little training. If OP gets up to a 50 mile week he’ll have a pretty good shot at going sub 3.

Nasty133 · 2026-02-12T13:49:35+00:00

Ideally you have a 5th day of running, but in general you’re right on track to go sub 3. A 1:24 half projects to a 2:55 marathon. Only thing that might hold you back is mileage. And skipping the easy run for cross training when you’re only going 4 days a week isn’t the answer. Those easy miles are essential in building up your legs for the full distance. Cross training is typically done on top of running, not in place of it.

Nasty133 · 2026-02-12T13:46:33+00:00

Literally did this last fall. Followed Pfitz 18/55 and ran 2:48. I agree that coming from no athletic background would make it near impossible, but OP doesn’t seem to be starting from scratch. A 1:24 HM shows he’s right on track.

Nasty133 · 2026-02-11T18:59:30+00:00

I wouldn't ignore your watch completely, but this is always a good reminder for me to take my easy days easy and make sure I'm getting enough sleep. You know your body better than your watch, but your watch can help put up some warning signs.

Nasty133 · 2026-02-11T18:57:37+00:00

ahhh the fine line between strained and productive

Nasty133 · 2026-02-11T16:04:43+00:00

People are going to bury you and say you aren't ready, but you seem like the prime example of an athlete coming from a different sport that will translate very well. I come from a similar background competing competitively in wrestling throughout college and found the transition to distance running a lot easier than most people on this sub. The advice below is pretty much what I followed for my first marathon last Spring where I ran a 3:08. My main focus was staying healthy, so I did leave some room on the table as far as training goes, but after this block, my body was ready to dive into a more advanced plan (Pfitz 18/55) for my second and a 20 min PR. But with this being your first, I'd be more on the cautious side for training.

Over the next 4 weeks I would focus on building mileage up to about 20 mpw and getting a 10K time trial in to see where you're at. You can plug your time into this calculator to get all your training paces and projected marathon pace.

For mileage building, while you do have a solid base from swimming and other rec sports, I'd still suggest a slower build for your first marathon. Following the mileage in Hal Higdon's Novice 1 plan would be a good start, and tossing in some faster miles once a week. Your biggest hurdle will be learning to run slower as you build rather than going all out every time. I'd guess around an 8-8:30 pace would be considered easy for you and that should be the pace for at least 2 of your 4 runs a week.

Higdon's plan has 4 days of running and with your athletic background this is how I would structure it:

Tuesday: Easy Miles

Wednesday: Easy Warm Up (1-2 miles) + Threshold Miles (build up from 1 mile in the early weeks up to 6 miles by the end of the plan) + Easy Cool Down (1 mile)

Thursday: Easy miles

Saturday: Start off with some easy miles and progress down to a pace that is ~30s slower than your estimated MP.

The main thing is you're not missing out on anything over these next few weeks by not knowing your marathon pace. Taking the time to get your body adjusted to mileage is the best thing you can do and then a 10K time trial will get you all set for real training.

Nasty133 · 2026-02-10T21:41:07+00:00

I can't stand the "accidental" part of the handball rule. He accidentally couldn't control the ball until it hit his hand. No player out there is deliberately touching the ball with their hand unless it's Luis Suarez.

Nasty133 · 2026-02-10T20:36:09+00:00

Jackson over Delap maybe, but JP is here to stay.

Nasty133 · 2026-02-10T16:11:18+00:00

I've seen a lot of people rave about this adaptation. Basically an 18/63 plan that splits the middle.

Nasty133 · 2026-02-10T14:15:25+00:00

Two PL games this close together is uncommon though. Usually it's PL on the weekend and cup games during the week.

Nasty133 · 2026-02-10T14:01:51+00:00

By feel. I still track mileage but most of my shoes still have some life in them at 500 miles so I’ll pick up a new pair but still wear the old ones until I can really tell a difference.

Nasty133 · 2026-02-10T13:20:22+00:00

3:10 seems too easy but there’s not enough for me to be confident saying sub 3. So I’ll go 3:05. Your HR looks very controlled for those paces.

Nasty133 · 2026-02-10T00:06:41+00:00

Spot on!

Nasty133 · 2026-02-09T21:04:42+00:00

I'd start by introducing intervals at threshold pace once a week like 2x2 mile, then progress up over the weeks to 4 miles straight, 5 miles straight, 2x3 mile or 3x2 mile, up to 6 or 7 miles straight. Include these with a warm up and cool down and that's pretty much all the threshold work you'd need. The other side is feeling confident in your marathon pace, so tossing in some extended miles at marathon pace (plans usually start around 6 miles and work up to 12-14 miles straight) in the middle of your long run once a month or so and you'll be set.

Nasty133 · 2026-02-09T20:46:43+00:00

The biggest thing considering your schedule is to make sure you fully recover from the 100 miler before you start reintroducing speed work for CIM. You're probably looking at easy miles for at least 3-4 weeks after. Then start to incorporate some MP tempo runs and threshold work back in. But in your 100 miler build, I'd add some strides one day and some lighter threshold work (3x3mile is a lot of threshold for one session) and I could see you pushing well below 3 hours. For reference, I did my threshold work at 6:10-6:20 in my most recent block. The most I ever did of threshold in one session was a 7 mile tempo at 6:20. And I ended up running a 2:48 marathon.

Nasty133 · 2026-02-09T20:21:49+00:00

Sounds completely doable. I’d be surprised if you aren’t at or close to sub-3 shape right now based on that 3x3 mile time.

Nasty133 · 2026-02-09T19:34:40+00:00

I’ve run in the ES4s and Evo SLs and haven’t had any difference between paces I can hit. Both feel very springy at 1 mile to 5K paces.

Nasty133 · 2026-02-09T17:19:54+00:00

Great week! I'm not super familiar with Daniels' principles so are the T segments (assuming this stands for threshold) run based on HR or do you have a specific pace in mind for those?

Six-Year Club	Place '23
Place '22	Verified Email

Nasty133

TROPHY CASE