back to back marathons..sort of

[belleville runner]

This question is for Sandy, or anyone else who thinks they may know the answer! I just ran the Ottawa Marathon and I am thinking of running the full in Niagara Falls.  I hate training in the summer so this may be a challenge.  Niagara Falls marathon is Oct. 26.  Just for fun I typed in "12 week marathon training" on Google and found a 12 week program from the Pasadena Pacers website!  It is for experienced runners with a base of 20-30 miles per week.  If I choose to do this program, it would start Aug. 3.  So is it correct for me to assume that all I would have to do is run 20-30 miles per week until then??  And if so, would 4-5 runs of 4-5 miles each be okay or should I still have a "long" run each week?  I'd rather do several short runs since I don't like summer running and I'm not a real morning person, and that's the only way to beat the heat. 

[Cathy]

Hi belleville runner.  Just my view but I would rather have one long run each week.  That way I put all the miles required to build up to the biggie on one day.  Than a couple of short runs during the week.  Guess that is what I am used to though.

[Sandy]

The general rule of thumb is to take the longest run you have done in the last three weeks and minus it from 24...this would be the number of weeks you need to prepare for a marathon so if you kept your longest long run at 6 miles you would need 18 weeks to prepare.  It is better to follow Cathy's idea and keep a long run in.  You wouldn't have to do one EVERY weekend, but at least once a month or better yet twice in a month do a long run of 13-18 miles  or 2 to 2.5 hours (your choice) and then you can ramp up quickly for your marathon. 

Hope this helps.

[belleville runner]

Sandy, your responses ALWAYS help!  Thanks to both for the replies.  I had never heard of the "longest run subtracted from 24" formula.  I will keep doing a long run each week, or at least every two weeks, if the weather co0-operates!

[Sandy]

There's a good article on "Decreasing your Delta" by Greg McMillan in which he talks about the long run delta.  This is difference between your longest run when training for a marathon and your average long run in the six weeks prior to beginning your training.  His example is if your average long run is 14 miles and your longest run during training is 22 miles then your delta is 8.  If you regularilyrun 12 miles and your longest is 22 then your delta is 10.  Greg has found runners with a smaller delat are more successful and runners with a delta of 6 or less (22 longest - 18 regular) works best for runners hoping to qualify for Boston.

Something to think about!