Marathon 3 months before Ironman?

Harold Buck said:

My friend said he'd run a spring Marathon with me (Trailbreaker in Waukesha, WI), but it later
occurred to me that it's only 3 months before his first Ironman. Is this too close?

He normally does a lot of training: last year he ran a 20-miler on Saturday, then ran 12 with me
on Sunday and then went to a workout for his adventure racing team.

Is it the kind of thing where he can run it, but should go slow (like, for example, by running
with me!), or can he just go for it because he'll have enough time to recover?

--Harold Buck

"I used to rock and roll all night, and party every day. Then it was every other day. . . ."

- Homer J. Simpson

Uh huh, Harold. We see through your charade. You said your wife didn't want you to do another
ironman so this "friend" is really you - isn't it?

Me thinks you just haven't told your wife yet. ;-)

John

PS I wish I could answer your question, but I know absolutely nothing about running a marathon OR
an ironman.

Harold Buck <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

My friend said he'd run a spring Marathon with me (Trailbreaker in Waukesha, WI), but it later
occurred to me that it's only 3 months before his first Ironman. Is this too close?

My two cents: I've done a marathon 6 weeks before an Ironman without problem (and the marathon was a
PR). I think 3 months is plenty of recovery time - unless he is concerned about injury - I don't
think I'd do it on a questionable knee for example, if Ironman was my top goal. But as far as muscle
and mental fatigue go, I think 3 months is plenty, even to go all out. He just doens't want to get
hurt after all that Ironman training! Good luck.

s.

Harold Buck <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

My friend said he'd run a spring Marathon with me (Trailbreaker in Waukesha, WI), but it later
occurred to me that it's only 3 months before his first Ironman. Is this too close?

He normally does a lot of training: last year he ran a 20-miler on Saturday, then ran 12 with me
on Sunday and then went to a workout for his adventure racing team.

Is it the kind of thing where he can run it, but should go slow (like, for example, by running
with me!), or can he just go for it because he'll have enough time to recover?

--Harold Buck

"I used to rock and roll all night, and party every day. Then it was every other day. . . ."

- Homer J. Simpson

Post here for some good sound advice Harold...

coachgordo.comconfig.plOpen ↗

In article <[email hidden]>,

John Hardt said:

Uh huh, Harold. We see through your charade. You said your wife didn't want you to do another
ironman so this "friend" is really you - isn't it?

Me thinks you just haven't told your wife yet. ;-)

I wish! The plan is still to shoot for an Ultramarathon in November, to do a 5K swim during the
summer, and to do a lot of shorter races in the summer to try to get faster. Certainly no WTC races
this year, since they're all full, but I want to sign up for something in 2005.

The thought had crossed my mind that I could potentially be in shape for Pineman in September, but
it would be too close to the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon in October, which I'm using as a last long
training run for my 50K run in September.

--Harold Buck

"I used to rock and roll all night, and party every day. Then it was every other day. . . ."

- Homer J. Simpson

Harold Buck said:

I wish! The plan is still to shoot for an Ultramarathon in November, to do a 5K swim during the
summer, and to do a lot of shorter races in the summer to try to get faster. Certainly no WTC
races this year, since they're all full, but I want to sign up for something in 2005.

The thought had crossed my mind that I could potentially be in shape for Pineman in September, but
it would be too close to the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon in October, which I'm using as a last
long training run for my 50K run in September.

--Harold Buck

Harold,

Aw 'cmon! If you're going to swim 5k in the summer and get ready for an ultramarathon in November,
you can easily slide an IM into things in September. Just call it a long training day ;-)

Seriously, if you change your mind about Pineman you should know that compared to IM Wisconsin it
should be a breeze. I live in Central Ohio and ride that course frequently (did the 1/2 last year)
and it's about as dead flat of an IM course as any you'll find (three hills that can best be
described as nuisances).

Let me know if the IM bug bites.

John

Three months is no problem and a good training run. Less than 6 weeks and it might be questionable.
I almost always schedule a marathon distance run only 4 weeks out from Ironman but run it at a nice
easy pace.

Ken

"Harold Buck" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:no_one_knows-
[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My friend said he'd run a spring Marathon with me (Trailbreaker in Waukesha, WI), but it later
occurred to me that it's only 3 months before his first Ironman. Is this too close?

He normally does a lot of training: last year he ran a 20-miler on Saturday, then ran 12 with me
on Sunday and then went to a workout for his adventure racing team.

Is it the kind of thing where he can run it, but should go slow (like, for example, by running
with me!), or can he just go for it because he'll have enough time to recover?

--Harold Buck

"I used to rock and roll all night, and party every day. Then it was every other day. . . ."

- Homer J. Simpson

Harold Buck said:

My friend said he'd run a spring Marathon with me (Trailbreaker in Waukesha, WI), but it later
occurred to me that it's only 3 months before his first Ironman. Is this too close?

He normally does a lot of training: last year he ran a 20-miler on Saturday, then ran 12 with me on
Sunday and then went to a workout for his adventure racing team.

Is it the kind of thing where he can run it, but should go slow (like, for example, by running with
me!), or can he just go for it because he'll have enough time to recover?

--Harold Buck

If your friend fits it INTO his IM training plan, not instead of, there shouldn't be a problem.

Mike Tennent "IronPenguin" Operating Traffic Lights Crossbucks Special Effects Lighting
ironpeng.comipeOpen ↗

Harold Buck said:

My friend said he'd run a spring Marathon with me (Trailbreaker in Waukesha, WI), but it later
occurred to me that it's only 3 months before his first Ironman. Is this too close?

He normally does a lot of training: last year he ran a 20-miler on Saturday, then ran 12 with me
on Sunday and then went to a workout for his adventure racing team.

Is it the kind of thing where he can run it, but should go slow (like, for example, by running
with me!), or can he just go for it because he'll have enough time to recover?

--Harold Buck

"I used to rock and roll all night, and party every day. Then it was every other day. . . ."

- Homer J. Simpson

I ran NYC in november and it took about 3 weeks to recover because I really trashed my legs with a
crash & burn in the second half. A month later I ran mississippi gulf coast 11 minutes faster and
was 95% recovered within a week. The difference is the second race I ran at an even pace with the
last 2 miles faster than the overall average. Unless he gets a real injury running the marathon 3-4
weeks is adequate recovery and probably 4-5 weeks is the optimal time before an IM to use it as a
training run. I'd suspect that after 3 months the true training effect of running the additional
mileage over his normal longest training run will have diminished.

JJ