But what could you run if you completely focused on running a marathon say 3 to 5 years forward in
time ? It’s not rocket science Kevin. Our problem is life gets in the way, in my opinion. You have proven
that you can run the formula distance requirements, and you know it is beneficial to change speeds,
hold paces, test yourself in shorter races during training cycles, etc. But what if that only gets you to around 2:20 on marathon race day !!? My feeling is we are hitting for average and satisfied that we
can fit it all in and be pretty competitive as compared to others doing about the same training while
also trying to fit it all in. What if some idiot decided that wasn’t good enough for his/her own damned
self !!? What would be beneficial to add and what would be beneficial to take out of our training ?
I think most ex runners have a pretty good idea of what his/her strengths and weaknesses were.
With age comes a different mindset. Plenty of great runners from our youth are unable to train and
or run. Some are dead ! The 4 minute mile focus has given us incredible numbers of 4 minute
milers. In my opinion we need to move away from this, or at least move on from this as our ultimate goal. We need to run fast and strong for a very long time and deal with weather, personal demons, family and job commitments, etc. What if you could start slow ? What if you could progressively add some beneficial training elements and also progressively avoid or minimize non beneficial elements ? Few can think this way at 20 years of age. But in our 50’s it is possible. We have been there and we have done that, so to speak ! If I can encourage you to do something Kevin, I encourage you to write.
But if you can still run, you may be pleasantly surprised that the knowledge you have gained from
years of researching the topic really does help in avoiding the pitfalls we encountered as young runners. 3 to 5 years. Not an all out 5k tomorrow, but a progressive program that incorporates the
reasonable training benefits over the sometimes obvious deleterious elements of our daily lives.
Perhaps there is a way ? It sure would make a great story. A story about running. From a runner.
Listing of Frank Horwill articles: https://www.serpentine.org.uk/pages/advice_frank.html
I like to read older stuff to see how much has changed, or how much remains the same.
But what could you run if you completely focused on running a marathon say 3 to 5 years forward in
time ? It’s not rocket science Kevin. Our problem is life gets in the way, in my opinion. You have proven
that you can run the formula distance requirements, and you know it is beneficial to change speeds,
hold paces, test yourself in shorter races during training cycles, etc. But what if that only gets you to around 2:20 on marathon race day !!? My feeling is we are hitting for average and satisfied that we
can fit it all in and be pretty competitive as compared to others doing about the same training while
also trying to fit it all in. What if some idiot decided that wasn’t good enough for his/her own damned
self !!? What would be beneficial to add and what would be beneficial to take out of our training ?
I think most ex runners have a pretty good idea of what his/her strengths and weaknesses were.
With age comes a different mindset. Plenty of great runners from our youth are unable to train and
or run. Some are dead ! The 4 minute mile focus has given us incredible numbers of 4 minute
milers. In my opinion we need to move away from this, or at least move on from this as our ultimate goal. We need to run fast and strong for a very long time and deal with weather, personal demons, family and job commitments, etc. What if you could start slow ? What if you could progressively add some beneficial training elements and also progressively avoid or minimize non beneficial elements ? Few can think this way at 20 years of age. But in our 50’s it is possible. We have been there and we have done that, so to speak ! If I can encourage you to do something Kevin, I encourage you to write.
But if you can still run, you may be pleasantly surprised that the knowledge you have gained from
years of researching the topic really does help in avoiding the pitfalls we encountered as young runners. 3 to 5 years. Not an all out 5k tomorrow, but a progressive program that incorporates the
reasonable training benefits over the sometimes obvious deleterious elements of our daily lives.
Perhaps there is a way ? It sure would make a great story. A story about running. From a runner.