Originally Posted by
GregTR
Thanks! With your 5K time you should be looking at closer to sub-1:15 on the half. Halfs are all about LT runs so you have to do a ton of 12-14 milers with 6-7 miles at LT. For marathoning it's just the sheer amount of training volume that you need, some of it at a pretty good clip. A lot of runners concentrate on the 20 mile long runs but it's the 14-15 mile mid-week runs that make it or break it. I usually run 3 14+ mile runs every week and I try to incorporate marathon pace or LT in at least one of them. My hardest workout before my last marathon was 20 miles with 12 at marathon pace. Marathons are weird in a sense that nobody can prepare you for them, you have to experience it for yourself. Best of luck if you ever decide to run one.
That's precisely why I don't ever eye to run one. I don't want to complete one for the sake of "completion" either. If I get into the marathon, it will be 100% for a Boston qualifier and to possibly pave the way for an Ironman.
I rely pretty heavily on my teammates, so perhaps that is why I may never get into the half and full marathons. If my college team decided to switch to road racing (running) and do 10ks/Halfs, I would 100% support it. Other than indoor track, road racing in summer is my favorite season, unfortunately, I'm always in the building phase then and don't want to let to much gas go before the season.
Thanks for the help! I'm sure I'll find myself toeing a half or full marathon line at some point.
EDIT: I'm also a carb junkie. I always think about fueling the next ride/run/swim. I need to pay more attention to my protein intake. I can say when I'm home I have a greek yogurt post-workout (15 g of protein). When I'm at school, I have a cottage cheese/mozzarella/spinach salad (~15 g of protein).