How far would the bike fitness take you in a marathon?

619 Views 9 Replies 9 Participants Last post by niemsco, Oct 20, 2010

Yo Sake

Discussion Starter · Oct 19, 2010

Definately further than I thought. My husband has just run 3:58 and change at Detroit. Other than 2 long-ish runs (12.5mile trail race in Ogden UT 3 wks ago and 16miler 2 weeks ago), I can count with ONE hand for how many times he ran for the last 3-4 months. "Training" is just not his thing - he runs when he can (which is not that often) for his health. I know, 3:58 is not a super tough time goal to hit for a 43-yrs old man, but many train hard and long to go sub-4. He doesn't have a running background or any endurance sports background, other than did some road cycling including a few centuries a few decades ago. He doesn't have a 'natural' runners build either. (In addition, his pediatrician told his mom when he was little that he had to wear leg braces to help his legs get straighter and that he wouldn't be able to run normally) One thing he does on a regular basis is mountain biking. He did about 10 races this year, but again with his busy schedule, he would be lucky if he could ride 2x/wk. And he likes going hard, not a 3-4hrs of endurance ride. He goes to yoga class 1/wk on average. 
 
Based on his marathon #1 (2007) at 4:40 & #2 (2009) at 4:20 for which he did a little more running than this year, I thought sub4 was too aggressive. You need to 'respect the distance' right? Of course I didn't say any of this (I need his support too <img alt="" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/wink.gif" style="width:16px;height:16px;" title="">). The only thing I repeatedly reminded him was, to stay with 4hr pace group no matter how easy the pace felt at early miles. I found him at 20k mark (12.4mile) and ran the rest of the course with him. He gave me lots of credit for pacing him right but at the end of the day he ran the whole 26.2. And he ran with 1.5mininute positive split. To me (and I think Pftiznger's book said this too), that sounds like a perfect pacing. 
 
I would think cutting another 20min would require some more running. But who knows? I was just impressed and surprised cardio fitness and strength from mountainbiking would help running a long distance this much.
 
Any thoughts?

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Zdoc

· #2 · Oct 19, 2010

This is interesting that you brought this up, because I just ran the Green Mt Marathon in Vermont on Sunday on very sparce marathon training. I spent the summer triathlon training, which meant only about 20-25 mpw of running. The only runs more than about 10 miles were in the three, half Ironman races I did. I havent run more than 14 miles in about two years. The last race was Sept 12th, 5 weeks ago. In the past five weeks, I did push up the miles, running one half marathon and three, 2-2.5 hour runs. So, weekly milage averaged about 40 during this time
The race went well, in spite of gale winds off of Lake Champlain, and I ran 3:11:58. Solid, but not spectacular. The mental side was easy. Three hours is no big deal when you have been training for half-iron races. I would have liked a few more running miles in my legs, because I feel the soreness today. I'll bet your husband is sore today, too.
If I had to do it differently, I thik I'd have thrown in a two hour run every three or so weeks over the summer, then ramp up training in the last five weeks. Maybe even do a few road races. But, bike fitness definately helps, and is a great carry-over for running. 
As an aside,after much debate, I decided to register for Boston. I finished registration at 5:01 (delayed since we were still in Vermont), and found out registration closed at 5:03.
Fate ??

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