Old Man Marathon Training plan

JEL

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Helena, MT
I am turning the big 60 this summer and guess maybe I am having a 3/4 life crisis and need to prove myself to myself. I have run a few marathons but the last one was in 2004. I am in pretty decent shape and do a lot of hiking mixed in with a little running. Knees and such are good. Does anyone here have experience with marathon training plans for old farts? The one I used 20 years ago was basically putting in miles with cross training mixed in.
 
I've used the Hansons Marathon Method for all my marathons. It works very well for me. They have a novice and an advance option. Their plan probably has more miles at goal marathon pace than any other plans and shorter long runs. Their gimic is a peak of 16 miles for the long run on the novice plan.

I used it for my first marathon and fudged a bit and put in an 18 mile long run during training instead of the 16 and was able to beat my goal time by several minutes and never did hit the wall or anything like that. At mile 18 I still felt great during the race. Since then I've used it for several more marathons including getting a Boston qualifying one and running Boston back in 2018 at 50.
 
Since then I've used it for several more marathons including getting a Boston qualifying one and running Boston back in 2018 at 50.
That's awesome! I've run 2 so far this summer getting ready for hunting season, not an actual race just letting my tracker on OnX go while I run, holy smokes is getting a qualifying time impressive. No possible way I'm going to even get close to one. I'm like an hour over lol
 
That's awesome! I've run 2 so far this summer getting ready for hunting season, not an actual race just letting my tracker on OnX go while I run, holy smokes is getting a qualifying time impressive. No possible way I'm going to even get close to one. I'm like an hour over lol
Thanks. I still sometimes scratch my head on how I did it. I did cheat a little and ran one of the downhill races.

3:14:35 at 49 years old. 7:25 pace. I was pretty proud of myself. https://www.runrevel.com/rmc/results?pk=1526017 I think my fastest mile was the last mile, according to the splits listed I ran the last mile in 7:07. I was a stud! :LOL:

When I ran Boston the next year I ran it in 3:28:15 which was technically another qualifier, but you pretty much need to beat the listed qualifying time by 5 or 10 minutes to actually get into the race.

I've let myself get fat and out of shape again and not sure I could run a single mile that fast today. Really need to get back into shape. I was running 2,000+ miles a year for several years there and believe it or not when you run that much you actually get better at running.
 
Thanks. I still sometimes scratch my head on how I did it. I did cheat a little and ran one of the downhill races.

3:14:35 at 49 years old. 7:25 pace. I was pretty proud of myself. https://www.runrevel.com/rmc/results?pk=1526017 I think my fastest mile was the last mile, according to the splits listed I ran the last mile in 7:07. I was a stud! :LOL:

When I ran Boston the next year I ran it in 3:28:15 which was technically another qualifier, but you pretty much need to beat the listed qualifying time by 5 or 10 minutes to actually get into the race.

I've let myself get fat and out of shape again and not sure I could run a single mile that fast today. Really need to get back into shape. I was running 2,000+ miles a year for several years there and believe it or not when you run that much you actually get better at running.
Pretty good! My fastest was 3:22. I think the Boston qualifier at the time was 3:20.
 
Good for you, JEL!

Here is one that I believe is based on the Hanson plan. It’s certainly not advanced, but isn’t brutal or complex/difficult to follow.

You’ve already done one, so perhaps this is a bit basic for where you are but it would get you to the finish line.


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My personal opinion is run no more than three days a week, and make sure you are lifting weights a couple of days a week. Biking is good cross training.
 
I am turning the big 60 this summer and guess maybe I am having a 3/4 life crisis and need to prove myself to myself. I have run a few marathons but the last one was in 2004. I am in pretty decent shape and do a lot of hiking mixed in with a little running. Knees and such are good. Does anyone here have experience with marathon training plans for old farts? The one I used 20 years ago was basically putting in miles with cross training mixed in.
Welcome to the 60's club, 61 for me this year. Gotta hand it to you; I'm in decent shape but sure not planning any marathons, two miles a day and a bike ride is about what feels right. My hat is off to you!!
 

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